Functional Fitness Assessments

Cooper Fitness Center's Innovative Test Measures
Risk of Injury, May Prevent Cumulative Damage

DALLAS — What does hunching over the computer in your office have in common with weightlifting on the machines at your gym? If you are like many of the clients undergoing the new functional fitness assessment by Cooper Fitness Center personal trainers, these activities may have already significantly reduced your balance and flexibility and may even lead to cumulative injury down the road.

Functional fitness assessments are a unique method of evaluating musculoskeletal function to identify and correct muscular imbalances that, if unchecked, can lead to injury. Cooper Fitness Center is currently one of the few facilities in the United States offering this evaluation.

"After having eight knee surgeries, my activity level dropped due to pain and stiffness," said Todd Roberts, Cooper Fitness Center member. "With the functional fitness assessment, we were able to pinpoint specific areas of weakness and address those areas through stretching and strengthening. Now I have been able to postpone knee replacement surgery because my knee is stronger and pain free."

Through a series of evaluations administered by a certified personal trainer, the functional fitness assessment reveals the body's strengths as well as its problem areas and allows the trainer to recommend specific corrective exercises to strengthen weak areas, increase range of motion and ultimately allow the body to function as an integrated unit once again.

But how does the body become disintegrated in the first place? Naturally, the body uses both large muscles and small stabilizer muscles that hold joints together to accomplish daily movements such as bending, twisting and pulling. Over time, however, bad posture in the office or poor form in the weight room can isolate large muscles and lead to atrophy in the smaller stabilizers. In order to complete daily tasks, the larger muscle groups must compensate for the imbalance by working harder, which results in limited functionality and poor posture, at best. In the worst cases, joint integrity also declines and eventually leads to cumulative injury.

"Reduced functionality and flexibility in the hips and knees can be especially dangerous for older people," according to Carla Sottovia, Ph.D., Cooper Fitness Center assistant fitness director. "However, through corrective exercises and stretches, clients of any age can recapture balance and stability to reverse the effects of habitual poor posture and prevent further deterioration."

Cooper Fitness Center partnered with the National Academy of Sports Medicine to design this procedure specifically for The Cooper Aerobics Center. The functional fitness assessment is available to both members and non-members.

Cooper Fitness Center is one of eight divisions of The Cooper Aerobics Center, founded in 1970 by Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H. With 3,800 members, the Fitness Center includes strength-training equipment, cardiovascular equipment, outdoor walking/jogging trail, exercise classes, personal training, professional sports instructors, basketball, swimming, and tennis.

Consumer Number For Functional Fitness Testing: 972-233-4832