360 Degrees of Movement Assessment ft. Fox Physio

“Coaching Movement” - STCfit & Fox Physio, Part 1

Programming and coaching correct execution of movement is required to facilitate maximum safety and effectiveness in training. Too many coaches are worrying about KREBS cycles, hormones and supplementation without mastering what is supposed to be their specialty — human movement.

In this article, Ben Scott from STCfit and Laura Fox from Fox Physio, unpack a method of movement assessment to ensure you are dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s when assessing clients. We will define technique, determine reference lines and explore how they are practically applied in a squat.

WHAT IS TECHNIQUE?

Technique is one of the most loosely defined and widely used terms in the fitness industry. To ensure we are viewing things through the same lens for this and the following articles in the movement series, we must agree upon a clear definition.

Technique:

“execution of a movement through a predetermined ROM with adherence to reference lines decided upon by an individual’s morphology, in accordance to the target outcome”

Let’s unpack this further:

“execution of a movement through a predetermined ROM”

The purpose of defining a “technique” is to allow us to standardise what a movement should look like. Range of motion (ROM) is a variable we need to control. Without a set ROM we cannot manage progressive overload or the exercise outcome as effectively. Selecting a ROM will depend on many factors, including target outcome, line of force, available joint range and skill proficiency.

“with adherence to reference lines”

Reference lines are a set of “lines” we can observe throughout a movement. They provide a checklist of sorts which enable us to quickly and effectively identify technique breakdowns we can then troubleshoot. More on reference lines soon.

“decided upon by an individual’s morphology”

All movements will subjectively feel different for each individual. Objectively, they will look different and load tissue and structure in different amounts. Variances from person to person can be functional (changeable) or structural (unchangeable) and understanding this is important when assessing movement.

“in accordance to the target outcome”

WHY you’re doing a particular exercise will often impact the HOW you perform it. A lunge is a great example — we can manipulate stride length, angles of ankle/knee/hip flexion, torso orientation and load position, to affect the outcome of the exercise. It must be determined as to why you are performing the exercise to correctly determine technique.

With this definition we can be much more confident when assessing a movement.

REFERENCE LINES

As we mentioned earlier, reference lines are a manageable way of systematically and effectively assessing a movement with the goal of providing feedback for cueing or other interventions.

To keep things uniform for all movements, we start from the feet upwards and can assess from the front, both sides and rear of the movement to give us an indication of what is happening.

The reference lines exist typically between two joints. What happens between these joints are of importance to observe any breakdown in the lift.

The are 8 reference lines:

PRACTICAL EXAMPLE

To give some context on how we would apply the 8 reference lines, we will take the squat — a movement where all reference lines play an important role in assessment.

APPLICATION

Too often in the fitness industry, people are content with “hearing cool shit” and call it learning. To gain something practical from this article, it is important that you apply it.

Our recommendations:

TASK 1:

Take out your phone and watch some of your squat videos. Work your way through the 8 reference lines and see what breakdowns you can find.

TASK 2:

What is potentially going to go wrong along each reference line in the bench press? Watch some bench videos and identify what breakdowns you can find via the reference lines.

This concludes Part 1 of a 6-part article series Laura and Ben will be releasing over the coming months. Next month we’ll unpack ‘Why Your Lifts Break Down.’ We will explore the types of technique breakdown and associated interventions. We will refer back to some of the examples of squat breakdown from this article to show you how you can begin improving your clients movement.

Lift smart, lift hard, lift long.