BROADVIEW HEIGHTS -- Megan Alteiri is a college soccer goalie who's never been injured and she'd like to keep it that way going into her senior year.
So Megan came to Prescription Fitness in Broadview Hts. to have trainer Jermaine Alexander perform a Functional Movement Analysis to determine where Megan's weak points are that might lead to injury.
Jermaine put her through a series of seven tests that help him look for specific markers of weakness. In Megan's case, her hip flexors are too tight and she has limited movement in her shoulder. As a goalie, that might put her at risk for a future injury.
After the analysis is complete, Jermaine then designs a program to help Megan strengthen those areas. Megan can already feel the difference.
"Becoming aware of the things that I've been doing wrong and making changes helps," Megan says.
"You always want to work on the weaknesses first and then move onto the strength areas afterward," Jermaine adds.
The tests allow him to look for muscular imbalances, mobility and strength deficiencies in the core.
However, the screening isn't just for athletes. Aimee Rudowicz is an animal trainer who was thrown from a horse last September. The landing broke her back and she's still recovering.
"Wearing the back brace threw my posture off and because I couldn't move I lost most of my core muscles," Aimee says.
Jermaine's analysis showed Aimee weaker points of her body that need to be strengthened in order to help her improve her posture to keep her back from causing her pain.
"I would like to prevent as many injuries obviously don't want to go through that again," Aimee says.
Prescription Fitness charges $90 for FMA.
Selena Budge makes a living doing FMA on elite athletes at all levels. She started a business called Stability Enhancement Systems based in Columbus.
The client is taken through a series of evaluations which take approximately 30 minutes and videotaped. Once they have been evaluated an 8-12 week program is authored. The cost is $250.
WKYC-TV