Functional Movement Quality of Firefighter Recruits: Longitudinal Changes from the Academy to Active-Duty Status

David J. Cornell, Stacy L. Gnacinski and Kyle T. Ebersole
Additional contact information
David J. Cornell: Health Assessment Laboratory, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
Stacy L. Gnacinski: Department of Health Sciences, Drake University, Des Moines, IA 50311, USA
Kyle T. Ebersole: Human Performance and Sport Physiology Laboratory, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-10

Abstract: Approximately half of the injuries experienced by firefighters consist of musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs). Functional movement quality may be associated with MSKI risk within this tactical athlete population. Previous research indicates that measures of body composition change among firefighter recruits progressing from academy training through active-duty service, but similar changes in functional movement quality have yet to be examined. The purpose of this study was to describe longitudinal changes in functional movement quality of firefighter recruits. Body mass index (BMI), body fat (BF), and Functional Movement Screen (FMS) data were collected from 26 male firefighter recruits at the onset (W1) and completion (W14) of their training academy, and at the completion of their probationary period of active-duty service (W38). After adjusting for changes in BMI and BF across time, significant changes ( p s < 0.05) in Composite FMS scores were identified, with significant increases in from W1 to W14 and from W14 to W38, as well as an overall increase from W1 to W38. These results suggest that the development of firefighter-specific skills can decrease the MSKI risk of firefighter recruits by facilitating enhanced functional movement competencies, particularly during tasks that require single-leg movement and core strength and stability.

Keywords: functional movement screen; musculoskeletal injury risk; body mass index; percent body fat; tactical athletes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/7/3656/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/7/3656/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:7:p:3656-:d:527924

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().