Functional Movement

In the health care and fitness industries, the words ‘functional’ and ‘function’ are used to describe many different things. With respect to WorkSafeBC, a functional assessment may involve lifting weighted boxes or climbing ladders. Practitioners who use modern taping techniques will refer to some of their approaches as ‘functional’.

func·tion·al

ˈfəNG(k)SH(ə)n(ə)l/

adjective

1. of or having a special activity, purpose, or task;
relating to the way in which something works or operates.

e.g. there are important functional differences between
the left and right brain

The brain as an example underscores the fact that the brain’s design lends itself to certain tasks and abilities. You can also say this of the entire musculoskeletal system. Every segment of your body has a natural ‘function’ which its anatomical, physiological and neurological design dictates.

In light of this, one view of ‘function’ is that our body has a natural ability to move in a certain way. When these abilities are altered by pathology, injury, compensations or pain, we change how we move, leading to inefficient patterns of movement. These inefficiencies will often lead to breakdowns in anatomical structures or disruption of performance.

Here at Trailside Physio, our therapists take a function and functional assessment seriously. Ensuring that your body and limbs move in the most efficient manner helps people avoid further injury and assists in maintaining a high level of performance.

One method of assessing function is the Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) as developed by the renowned physical therapist, Gray Cook. For example, if we accept that the ability to perform a toe touch is inherent to the human body, a physical therapist would delve into the reasons why a person could not do this.

The inability may be due to:

• pain or inflammation
• tightness (a.k.a. hypo-mobility / restriction)

• weakness or instability
• motor programming