I recently read an article in Maclean’s magazine about the Canadian Olympic team and the strategies and training techniques they have used in preparation for the London 2012 Summer Olympics. One of the training techniques just so happens to be the same as we use with our Ridley athletes!  It’s called the Functional Movement System (FMS) and is a ranking and grading system that documents movement patterns in athletes.

Ridley College athletes participate in the screening sessions throughout their sports season to document and mark their progress. Exercise professionals (Mr. Ferraro- Athletic Therapist, Mr. DeVellis and Mr. Gittings at Ridley College) record the athletes scores and then identify which exercises will be most effective in restoring proper movement and building strength in the individual athlete.

In the Maclean’s article a physiotherapist for the Canadian Olympic team says, “it’s a way of assessing range, flexibility and core strength. We’re looking for that little bit, the difference to convert a fifth place to a first place.”  According to Maclean’s “Canada’s sports funding agency Own the Podium (OTP) has provided Canada’s best athletes in the most medal worthy sports with the best coaching, support and innovation…Behind every Canadian athlete…is an OTP-funded team of doctors, scientists, engineers, administrators, therapists, gadget freaks and even an intelligence agency or two doing what they can to help Canada reach its goal of a top-12 position in the Olympic medal count among some 200 countries.”  You never know, if we keep using the Functional Movement System as the Canadian Olympic Team does we may see some of our athletes on the podium one day. The London 2012 Summer Olympics begin on Friday July 27th, best of luck to the Olympians! Check out the video below to see our basketball players during a Functional Movement System session:

To learn more about Ridley College athletics, click here.