The Facts: Functional Fitness Training

Every gym member on the planet is well acquainted with traditional strength training techniques. Traditional strength training most often involves the use of machinery that has long been the backbone of every gym and most fitness programs. Machines for leg presses, dips, leg extensions, bicep curls, overhead presses, etc. are of course each designed for a specific exercise that focuses on isolating a specific muscle in order to make it stronger. Simple, right?

Well in recent years many experts, from personal trainers to fitness coaches, decided that these traditional strength training exercises might indeed be too simple - or limiting. Not that these classic exercises are in any danger of being thrown out for ineffectiveness. On the contrary, such muscle isolation exercises are unquestionably successful in increasing strength in their particular area. But what has become increasingly popular in gyms everywhere is a more well rounded approach to increasing strength, known as functional strength training. One published report best describes functional training as “specific exercises that most closely replicate and enhance the activities you want to do outside in the three dimensional world.”

So it may be great that your legs have gotten stronger and harder from doing seated leg presses or that you can curl more on the bicep machine than you could three months ago - but how can this help you at work or when you are doing a home landscaping project? Well the true purpose of functional training is so that the strength one gains in the gym more directly benefits all of the activities of daily living - as well as specific sports. For example, doing standing squats as opposed to seated leg extensions helps strengthen the lower body overall, making one more physically prepared for (as it is more closely related to) bending down to hoist a crying toddler from his playpen or carrying a heavy bag of dirt on your shoulders and placing it down on the ground. We are essentially capturing the increases in strength achieved in one movement (the gym exercise) and transferring them to another movement (in your daily life) or as one expert describes “connecting them back to improvements of performance of another movement.” A more universal result of functional training is simply being able to do whatever it is you desire - and that can range from the duties of a suburban dad to the demands of being a pro football player or personal trainer- without becoming easily fatigued.

Stephen Williamson, a specialist in athlete development and a BodyBlast Personal Trainer, claims that “every task depends on functional strength for successful execution” - whether it be getting out of a car or lifting a heavy grocery bag. Therefore, training the movement control is as essential as training the individual muscles involved in the movement. Williamson adds that “the key concept for defining a functional exercise is transfer.”

Personal trainers have complained that much of traditional strength training involved the person being made to sit while exercising; i.e., leg presses, shoulder presses. Experts now believe that for successful transfer of strength exercises, the training movements need to closely mimic the actual performance - the squat being similar to rising from a chair, the standing upper body lift or press being like reaching to place something on a high shelf. By instead making the person stand while exercising, transfer of strength is more likely to result.

The best functional exercise must be similar to the goal movement in all four areas: Coordination - the entire body must be coordinated to successfully perform the movement; Range of Motion - training must include a range of motion equal to or greater than the goal range of motion; Type of Contraction - training which uses the same type of muscle contraction as the goal activity, thereby using concentric (shortening), eccentric (lengthening) and isometric (stabilizing) contractions while training to mimic and successfully complete the goal activity; Speed of Movement - strength will best transfer to movements performed at a speed that is similar between the one performed in the gym and a specific activity of daily living.

BodyBlast Fitness Studios offer a number of different fitness modalities including Functional Training with all personal training programs. If you would like more information about BodyBlast personal training or just have a question about functional training... please check us out at www.bodyblast.com/personal-training/