Shoulder Taps: Relationships Between a New Movement Screening Assessment with Body Composition and Physical Fitness in Law Enforcement Recruits.

Abstract

The overhead squat, as part of the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), can analyze total- and lower-body mechanics. Shoulder taps, which incorporates a push-up position and challenges shoulder, trunk, and hip stability, may identify movement deficiencies indicated by multiple FMS actions which could be useful for law enforcement recruits. This study determined overhead squat and shoulder taps relationships, associations between these screens with body composition and fitness, and differences in body composition and fitness according to overhead squat/shoulder taps scores in recruits by sex. Retrospective analysis was conducted on 202 recruit datasets (158 males, 44 females), which included: overhead squat and shoulder taps scores; age, height, and body mass; skeletal muscle (SMM%) and body fat mass (BFM%) percentage; waist-to-hip ratio; grip strength; 60-s push-ups and sit-ups; 75-yard pursuit run; vertical jump; medicine ball throw; and multistage fitness test (MSFT). Spearman's correlations (p<0.05) determined relationships between the overhead squat and shoulder taps, and between the screens and other variables. Kruskall-Wallis H tests compared the variables when recruits were split into groups based on overhead squat/shoulder taps scores. A significant correlation was found between the screens for male (ρ=0.231) but not female (ρ=0.258) recruits. Overhead squat score had a moderate relationship with BFM% in females (ρ=-0.312). Shoulder taps had a small relationship with SMM% in males (ρ=0.163). There were no differences in body composition and fitness when recruits were split based on screen scores (p=0.086-0.994). While morphology may influence movement screen performance, the screens had minimal capacity for associating movement deficiencies to fitness.