Training today and the Concept of Symmetry...

Prep work - various mobility/stretches

Club Swinging practice

24 kg Windmill x 3+3

24 kg Goblet Squat x 5

Double KB work with 2/24 kg KBs - this is one of the Neupert programs that I am not at liberty to share but it is tough! Tough in a fun way ;-)

24kg Windmill x 3+3

Observation on the windmill - I have been away from them for too long. These will make it back in for my Movement Prep.

Symmetry - (right to left "balance")

There have been a lot of questions lately on FMS and the concept of symmetry and this is great - here are some research offerings and my opinions...

One of the early studies to show an asymmetry puts you at risk of injury was a military study by

Knapik - Sports Med (1992) - indicating that a hip extension inflexibility imbalance of 15% or more indicated subjects were 2.6 times more likely to get injured. (Asymmetrical hip extension flexibility which is checked three different ways in the FMS screen)

And a few more bits of research...

1. Cook E, Kiesel K. Impaired Patterns of Posture and Function In: Prentice B, Voight M, eds. Techniques in Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation. 2nd ed. Chicago: McGraw-Hill; 2006.
2. Kiesel K, P P, R B, Burton L, Cook E. Functional Movement Test Scores Improve following a Standardized Off-season Intervention Program Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2009; In Review.
3. Kiesel K, Plisky P, Kersey P. Functional Movement Test Score as a Predictor of Time-loss during a Professional Football Team’s Pre-season Paper presented at: American College of Sports Medicine Annual Conference, 2008; Indianapolis, IN.
4. Kiesel K, Plisky P, Voight M. Can serious injury in professional football be predicted by a preseason Functional Movement Screen? North American Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. August 2007;2(3):147-158.
5. Minick K, Burton L, Butler R, Kiesel K. A Reliability Study of the Functional Movement Screen. National Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2009;In Press.
6. Wainner RS, Whitman JM, Cleland JA, Flynn TW. Regional interdependence: a musculoskeletal examination model whose time has come. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. Nov 2007;37(11):658-660.

Five of the Seven FMS tests provide a Left to Right comparison (read asymmetry check)
So even if the word symmetry may not appear in the article it is simply part of FMS screening.

One of the early research studies on the FMS a Fire Fighter Study (sub 2006), "Core strength: A new model for injury prediction and prevention":
"A battery of FMS tests were performed on 433 firefighters. We analyzed the
correlation between FMS performance and injuries and other selected parameters. An
intervention to improve flexibility and strength in trunk stabilizer or core muscle groups
through a training program was evaluated.
Results: The intervention reduced lost time due to injuries by 62% and the number of
injuries by 42% over a twelve month period as compared to a historical control group. "

The issue with research is controlling for variables (very tough to do) and when researching FMS you have to screen a group (know that they have an increased chance for injury) and wait for injury to happen to be proved "valid" - sounds great doesn't it.

To put it simply - does it not make sense that if the Right side will or will not do something the Left side can or can't do - that that is an issue?
Right side get-up with a 24kg but can only complete a Left side get-up with a 12kg
right side mp 32 kg but Left side can press the beast
Right side Pistol vs no pistol on the Left
Right eye converges - Left eye will not
Right cuboid is mobile - Left Cuboid is not.......
In any performance standard we would clearly look at the "asymmetry" in performance and address it
but there is a mental block when a Movement standard (or asymmetry check) is suggested - even when that movement base is the foundation for the performance test.

BTW - check out the new Functional Movement website