Influence of Body Composition on Functional Movement Screen™ Scores in College Football Players

The functional movement screen (FMS™) is used to identify movement asymmetries and deficiencies. While obesity has been reported to impede movement, the correlation between body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (BF%), and FMS™ in athletes is unknown.

To determine if there is a relationship between BMI, BF%, and FMS™ scores in a sample of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I football athletes.

Cross-sectional study.

Biodynamics laboratory.

A total of 38 male freshman football players (18.0 [0.7] y, 185.3 [5.5] cm, and 103.9 [20.3] kg).

Height, weight, and BF% were collected, and subjects underwent the FMS™ conducted by a certified athletic trainer.

The dependent variables were BMI, BF%, composite FMS™ score, and 7 individual FMS™ test scores. Subjects were grouped as normal BMI (BMI < 30 kg/m²) or obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m²). A composite FMS™ score of ≤14 and an individual FMS™ score of ≤1 were classified as cutoffs for poor movement performance.

A negative correlation between composite FMS™ score and BMI approached significance (P = .07, ρ = .296). A negative correlation between composite FMS™ score and BF% was significant (P = .01, ρ = -.449). There was a significant difference in the number of obese subjects scoring below the composite FMS™ cutoff (χ² = 5.179, P = .02) and the individual FMS™ cutoff on the deep squat (χ² = 6.341, P = .01), hurdle step (χ² = 9.870, P = .002), and in-line lunge (χ² = 5.584, P = .02) when compared with normal BMI subjects.

Increased BF% and BMI relate to lower composite FMS™ and individual FMS™ test scores, indicating potentially poor movement patterns in larger National Collegiate Athletic Association football athletes. Future research should focus on examining lower extremity-specific FMS™ tasks individually from composite FMS™ scores.