Running S&C Screen | Foundation, Performance & High Performance

Description

Most strength screens hand every athlete the same battery regardless of where they’re actually starting from. This one doesn’t. Foundation tier establishes basic movement competency, mobility and strength before anything more demanding is added — a runner who can’t yet perform a controlled single-leg squat doesn’t need a reactive-strength index any more than a beginner driver needs a lap-time readout. Performance and High Performance tiers are additive, each building on everything below it, so the testing always matches where you genuinely are, not where a generic template assumes you should be.

Who this is for

Any runner wanting a dry-land baseline of movement quality, mobility and strength specific to running’s actual demands — Foundation tier for anyone new to structured S&C or returning after time out, Performance tier once basic competency is demonstrated and power/landing quality become relevant questions, High Performance tier for runners already training at a level where reactive strength, elastic function and tendon capacity genuinely matter to performance and injury risk.

What’s included, by tier

– Foundation (12 tests, ~45 min) — movement competency (single-leg balance, single-leg squat, step-down, walking lunge), the mobility “big three” (ankle dorsiflexion, hip extension/Thomas test, active straight leg raise), core control (side plank, bird dog, dead bug), and basic strength (single-leg calf raise, split squat capacity).
– Performance (+11 tests, ~55 min total) — additional mobility (hip rotation, thoracic rotation, great toe extension), additional strength (rear-foot-elevated split squat, Nordic hamstring, hip abduction), introductory power (countermovement jump, single-leg hop, repeated pogos), and landing quality (drop landing, single-leg landing).
– High Performance (+10 tests, ~60 min total) — advanced strength (isometric split squat, soleus endurance), advanced power (drop jump/reactive strength index, triple hop, lateral bound), elastic function (repeated single-leg pogos, hop-to-fatigue), and foot/tendon capacity (short foot control, Achilles capacity).

Every bilateral test is scored independently left and right — not averaged into one number that could hide exactly the asymmetry worth finding. Where a genuine evidence-based benchmark exists (hop-test symmetry, for instance, uses the same ≥90% Limb Symmetry Index threshold drawn from ACL return-to-sport research), it’s used. Where one doesn’t exist yet for this population, the raw value is tracked over time rather than forced into a banded score that would just be false precision.

What you get

A written report with a single 0–100 readiness score, banded from “Run Ready” down to “Foundation needed,” plus every flagged finding by test, category and side. A separate “ready to progress?” verdict against the specific, named competency gates for moving up a tier — checked against your weaker side, not your average, so you can’t progress on a score that’s quietly propped up by one strong leg. And where you’re also booked for Running Gait Analysis, this screen’s results feed directly into that report’s Strength & Conditioning section — the real readiness score and flagged findings, not the “not part of this assessment” placeholder that used to sit there.