FROM MY PT SCHOOL NOTES · FABIO · CHAPTER 18
How Do You Analyze a Functional Movement From Start to Finish?
This final foundation-and-region integration lesson pulls together movement description, force analysis, tissues and functional reasoning.
Name the movement before explaining it
Choose a task such as stepping up or rising from a chair. Identify the goal, supporting surfaces, body segments and joints involved.
Distinguish osteokinematics from kinetics; describing what moves is different from identifying the forces that produced the movement.
Draw the relevant forces
Choose a joint and select a force of interest. Mark its line of action, the axis and perpendicular moment arm. State assumptions about weight, acceleration and other forces.
A longer moment arm can increase an external torque without a heavier load. It does not automatically specify actual muscle force or joint contact loading.
Bring the mechanics back to the person
Trunk angle, hand support and stance width can alter the task’s demands. One movement strategy may suit a person better because of comfort, balance or other goals.
End with a testable clinical question rather than assuming the mechanics equation has identified a diagnosis or selected an exercise.
Check your reasoning: Does calculating external knee torque during a step-up prove the amount of quadriceps force and the source of pain?
No. Muscle moment arms, multiple tissues, clinical findings and task context are additional considerations.
Try the mechanics on a real task
Example: A patient rises from a low sofa using one hand on the armrest, then rises from a higher chair without hand support.
Work through the reasoning
Answer: The two tasks alter base of support, external joint moments, muscle demand and available assistance. Identify what changed, then choose appropriate observations or task modifications before inferring a specific impairment.
Common trap: Computing one joint torque and calling it the full movement explanation. Remember: Combine kinematics, kinetics, tissue capacity and the person’s goal.
Source: my original FABIO FABIO Principles and regional lectures material, summarized as a free conceptual lesson. No third-party diagrams reproduced; this is not a patient-specific clinical protocol.
