If you have been following Functional Movement Systems for a while, you have been waiting for this kind of book. The biggest thing is taking a large group of assessments and making a comprehensive manual covering all that you need to know about the system.

Personally I am a huge advocate of the Functional Movement Screen. I have used this within each of my settings since 2007. What I admire about the screen is that it gives me a clear picture of what I can do with my athlete and communicate with Sports Medicine. It really is a tool that crosses chasms within athletic departments.

Cook’s previous book Movement dove pretty deep into the integration of the FMS and SFMA and its integration. Since then FMS has added Y Balance and Fundamental Capacity Screen. Making four big areas to dive into, all with their own intricacies to unpack. What becomes challenging is that you can become locked in one screen and lose sight of the others.

This book did a fantastic job of circling back to the core principles of FMS – Move well, move often. Gives practical applications for both the S&C coach and the clinician. Connects dots between both disciplines and the larger system’s meaning. The most important thing is that it fits within a larger context to getting people Moving well and moving often.

Personally I stopped at FMS in my setting. I appreciate the attempt to become more all encompassing for coaches and trainers, just feel some of it is a bit of a reach. I can recall the SFMA being only for clinicians and S&C coaches were not allowed to attend. They have circled back to that approach and restated that SFMA is a baseline tool to determine pain and function, which should be open to all. Under the premise that the ones that are not clinically trained do not diagnose.

That combined with just not really resonating with the Y Balance and Capacity screen, is why I personally stopped at FMS. I could say the same for FRC in that they originally meant it to be Functional Range Assessment and then into Functional Range Lower/Upper/Spine. It was never really intended to be for non practitioners. Since then it evolved into FRC and Kinstretch.

This is the achilles heel of the clinical origin certifications of screens, movement systems, or performance systems. Good or bad, S&C coaches are just more willing to go conferences than our Sports Medicine counterparts. This creates a second order of all these continuing education companies having to pivot and be more inclusive to S&C coaches. Drop the clinical guise, focus on general capacity, and remind them we cannot diagnose.

I think it is completely up to you the coach to make the decision to continue down the path laid out by these systems. Guy Voyer – ELDOA, Ron Hruska – PRI, Bill Hartman – Intensive, Gary Gray -GIFT, Ida Rolf/Thomas Myers – Anatomy Trains are all brilliant and offer tremendous insights on the human body. Grey Cook – FMS and Andreo Spina – FRC have some incredible information. They took the leap into crossing other domains like performance training. This could be as evolutionary, like Coach Mike Boyle. Which my gut is telling me it is. It could be just a money grab and overreaching. That is for you to decide.

All in all this was a good resource. I would recommend starting with Business of Movement and then reading Movement as a platform to understand the whole system then the parts. From there look into their FMS level I certification and possibly their others Y Balance and Functional Capacity Screen.