WELLNESS CONNECTION · Fitness

Functional Fitness Training

by Michael Brazeal, M.A., Director of Fitness, and Laurie Streff, Exercise Specialist

September 04, 2009 - 11:00AM

What is Functional Training? Simply put, it is exercise training that helps prepare you for your everyday functions, activities and movements of life. Do we really need washboard abs or buns of steel? This cosmetic approach has more to do with looks rather than function and performance. Most of us certainly don't have the enormous amount of time and energy that it would take to achieve for a body builder's physique. What is it that you really want from your fitness commitment? How about greater strength to lift and carry things like groceries, briefcases and children? Or, more agility and flexibility when bending and stretching, or reaching and twisting? Those are functions we physically do multiple times throughout every day - and are things we need to be able to do. By incorporating real-life movement patterns into exercise prepares the body for every day movements as well as recreational pursuits such as golf, tennis or dance.

Traditional resistance or weight training typically isolates one muscle group and strengthens that area by performing a repeated movement pattern several times from a fixed position or posture. Functional training is dynamic - it uses several muscle groups simultaneously and strength gains are achieved throughout the entire body, and there is improvement in balance, coordination, agility and flexibility as well. This type of training can be useful for all ages and for all activities, including sports specific training.

Functional Training is fun and convenient, too. First, you don't need a lot of heavy, bulky equipment. Actually, you can train without any machines or gadgets at all - your body is all you need. For example, take a simple exercise like a lunge, however now when you plant your feet apart, bring your hands together and reach out to the outside of your front foot, rotating your core while you reach. Instead of just being a forward lunge, that movement became something you actually might do in real life, such as reaching down for something that fell to the floor.

By using your fitness time to exercise functionally, you'll reap the rewards of being better prepared for the demands of your daily routine. By sticking with functional training you'll be able to do more off-balance physical situations than you ever thought you were capable of.

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