Its been four years since we took the whole year in class and delved into the Paul Gilley video in depth and assessed each student as to their own range of motion. These blog posts can be found by searching under the topic of PROM – Personal Range of Motion. There are 7 of these assessments that are more important to assess and understand than the whole 13, so that’s what this post will highlight.
Whether the mobility or stability originates from bones, joints, muscles, fascia, time of day, or temperature, the more useful reality is – what is the functional range of movement at any given moment in time? As a student becomes more familiar with their own mobility over months and years, then it is easier to determine the cause of that mobility or stability.
A newer chart for student use is here:ChartRange of Motion2
The most important assessments are:
1) ankle flexion
2) hyperextended knees
3) internal or external femur rotation
4) femur abduction
5) spine mobility
6) shoulder mobility
7) proportional arm length
A simple flow to assess all of these is this:
1) cat/dog on hands and knees to see the spinal mobility and elbow hyperextension.
2) squat to determine the ankle flexion range
3) Sit down in staff pose or an easy cross-legged pose. The MOST important thing here is to have an upright spine. Do the palms touch the floor? How much space is there, or how much can the student press hands into the floor. This shows proportional arm length.
4) Fold up the legs 90 degrees in deer pose to see about natural internal rotation of femur. Do both sides and include a twist here too.
5) Cobbler’s pose to determine natural external rotation of femur.
6) Sit upright again and support hips with wedge if necessary. Keep toes and knees straight up – no rotation in legs and take legs wide. This gives one assessment of leg abduction
7) Roll down for bridge pose and shoulder assessment. Do the femur flexion.
8) Roll up and come thru a table, down dog, forward fold until standing. Assess wrist flexion
9) Standing with torso very straight, abduct one leg with toes in and heel out. This gives a second assessment of leg abduction. Assess knee hyperextension
10) Finish with a standing C curve just to give the spine its 6 movements. Assess arm to head proportion.
Students should look around and compare with other as well and look in the mirror to see themselves. The determination of mobility or stability is in comparison with other people.