Movement Pattern Dysfunction and Compensations
This domain tests whether you can move from a score to a defensible explanation of the compensation without pretending the screen is a diagnosis. FMS Level 2 expects you to distinguish mobility-based limitations, stability or motor-control deficits, and pain-related findings, then choose a confirmatory test.
Compensation logic
- A compensation is a strategy used to complete the task, not necessarily a weak muscle.
- Ask whether the client lacks range of motion or lacks control of available range.
- Identify the primary deviation first, then any secondary correction later in the movement.
- Treat asymmetry as a separate finding; do not hide it inside a total score.
Common examples: a hurdle step with pelvic drop and knee valgus may reflect stance-leg hip stability, ankle mobility, or both. An inline lunge with a front heel lift and forward torso lean loses the required contact and scores 2. A rotary stability pattern that uses a diagonal limb strategy instead of same-side limb lift scores 2 when the torso stays parallel. None of these findings alone tells you which tissue is short or weak.
Worked example
A client performs the inline lunge: the front heel lifts, the torso leans forward, and the dowel contacts are lost; the trailing knee does not touch behind the front heel. Because required contacts are not maintained, the score is 2, not 3. The reasoning should not jump to tight hip flexors. A knee-to-wall test can check ankle dorsiflexion, and a hip-flexion screen can check hip range; if both are adequate, look at split-stance control and trunk position. Use the confirmatory test to choose the corrective direction, then re-screen the original pattern.
Traps that cost marks
Calling every compensation a weakness; assuming one muscle explains the pattern; stretching without confirming a mobility limitation; ignoring pain; comparing left and right only through the total score; and treating a 2 as functionally identical to a 3.