From picking up your toddler and schlepping groceries to climbing a flight of stairs and gardening, every single day is punctuated by movements that ask our body to push, pull, bend, lift, twist, squat and walk. So, how can we train smarter to face these physical demands of everyday life and enhance our overall quality of life? Enter the realm of “Functional Fitness”.
A Shift from Isolated Exercises
In traditional gym workouts, we isolate specific muscles. While that can help bulk up a particular muscle for that aesthetic appeal, it doesn’t necessarily translate to improved overall performance in our daily lives. Real-life movements are not isolated; they are complex, involving multiple muscle groups. The philosophy of functional training focuses on compound movements that require stability and utilize the coordination of many muscles, just as we would in our daily life.
Bringing Balance to the Routine
Functional Fitness promotes balance, agility, muscle strength, and endurance. It emphasizes core stability, which is crucial to our body’s power thus improving our performance and reducing the risk of injury. Cognitive jugglery like standing on one leg or exercises focusing on intricate motor skills help improve your balance and engage multiple parts of your brain, fostering overall cognitive health too.
Broadening the Horizon with Movement Patterns
Functional training is based on complex, multi-directional movements. Picture mundane activities like reaching up to retrieve something or bending over to pick something from the floor. They involve various movement patterns. By simulating these movements in functional training, you’re conditioning your body for those real-world activities, enhancing efficiency and safety.
Mix Everyday Life with Exercises
Functional exercises can be as simple as mimicking daily movements. For instance, squats simulate the act of sitting down and standing up. Exercises like lunges help us when we step forward to climb stairs. Pushing an object like a heavy door requires pushing muscles, mimicked in a pushing workout routine. Pulling workouts strengthen our back muscles needed when we pull objects towards us. These exercises lay the foundation of functional training.
Harness the Power of Power Racks
Now, as we delve deeper into the world of functional training, let’s not overlook the versatility and efficiency of quality power racks, an unsung hero in the toolbox of functional fitness.
A power rack or squat rack is a staple in any comprehensive strength training regime, whether it’s for home or gym use. With a wide range of exercises you can perform on it, a power rack is the epitome of functionality. From squats and deadlifts to bench presses and pull-ups, it effectively engages multiple muscle groups, much like real-life physical tasks.
Investing in a power rack is investing in comprehensive functional strength. This contraption has adjustable arms (spotter bars) that allow you to try various exercises safely without a spotter. They act as your personal safety net by catching the barbell if you fail to lift or push the weight. With a power rack at hand, you have control over your workout, the positions, the range of motion, and the weight.
Implementing Functional Fitness
Here’s a great Functional Fitness exercise plan to get you started:
- Squats: Stand with your feet. Lower your body as if sitting back into a chair. Keep your knees over your ankles as much as possible. Pause, then slowly rise back up to standing.
- Lunges: Step forward with one foot and lower your body until your knee is at a 90-degree angle. Pause, then press through your heel to rise back up.
- Step-ups: Use a sturdy chair or a low bench. Step up with your right foot, press down on your right heel to lift your body onto the step. Follow with your left foot. Step down with your left foot, followed by your right foot.
- Supermans: Lie on your stomach on a mat. Extend your arms out in front. Lift your head, chest, arms, and legs off the floor and hold for a count of three. Slowly lower everything back down.
Remember to warm up before and cool down after workouts and don’t forget to breathe properly during each exercise.
Bodyweight and Equipment
Functional Fitness can be adapted to various fitness levels and needs. Bodyweight exercises are great for beginners. As you progress, you can start incorporating equipment like kettlebells, medicine balls, resistance bands, balance boards or BOSU balls to add variety, challenge and resistance to your workout.
The Underlying Principle
Functional Fitness exercises improve your muscular balance and coordination, which in turn boosts overall strength and reduces the risk of injury. The underlying principle is simple – train your body the way it’s built to move. The fun part is, there’s nearly an infinite number of ways to challenge your body with functional fitness.
Bottom Line
In a world where convenience is paramount and sedentary lifestyles are the norm, Functional Fitness prepares us better for real-life movements and activities. These are exercises that help us not just to live, but to thrive. It’s not about having bulging muscles or a chiseled physique, but about creating a body that’s strong, balanced, and flexible, capable of carrying out life’s everyday tasks with ease. Start today, embrace the philosophy of “train as you live,” and elevate the way your body moves and works in the real-world. After all, isn’t that what fitness should truly be about?
