Functional Movement: The Next Big Thing?

Self-defense training doesn’t require you to be Superman, but it does require at least a modicum of physical fitness. So it’s no surprise that adult martial artists take health and fitness seriously.

Functional Movement Systems appears to be the Next Big Thing in physical fitness training and adult martial artists may want to take note.

Developed by Gray Cook, a physical therapist who sports a long list of credentials, Functional Movement Systems is a departure from the traditional more is better, bigger is better mentality of traditional physical training where lifting increasingly obscene amounts of weight is the order of the day. Instead, the goal is to improve, as the name suggests, functional fitness.

 “Once a decade a book comes out that you will keep reading, rereading, and crowding with notes until it falls apart. Then you buy a new copy and enthusiastically start over. In the 1990s it was Verkhoshansky and Siff’s Supertraining. In the 2000s McGill’s Ultimate Back. Enter the 2010s and Gray Cook’s Movement. It is a game changer.”
—Pavel Tsatsouline, author of Enter the Kettlebell!

According to The New York Times, the Atlanta Falcons swear by Gray Cook’s Functional Movement System. The Falcon’s General Manager, Thomas Dimitroff, was quoted as saying he believes “it’s going to be the wave of the future” for professional football.

“Everything we do at the Indianapolis Colts is built on a Functional Movement Screen base—it’s the foundation of our program,” says Jon Torine, the strength and conditioning coach for the Indianapolis Colts.

According to Cook, several other NFL teams are also following his system. He also claims to have introduced his system to the US Navy SEALs.

“Exercise and rehabilitation time is valuable—too valuable not to use a system. Gray Cook’s Movement uses a systematic approach to exercise and rehabilitation built on the fundamentals of authentic human movement.”
—Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts

Movement Functional Movement Systems: Screening, Assessments & Corrective Strategies by  Gray Cook, MSPT, OCS, CSCS, RKC with Lee Burton, Kyle Kiesel, Greg Rose and Milo F. Bryant is available as a paperback  from Dragon Door.

Is FMS right for you? Adult Martial Artist.com can’t answer that question for you. Still, it’s probably worth taking a closer look if your present fitness program isn’t giving you the results you want or has gone stale and needs a boost.