Introduction: No gold standard test exists for the evaluation of movement capacity. However, the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) has demonstrated some efficacy in the prediction of injuries and is thus used by many practitioners to make recommendations for exercise. Despite that, questions remain regarding its utility as a means to evaluate the effectiveness of training. The purpose of this study was to determine if a functional training program was effective in improving FMS scores.
Methodology: 27 youth male soccer players free of pain and previous injury were randomly divided to two groups; Experimental (n=14, weight: 66.59±7.86 kg, height: 1.77±0.43 m and age: 15.61±0.71 years) and control (n=13, weight: 64.82±8.15 kg, height: 1.74±0.41 m and age: 15.52±077 years). The control group continued their usual training and experimental groups in addition to perform functional training three times a week for ten weeks. The total time devoted to training was similar in both groups. Before and after the implementation of ten weeks functional training, FMS tests were evaluated in two groups. For statistical analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, independent and paired t-test (P <0.01) was used.
Results: A significant increase in FMS score was observed between pre-test (16.14±1.40) and post-test (17.92±1.68) in the experimental group and also when compared with the control group (16.15± 1.46) after ten weeks.
Discussion: This study demonstrated that fundamental movement characteristics do change with a functional training intervention in youth male soccer players. So when the FMS score improved as a result of such training programs, more research are essential to investigate the reduce of injury risk by them.