What an overhead squat screen actually shows
A movement screen is a few slow reps of an overhead squat, watched from the front and from the side. What it names is anatomy: which muscles are probably overactive, and which are probably underactive.
No weight and no machine. You stand, raise your arms, and squat while I watch where your weight goes and what moves first.
What we watch while you squat
Feet about shoulder width, arms straight overhead, then down and up at a speed you control. The cue is to sit back further, aim for thighs at least parallel to the floor.
The front view shows the knees and the feet. The side view shows the trunk, the hips and the heels. Two angles, because a fault in one plane hides in the other.
Excessive forward lean
From the side, your hips shoot back and your torso tips forward as you go down. Probably overactive: soleus, gastrocnemius, the abdominal complex, the hip flexor complex.
Probably underactive: anterior tibialis, gluteus maximus, erector spinae. My VeraForma app lists that lean alongside hamstring, quad and groin strain, and low back pain. The cue is to keep your chest up and sit back into your hips.
Heels that lift at the bottom
Watch the heels in the side view. If they lift at the bottom, your weight has moved onto the balls of your feet, and a short soleus is usually what pulls them up.
The muscle list here is short. Probably overactive: soleus. Probably underactive: anterior tibialis. It is associated with plantar fasciitis, posterior tibialis tendonitis (shin splints) and patellar tendonitis. The cue is to keep your heels planted, shift your weight back through mid-foot.
Knees that cave in, and an arched back
Knees that travel inward point at the adductor complex and TFL as probably short, and the gluteus medius, VMO and medial hamstring as probably weak. Knee pain and IT band tendonitis are associated with it.
Your lower back arches once your arms go overhead. Probably overactive: hip flexor complex, erector spinae, latissimus dorsi. Probably underactive: gluteus maximus, hamstrings, intrinsic core stabilizers. The associated issue is low back pain. Brace your core and tuck your ribs down.
Why one fault names a list of muscles
Every movement you make, walking, squatting, reaching overhead, depends on three systems working together. Muscle balance and strength. How your brain recruits and coordinates muscles. How your joints actually move.
Together they form the kinetic chain. When one is off, usually a tight muscle paired with a weak one, the whole chain compensates. So a single fault at the knee implicates muscles at the hip and the ankle.
Your trainer
I am Brad Glaser, owner and the only trainer here. Five certifications: NASM CPT and Master Trainer, NASM-CES, NASM-PES, NCSF and PFIT, plus a current CPR card.
The screen is corrective exercise work, which is what NASM-CES covers. I have trained clients since 2005, and this Irvine studio opened in 2008.
Why the sore spot is not the cause
A tight spot that never goes away is usually sitting in a loop. Tissue trauma, inflammation, muscle spasm, adhesions, altered neuromuscular control, and then a muscle imbalance that leads right back to tissue trauma.
That loop has a name, the Cumulative Injury Cycle. It travels too, because pain often shows up somewhere different from where the actual dysfunction started. If your neck is out of alignment, your shoulders and upper back often end up compensating.
What happens after the screen
A finding is not a program. Correcting an imbalance runs the Corrective Exercise Continuum, four phases taken in order. Phase one inhibits the overactive muscle, usually with foam rolling. Phase two lengthens it with static stretching.
Phase three activates the weak muscle that has been getting outworked, with positional isometrics and isolated strengthening. Phase four integrates the correction into real movement. Miss one and the correction shows in isolation, then vanishes in the squat.
What the screen cannot see
A squat does not tell me about your injuries. So the free hour asks. Add any injury or surgery, past or present, with the date and your current limitations.
It also asks about chronic conditions, any medication you take, and whether you did supervised recovery work after an injury. Answer honestly, this keeps your program safe. If you have a condition, get cleared by your own doctor first.
What you leave with
Your first session is free, one hour, no credit card and no obligation. The screen happens inside it, alongside your goals, your history and a short workout.
You leave knowing which findings came up, and with a plan built on the NASM OPT model, basics first, then progressively advance. VeraForma Premium carries it between visits. Individual results vary.
Questions
Does the movement screen hurt?
It is bodyweight only, a few slow reps at a speed you control. Nothing is pushed. If anything feels wrong, we stop and look at why.
What if I cannot squat yet?
Then that is the finding. We screen what you can do, note where the range stops, and build from there. You do not need to be fit to be screened.
Can I screen myself at home?
You can film it, and the VeraForma app will name what it sees. A camera reads the angles. It will not ask about your old shoulder surgery.
Is foam rolling enough on its own?
No. Foam rolling is phase one, inhibit. On its own it calms the tight muscle and leaves the weak one weak, so the cycle just resets and the old pattern comes back.
How often do you screen again?
We look again as the plan moves. A pattern from March may not be the pattern you have in June. The findings get rewritten.
Book your free session
The studio is at 17165 Von Karman Ave, Suite 103, Irvine, CA 92614. It is open Monday to Friday, 6 AM to 8 PM, and closed at weekends.
Call (949) 574-4755, or leave your name, email and phone on the form. Brad calls you back within 1 business day to book the free hour.
