Functional Strength: An Updated Approach to Exercising our Patients
Course Description
This course will give you the ability to advance your understanding of therapeutic exercise as well as your ability to create basic to advanced functional exercise programs. You will learn to assess functional weakness and differentiate this from weakness found in manual muscle testing. Finally, you will be able to apply the concepts learned in class to build a program that is customized to your patient.
This course will progress from basic fundamentals to advanced, high-level athletic plyometric training. As with all Great Lakes Seminars courses, this course will be at least 75% hands-on lab. However, participants will not be required to perform all of the exercises shown in the course.
Please visit our Resource Center to check for course approval in your state.
Functional Strength Schedule
Course Objectives
At the completion of this seminar, the participant will be able to:
- Given a case study, assess functional weakness in a patient using the four pathological barriers to ideal/optimal movement
- Perform an assessment of a dysfunctional movement pattern and specifically identify 2 primary and 1-2 secondary compensatory movements occurring due to weakness and/or pain
- Accurately justify the use of functional strength testing versus manual muscle testing when assessing a patient
- Properly exhibit and/or correctly perform 4 exercises using a functional approach to muscle activity
- Correctly state the rationale for an in-depth functional strength assessment of upper extremity, lower extremity and trunk
- Properly execute an in-depth functional strength assessment of upper extremity, lower extremity and trunk
- Correctly apply force couples, synergies, and muscle slings to the body to address function-specific strength deficits
- Develop and implement a comprehensive functional exercise program, progressing from basic to advanced levels for patients
Topics Covered
- Overview of the principles of functional muscle assessment
- Differentiation between muscle action and muscle function
- Proper technique for open kinetic chain exercises and closed kinetic chain exercises
- Functional exercises for the upper body
- Functional exercises for the lower body
- Functional exercise for the trunk/core
- Exercises using body weight, therapy ball, resistance bands and foam roller
Course Instructors
Stuart Orr
BS, PTA, NSCA-CPT, CWcHP
Stuart Orr graduated from Pennsylvania State University earning his AS in Applied Sciences with a concentration in Physical Therapy Assistant in 1999. In 2006 he earned his BS in Marketing and Management from Pennsylvania State University. Stuart holds certifications as an exercise specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA-CPT), Matheson Functional Capacity Evaluator and Workers Compensation Healthcare Provider. Stuart is ongoing in post graduate continuing education to develop his clinical and manual skills, yet also has found a passion for teaching other healthcare professionals as an assistant instructor with Great Lakes Seminars since 2003. Stuart has more than 12 years of orthopedic and sports medicine experience & has worked extensively within the worker’s compensation field assisting the injured worker in getting back to the labor force. Stuart is currently a regional director of Work Hardening/ Conditioning for ATI Physical Therapy for PA/ Northern DE.
Course Outline
Saturday
Continental breakfast
Lecture: Introduction, functional muscle assessment, action versus function, and muscle synergies
Lecture: Functional synergies, appropriate use of different exercise tools
Lunch (on your own)
Lab: Functional exercises for the upper and lower extremity
Lab: Movement assessment - upper and lower trunk
Review of evidence-based literature
Adjourn
Sunday
Continental breakfast
Review session
Lab: Functional exercises of the upper extremities
Lab: Functional exercises for the lower extremities
Lab: Palpation/functional anatomy of lower extremity
Lunch (on your own)
Lab: Functional exercises of the upper trunk
Lab: Functional exercises of the lower trunk
Review of evidence-based literature
Adjourn
