What We Assess

Our functional movement assessment looks at how your body moves through the patterns that matter most in the gym and in daily life. We evaluate the following key movements:

Squat

We assess your squat depth, knee tracking, hip alignment, torso position, and foot mechanics — identifying whether limitations come from ankle mobility, hip flexibility, core control, or movement pattern errors.

Deadlift

We evaluate your hip hinge pattern, spinal position, hamstring length, and load transfer mechanics — the most common source of low back injuries in the gym.

Lunge

We look at single-leg stability, knee control, hip mobility, and balance — essential for both injury prevention and athletic performance.

Overhead & Pressing Mechanics

We assess shoulder mobility, thoracic spine extension, scapular control, and cervical positioning — critical for safe overhead pressing, pull-ups, and Olympic lifting.

General Lifting Mechanics

We evaluate how you brace, breathe, and load your spine during lifting — including intra-abdominal pressure, core stability, and the movement compensations you may not even know you are making.

What We Find and Fix

Poor lifting mechanics almost always come from one or more of three underlying causes — a mobility restriction that prevents the body from getting into the right position, a strength deficit that causes the body to compensate, or a motor control issue where the right muscles are not activating in the right sequence.

Each of these requires a different fix. Stretching a weak muscle makes it worse. Loading a stiff joint makes it more painful. That is why a clinical assessment from a physical therapist — not just a coaching cue from a trainer — is the right starting point for serious movement improvement.

Common findings we address include:

• Limited ankle dorsiflexion restricting squat depth
• Hip flexor tightness affecting deadlift and lunge mechanics
• Glute inhibition causing knee valgus (knees caving in)
• Limited thoracic mobility affecting overhead position
• Poor core bracing leading to lumbar flexion under load
• Single-leg instability affecting lunge and split squat
• Scapular dyskinesis affecting pressing and pulling mechanics

Once we identify the root cause, we give you a targeted corrective program — not a generic list of stretches, but specific exercises and cues designed for your body and your movement patterns.

Who This Is For

A functional movement and lifting mechanics assessment is ideal for:

• Gym-goers who feel pain or discomfort during squats, deadlifts, or overhead pressing
• Athletes who want to reduce injury risk and move more efficiently
• Beginners who want to build a safe foundation before adding heavy load
• Powerlifters or CrossFit athletes dealing with recurring aches and pains
• Anyone who has been told their form “needs work” but doesn’t know why
• Patients returning to the gym after an injury or surgery
• Older adults who want to continue strength training safely

You do not need to be injured to benefit from this assessment. Many of our most valuable sessions are with people who feel fine but want to stay that way — catching and correcting movement problems before they become injuries.

Why a Physical Therapist — Not Just a Trainer

Personal trainers are skilled at coaching movement and building programs — but they are not trained to diagnose the underlying physical limitations that cause poor mechanics. A physical therapist brings a clinical eye to movement assessment, identifying whether a mechanics problem is a mobility issue, a structural limitation, a neuromotor control deficit, or an injury in progress.

This distinction matters. A trainer might cue you to sit back more in your squat — but if your ankle is the limiting factor, that cue alone will not change anything. We find the actual reason your squat looks the way it does and address it directly.

We also work alongside your existing trainer or coach — our assessment and corrective recommendations are designed to complement your training program, not replace it.

Our Goal

Our goal is simple — to help you train harder, move better, and stay out of the physical therapy clinic. The best injury is the one that never happens. A thorough functional movement assessment gives you the information you need to lift with confidence, correct the patterns that put you at risk, and build a stronger, more resilient body for the long term.

As your physical therapist in West Los Angeles, we bring clinical expertise and a deep understanding of athletic movement to every assessment — and a practical, no-nonsense approach to fixing what we find.