title: The relationship between general measures of fitness, passive range of motion and whole-body movement quality.
abstract: The goal of this study was to establish relationships between fitness (torso endurance, grip strength and pull-ups), hip range of motion (ROM) (extension, flexion, internal and external rotation) and movement quality in an occupational group with physical work demands. Fifty-three men from the emergency task force of a major city police force were investigated. The movement screen comprised standing and seated posture, gait, segmental spine motion and 14 tasks designed to challenge whole-body coordination. Relationships were established between each whole-body movement task, the measures of strength, endurance and ROM. In general, fitness and ROM were not strongly related to the movement quality of any task. This has implications for worker training, in that strategies developed to improve ROM or strength about a joint may not enhance movement quality.
  Worker-centered injury prevention can be described as fitting workers to tasks by improving fitness and modifying movement patterns; however, the current results show weak correlations between strength, endurance and ROM, and the way individuals move. Therefore, the development of occupation-specific injury prevention strategies may require both fitness and movement-oriented objectives.
authors.affiliation: Spine Biomechanics Laboratories, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frost
authors.forename: Jordan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Finlay
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Darby
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McGill
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D053587:Arthrometry, Articular / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010807:Physical Endurance; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D060726:Torso / Q000502:physiology