Gray Cook

Gray Cook is a practicing physical therapist and orthopedic certified specialist. He is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist and kettlebell instructor. He is the founder of Functional Movement Systems and author of Athletic Body in Balance and Movement. His work promotes the concept of movement pattern screening and assessment. His ideas are at the forefront of fitness, conditioning, injury prevention, and rehabilitation.

He contends that we must map movement patterns and consider movement as a behavior and not simply as clean mechanical data—parts over patterns. We must also develop better understanding of how movement is learned, maintained, and restored. Cook's work cuts to the core of problems like low back pain, obesity, and the general physical decline of a modern culture. By revisiting the natural developmental principals that all infants employ as they learn to walk, run, and climb, Gray forces us to rethink motor learning, corrective exercise, and modern conditioning practices.