Biomechanics
A Bone Moving Needs Six Descriptions, And Motor Skill Application Specialist Teaches Them As A Simple Table
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in Motor Skill Application Specialist, where bone motion is taught →
In short: The Motor Skill Application Specialist course teaches that bones are the part of the body a trainer can see travel relative to each other, so they become landmarks for predicting how a joint feels and then how the muscles react. When a bone travels it moves both through space and around its own axis, which means a bone moving needs 6 descriptions from 12 options, covering every possible movement of that bone. The course gives them as a Bone Motion Table. Because bones are visible, describing them well is the first step towards seeing movement as it happens, and describing it as normal.
What this gives a trainer
A client moves and a trainer wants to say what just happened, out loud, in a sentence. Motor Skill Application Specialist gives a way to do that, and it starts with the one part of the body that is easy to see.
Bones are the landmarks
The course makes a plain point. You can see some muscles contract through the skin, but the bones are the part of the body you see travel relative to each other. That makes them landmarks. From where the bones go, a trainer predicts how a joint feels, and then how the muscles react.
The course also gives the order the body is expected to react in any movement: a compelling reason to move, emotion, reflex and processing, then a change in muscle tone based on a skill. After that come the bones moving, the joints feeling and the muscles reacting. The bones are the visible middle of a longer chain.
Six descriptions from twelve options
A bone does two things at once. It travels through space, and it turns around its own axis. The course puts it like this: a bone moving requires 6 descriptions from 12 options, covering all possible movements of the bone in space.
The twelve options sit in a Bone Motion Table next to a labelled skeleton. Forwards or backwards, up or down, right or left, and the turning around its own pivot point. Pick one from each pair and the movement of that bone is described completely.
Why it works on anything
A squat, a press, a throw and a walk across a room all describe the same way. The trainer looks at a bone, says where it travelled and how it turned, and the sentence is neutral. It says what is happening, which is the FASTER way to describe movement, as if it is normal.
How the course teaches it
The lesson is visual and interactive, with a skeleton and a table to look at. Read it, listen to it, write your answers or dictate them, whichever suits. Nobody has to be academic to use it.
PT Manager opens the moment you sign up with FASTER, and adding real clients unlocks when you pass a course. Today's third post shows a PT Manager tool that takes joint angles from the analyser and draws them as a picture.
Where to go next
Motor Skill Application Specialist teaches bone motion in full, with joints and muscles after it. The first post today, on the three fuels in the Level 3 nutrition unit, shows another place where one clear idea makes a whole unit easy to follow.
FASTER Daily News sends you each day's blog links, the latest on new courses and live opportunities, and updates to PT Manager, free for students. Sign up at /newsletter.
You just read one answer. The course is all of them.
Motor Skill Application Specialist, where bone motion is taught: every answer marked by a real tutor, with free return access for life. The price is on the page, payment plans at checkout, no sales calls.
Also worth a look: PT Manager, free with any FASTER course.
See what the course covers →What every FASTER student gets
Built around you, not around the course
- A real person marks every answerEvery answer is read and marked by a tutor, with written feedback.
- Marked as you goEach teaching point is marked as you answer it, not at the end of the module.
- Dictate instead of typeA microphone on every written answer: say your answer and it types it for you (Chrome, Edge and Safari).
- Listen to the lessonsVoice-overs on the lessons, and the audio to download.
- Built for the way your brain worksShort lessons, one point at a time, marked as you go, with the choice to listen, read, print or speak your answers.
- Streaks that never punish youYou set how many days a week you want to study. Miss a day and your streak pauses; it is never lost.
- Accessible to WCAG AA, with an AAA optionEvery page measured against the WCAG accessibility standard: no faults at level A or AA, with a skip link, screen-reader labels and pages that hold together zoomed to 400%. A high-contrast option takes it to AAA.
- Keep it plainOne switch turns off the extras, the streaks, the badges, the celebrations and the movement, so the site stays plain and calm. Switch them back on whenever you like.
- Bigger text and wider spacingTwo steps of bigger text, and more room between lines, words and letters, on every page.
- Calmer motionOne switch stops animations and videos that play on their own. It is on already if your phone or computer asks for reduced motion.
- A personal video lessonWhen an answer needs real explaining, your marker records a video that lands in your course.
- A note before you sendBefore you send, the page tells you if your answer copies the lesson word for word, so you can put it in your own words.
- The skeleton and muscle labsTap any bone on the skeleton, and see the muscles light up on the model.
- Print the notesPrint the lessons and go old school.
- Case studies on your phoneBuilt into the site, saved as you go, there on your laptop when you sit down.
- Pin it to your home screenNo App Store and no Google Play. It is just there.
- No resit feesWork sent back is a chance to add more, with no resit fee.
- Return access for lifeQualify once and come back to the content whenever you need it.
- PT Manager from day onePT Manager is yours to learn on from the day you sign up. Using it with real clients comes once you hold your Level 3 and are listed on the FASTER Trainer Register.
- The FASTER Trainer RegisterA free listing on the Register once you qualify.
- Your certificates in one placeEvery course and its certificate on one page.
- Ask JohnThe Ask John button on every page, and his WhatsApp.
And PT Manager, free
51 tools to run your business, with no monthly fee and no cut of your money
PT Manager is yours to learn on from the day you sign up. Using it with real clients comes once you hold your Level 3 and are listed on the FASTER Trainer Register.
See all 51 tools
Set-up
- Import clients Bring a whole client list across in one go.
- My quotes Daily lines your clients see — yours, not stock.
- Programme templates The programme shapes you reuse — a session or twelve weeks. Pick one for a client, get your own copy.
- Exercise library Every exercise with FASTER coaching detail.
- Money Products, payments and who owes what.
- Send from your own email Connect your own email service so invites arrive from you, on your domain.
- My brand & client view What your clients see when they walk in — views, header, accent, logo.
- Your enrolment pack What every new client gets the moment you enrol them — your forms, ours, or a mix.
- Products and services What you sell — blocks, packages, memberships and one-offs, with their prices.
- Insurance Your policy on record — provider and expiry. Client features unlock while it is valid.
- My menu Switch any tool on or off — for your menu, your home and your whole account.
- Your website A free website on your own web address, filled from PT Manager. Or just the client sign-in door on your domain.
- Your public page Your verified Trainer Register listing, linking out to your own site and socials.
Business day to day
- Clients Your client list — invite, open a client, manage their space.
- Clubs Group your clients — a board they share, a programme or a monthly price if you want one.
- Challenges A dated push everyone logs against — for everyone you train, or for one club.
- Calendar Sessions, classes, capacity and bookings.
- Reminders The dates your business can't let lapse — insurance and first aid, nagged ahead of time.
- Nudges Who needs a nudge today — opportunities, one tap each.
- Who needs chasing Every conversation about money, in the order to work through them.
- What needs doing Your own list, in your own words — the jobs you keep meaning to get to.
- Till Sell at the desk — cash, card or on their phone — and download the sales sheet.
- What you are making What is coming in every month, what was paid in the last 30 days, and what sells.
Templates and systems
- Forms & interviews PAR-Q, consent, consultations and your own forms.
- Coaching room The coaching tools shelf — wheels, journeys and resources in one place.
- Radar wheels Build a life or performance wheel a client fills in — see change over time.
- Nutrition by FASTER Nutrition sheets and habits without meal-plan pretence.
- Pathways Automated coaching journeys you assign to clients.
- Programmes Start a programme — a session, a month, 12 weeks or a season — and find the ones you have built.
- Games & drills planner Build game-based sessions and drills.
- Sport screens Pick a sport — the shots to film, the analyser, and a ready-made radar of the qualities that matter.
- Movement screen → radar Read joint angles off the analyser — they auto-score and fill a radar wheel.
- Assessment builder Build and run client assessments and re-tests.
- Tag analytics Every tag across your clips, grouped and exportable.
Client
- AI prompts Your reusable prompt library for coaching copy.
- Before & after Side-by-side progress comparisons.
Trainer tools
- Exercise generator Fresh exercise ideas from constraints you set.
- FASTER dice & wheel Spin-and-roll session variety for groups and games.
- Movement demonstrator A 3D model of the FASTER movement patterns — body or skeleton view, prime movers lit up, live joint angles.
- Client video analysis Your media library — client folders and your own. Pick a clip to analyse.
- Movement by FASTER (HMAC) Human movement analysis charts — see how a client moves.
- Live analysis Mount your phone and coach live — skeleton, reps, angles and depth in real time.
- Tell a group One thing, to the right people — and you see exactly who it reaches first.
Media centre
- Video builder Reels, stories and client report videos, in your own branding.
- Image builder Branded posts and cards for your socials, at the right size.
- Shot list builder Every shot with its size, angle, lens, location, people, kit and sound; sorted into shooting order, ticked off on the day, printed or sent as a sheet.
- Storyboard builder Plan a video shot by shot: what the camera sees, what is said, the move and the cut.
- Script writer Write what you will say, with the word count and how long it takes to say.
- Teleprompter Read your script off the screen at your speed, and film yourself behind it.
- Video and image organiser Everything you have made and every source you can pull from.
- Ad builder Make your own ads, coached as you go, in your branding. As many as you like, no fee, no cap.
Frequently asked
How many descriptions does a moving bone need?
Six, chosen from twelve options, covering every possible movement of the bone in space.
Why start with bones?
Bones are the part of the body you see travel relative to each other, so they are landmarks for predicting how a joint feels and how the muscles react.
Where is this taught?
In Module 5 of the Motor Skill Application Specialist course.
Is it hard to learn?
The course gives it as a table with a labelled skeleton, and the lesson can be read, listened to, written or dictated.
Reading this for your own training? Every trainer on the FASTER register has been assessed by us — search by town or speciality, free.
Find a FASTER trainer →
