The purpose of the 7 Step Movement Prep is to provide a quick, accurate, self-administered movement audit so athletes can prioritize their warm-up. There are thousands of warm up stretches (mobilization techniques) and warm up exercises (activation drills). Athletes don’t need more drills, but rather need to know on which areas they should focus prior to training. Athletes don’t need to hammer on the same mobility drills indefinitely, but rather need standards to ensure that they have achieved the requisite mobility and stability prior to training. This series of 7 movement audits uncover asymmetries and restrictions across the entire movement chain from head to foot. When you find a problem, you can then focus on those problems in your warm-up, then recheck the movement prior to starting high demand athletic activity.

If you train in poor body positions, the repetition and resistance reinforce the bad movement pattern. Bad patterns leak energy, compromise performance, and cause injury. Injury can lead to consistent pain, resulting in a need for a rehabilitative pain solution if it does not go away.

A successful movement audit reassures an athlete that they meet basic movement standards to achieve good positions. A failure in any of these tests indicates that a crucial movement is compromised. Find out what is causing the failure, fix the problem, audit the movement a second time, then move with confidence. As Grey Cook says, “First move well, then move often.”