Step into one of the fastest-growing opportunities in health: chronic pain and rehabilitation.
Chronic low back pain and long-term dysfunction are rising globally, and integrated health is becoming a critical part of long-term recovery. IMS Level 3 prepares you to operate in the space between fitness and acute medical care where real rehabilitation happens.
As an IMS Level 3 Practitioner, you will rarely struggle to stay busy. Demand for long-term solutions continues to grow, especially for people dealing with chronic low back pain, recurring injuries, and persistent dysfunction. This is where the CHEK approach stands apart: deeper than the fitness industry is trained to go, and more integrated than most fast-appointment rehabilitation models are built to deliver. IMS Level 3 gives you the skills to become the specialist people seek out when they need more than generic exercise or short-term symptom management.
$2,987 Early Bird $3,147
Early bird pricing available on select sessions.
Find an IMS Level 3 Class Near You
Live dates across North America, Europe, and the South Pacific — with real-time availability and early bird pricing.
Can't find a class near you? Register your interest and we'll notify you when new dates are added.
For practitioners ready to step into a specialist role, attract better clients, and build a more valuable practice.
Attract clients who are serious about results
IMS Level 3 positions you to work with people who are actively looking for a specialist. These are not casual clients looking for generic sessions. They are invested in solving real pain and dysfunction issues and willing to pay for a higher standard of care.
Build a premium niche in a massive growth area
The middle ground between fitness and acute care is one of the biggest opportunities in health — but it does not reward generalists. IMS Level 3 helps you build a niche in chronic pain, spinal dysfunction, lumbopelvic rehabilitation, and lower-limb issues, where depth and specialist skill are what clients value most.
Command premium fees through specialist value
When your assessments are deeper, your reasoning is clearer, and your programming is more integrated, your work becomes harder to compare and harder to replace. That gives you a far stronger basis for charging premium fees and building a more stable practice.
Build a reputation that drives referrals
When you become known for helping with complex back pain and dysfunction cases, your reputation starts working for you. Results build trust, trust builds referrals, and referrals build the kind of premium practice most practitioners never reach.
Before you start IMS Level 3 Live
To get the full value from this advanced training, IMS Level 3 has clear prerequisites.
Complete the prerequisite courses first
IMS Level 3 builds on the movement analysis and precision assessment foundations established in IMS Level 2. Before attending the live training, you'll need to complete the required prerequisite courses so you arrive prepared for the rehabilitation focus, clinical reasoning, and practical application of Level 3.
- The CHEK Approach to the Lower Limb
- Spinal Structures and Function
- The Science and Application of Infant Development for Adults
Not included. Purchased separately.
View IMS 3 Prerequisite BundleIMS Level 2 completion required
IMS Level 3 is designed for practitioners who have already completed IMS Level 2 and are ready to progress into advanced spinal, pelvic, and lower-limb rehabilitation. This ensures everyone enters the room with the same foundation in precision assessment, movement analysis, and individualized programming.
Completion of IMS Level 2 including exam required.
Certification requirements
To receive your Certificate of Completion, you'll take part in the practical training, assessments, and applied learning activities delivered throughout the five-day live class. After the class has finished, you'll also complete an online multiple-choice exam to finalize certification.
Included with IMS Level 3 Live.
This is where advanced assessment becomes specialist rehabilitation programming.
Spinal biomechanics and lumbopelvic specialization
IMS Level 3 takes you deep into the lumbar spine, pelvis, and the structures that influence the lower limb. You'll develop a much more specialized understanding of how these regions function together, where dysfunction originates, and how to adjust programming for more complex presentations.
Neurological and orthopedic screening
You'll learn essential neurological and orthopedic screening methods that help you assess more complex cases with greater structure, safety, and precision. This allows you to identify key findings, recognize limitations, and make better programming decisions from the start.
Red flags and referral clarity
IMS Level 3 teaches you how to identify red flags through careful history-taking, screening, and assessment. That gives you greater confidence in knowing when to proceed, when to modify, and when referral to an allied professional is the right next step.
Specific corrective exercise for spinal stabilization
At this level, corrective exercise becomes far more condition-specific. You'll learn how to apply targeted strategies for spinal and core stabilization so your programs better support clients dealing with chronic dysfunction, recurring pain, and rehabilitation needs.
Lower-limb rehabilitation and return-to-function programming
IMS Level 3 expands your ability to work with the hip, knee, ankle, and foot as part of an integrated rehabilitation process. You'll learn how to progress clients from dysfunction and limitation toward real-world function, resilience, and return to sport.
From assessment findings to precise program design
The real shift in IMS Level 3 is your ability to translate complex findings into effective action. You leave with a more advanced system for turning biomechanics, screening results, and corrective priorities into highly specific rehabilitation programs.
Early bird pricing available on select sessions.
IMS Level 2 gives you exceptional precision.
IMS Level 3 is where that precision becomes true specialist capability.
IMS Level 2 gives you advanced assessment
After IMS Level 2, many practitioners already operate at a much higher standard than most of their peers. They can assess movement with impressive precision, prescribe more individualized programs, and deliver a far more sophisticated service.
IMS Level 3 gives you specialist rehabilitation skill
The practitioners who continue to IMS Level 3 are usually looking for something more: the ability to work confidently with complex spinal, pelvic, and lower-limb cases, and the competence to bridge the gap between corrective exercise, rehabilitation, and return to function.
IMS Level 3 gives you a true niche
This is where your work starts to stand apart in a much bigger way. Instead of being seen as a capable generalist, you begin to develop a reputation as the person who can help with more complex pain and dysfunction cases that require real depth and integrated reasoning.
The best practitioners keep developing
The strongest reputations are built by practitioners who do not stop at competence. They keep refining, specializing, and deepening their skill until their work becomes unmistakably different — and their results speak for themselves.
IMS Level 3 opens the door to specialist practice, stronger referral opportunities, and a far more valuable position in the rehabilitation and performance space.
Become the go-to specialist for back pain and dysfunction
IMS Level 3 gives you the skills to build a real niche in one of the most common and in-demand areas of health: chronic low back pain, lumbopelvic dysfunction, and lower-limb rehabilitation. In many communities, that makes you the practitioner people actively seek out.
Work in the middle ground where demand is greatest
The biggest opportunity is not in generic fitness and not in acute medical care. It is in the middle ground where people need expert help to move from pain and dysfunction back to function, sport, and confidence. IMS Level 3 is built specifically for that space.
Collaborate with rehabilitation and sports professionals
IMS Level 3 prepares you to work alongside physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, surgeons, and sports medicine teams — especially when clients are moving beyond acute care and need a more integrated return-to-function and return-to-performance strategy.
Build a premium specialist practice
Whether you work independently, within a wellness setting, or alongside other health professionals, IMS Level 3 helps you create a distinctive specialist offering. It gives you the depth, specificity, and results that support premium fees, stronger referrals, and long-term professional growth.
Early bird pricing available on select sessions.
Real results from real graduates.
Everything you need to know before you start.
Common questions, straight answers.
IMS Level 3 Live is a practical 5-day Advanced Training Programme covering spinal and lower-extremity rehabilitation and conditioning, delivered in person by CHEK Faculty. You will learn spinal biomechanics, neurological screening, essential orthopaedic screening tests, length/tension assessments and corrective stretching, along with how to identify red flags that could indicate a risk of injury. Advanced postural assessment using goniometric technology is taught, enabling you to design highly specific corrective exercise programmes. On completion you hold CHEK Practitioner Level 3 (Rehabilitation Specialist), making you a valuable addition to any medical or sports-medicine team, with the knowledge and supervised practice to work with clients with confidence.
IMS Level 3 is a professional certification within the CHEK Institute's internationally recognised Career Path. IMS 3 takes you to CHEK Practitioner Level 3 — the Rehabilitation Specialist designation — building on your Level 2 (Integrated Health Coach) qualification and adding spinal and lower-limb rehabilitation to your scope. This is a respected professional credential within the health and fitness industry; note that it is a CHEK professional certification rather than an accredited academic or post-secondary qualification.
There are five levels: IMS 1 (5 days), IMS 2 (5 days), IMS 3 (5 days), IMS 4 (5 days), and IMS 5. Each level has its own prerequisites and leads to a recognised CHEK Practitioner designation.
The five Career Path milestones are:
1. CHEK Practitioner Level 1 — Functional Health Coach
2. CHEK Practitioner Level 2 — Integrated Health Coach
3. CHEK Practitioner Level 3 — Rehabilitation Specialist
4. CHEK Practitioner Level 4 — Clinical Specialist
5. CHEK Practitioner Level 5 — Master CHEK Practitioner
There is also a 'CHEK Trained Professional' entry-level status, achieved upon completing your first Advanced Training Programme.
Building on Level 2, you need to complete: Infant Development, Spinal Structures and Function, and The CHEK Approach to the Lower Limb (online courses); plus IMS Level 3 (Advanced Training Programme).
Building on Level 3, you need to complete: Scientific Shoulder Training (online course); plus HLC Level 3 and IMS Level 4 (Advanced Training Programmes); plus The 1-2-3-4 of Overcoming Addiction, Obesity and Disease audio programme; and one Case History submission.
Each level significantly expands your scope. At Level 1 (Functional Health Coach) you can design advanced exercise programmes and use lifestyle assessments holistically. At Level 2 (Integrated Health Coach) you can trace illness and injury back to its root cause across integrated body systems. Level 3 (Rehabilitation Specialist) adds spinal and lower limb rehabilitation. Level 4 (Clinical Specialist) covers the upper quarter and complex clinical cases. Level 5 (Master CHEK Practitioner) represents full mastery of the CHEK system including mental, emotional and spiritual dimensions of health.
IMS 3 covers spinal and lower extremity rehabilitation and conditioning. You will learn spinal biomechanics, neurological screening, essential orthopaedic screening tests, length/tension assessments, corrective stretching, and how to identify red flags that could indicate risk of injury. Advanced postural assessment using goniometric technology is taught, enabling you to design highly specific corrective exercise programmes. IMS 3 graduates are a valuable addition to any medical or sports medicine team.
Prerequisites (must be completed 30 days before the course): completion of HLC Level 1 and IMS Level 2 including exams; proficient mastery of all IMS 2 concepts; current status as a Licensed CHEK Professional; Infant Development online course; The CHEK Approach to the Lower Limb; and Spinal Structures and Function.
Prices vary by region:
- US & Canada: $3,147 (Early Bird $2,987, at least 3 months before the course)
- UK & Europe: £2,395 (Early Bird £2,265)
- Australia: $3,565 AUD (Early Bird $3,325 AUD)
Prerequisites (must be completed 30 days before the course): completion of IMS Level 3 and HLC Level 2 including exams; proficient mastery of all IMS 3 and HLC 2 concepts; current status as a Licensed CHEK Professional; Scientific Shoulder Training; Atlas of Human Anatomy (4th or 5th Edition); The Clinical Orthopedic Assessment Guide (2nd Edition); and a Case History (contact the CHEK Institute for format and submission deadlines).
You will gain certificates of completion for each level of the Holistic Lifestyle Coaching and Integrated Movement Science series. At the end of three years you will have qualified as a CHEK Practitioner Level 3, with the option to continue to Years 4 and 5 to become a Master CHEK Practitioner.
Specialist demand is growing. So is the need for practitioners who can deliver real solutions.
Early bird pricing available on select sessions.
If you're ready to build a specialist practice in one of the most in-demand areas of health, IMS Level 3 is your next step.