Functional Exercise
Functional Exercise
no movement = death
movement = life!!
We all know exercise is key for a healthy thriving body, but what type of exercise should we do?
Honestly, I recommend doing whatever exercise you love – walking, running, biking, swimming, weight lifting, yoga, etc. – BUT, I strongly believe one thing everyone needs to fit into their weekly routine is a couple days of functional exercise!
“Ideally, functional training conditions you to perform the actions of daily life, more effectively and efficiently.”
Personally, I believe in Functional Exercise/Training because it is the process of training your muscles to work together and prepare them for daily tasks. This type of training does this by simulating common movements done at home, at work or in sports. The movements use various muscles in the upper and lower body at the same time, and also emphasize core stability.
Instead of being at the gym focusing on one muscle group at a time, functional exercises tend to use multiple joints and numerous muscles. For example, instead of only moving the elbows, a functional exercise might involve the elbows, shoulders, spine, hips, knees and ankles. This type of training; making numerous muscle groups to work together simultaneously and properly can make everyday activities easier, reduce risk of injury, and improve your quality of life - which is what we want from exercise, right?
Facts about Functional Exercise/Training:
- Functional training has origins in physical therapy
- Functional training focuses on movements, not muscles
- Focuses on movement patterns (e.g., pushing, pulling, lifting, stepping, walking, crawling, jumping, squatting).
- Occurs in three planes of motion: sagittal (forward & backward), the frontal (side-to-side), and the transverse (rotational).
- An effective functional training program also favors free weights over machines, focuses on working muscles through full ranges of motion.
There are endless types of functional exercises, 5 that I would highly recommend to add into a normal fitness routine are below:
Squat With Overhead Reach
Begin with your feet slightly wider than hip's width apart and toes pointed slightly outward. Raise your arms up until your upper arms are even with your ears. If this is too difficult, rest your hands on your hips.
Keeping weight in your heels, sit back into a deep squat. Make sure your knees do not go beyond your toes or roll in or out of alignment. Keep your abs engaged as you squat.
Deepen your abdominal engagement as you press through your heels to return to standing, completing one rep.
Side to Side Lunge
Start standing with legs slightly wider than shoulder-distance apart and toes pointed forward.
Shift your body weight to one leg bending the knee until it reaches a 90-degree angle and the other leg is straight. Glutes are pressing back behind you. Return to center and switch sides.
Plank walk outs
Start in a standing position, bend over, and use your hands to walk downward to a plank, hold the plank and then use your hands to walk back up.
Pushups
Before doing standard push-ups, focus on where you place your hands to set yourself up for success. Your hands should be right under your shoulders or slightly wider and your fingertips should be pointed straight ahead. Keep your body solid and start doing push-ups. (Click the image to be taken to modified versions!)
If you do not have access to a bench or a chair you can do this off the floor, however it will not provide the full benefit or allow for the best alignment.
Tricep Dips
- Position your hands shoulder-width apart on a secured bench or stable chair.
- Slide your butt off the front of the bench with your legs extended out in front of you.
- Straighten your arms, keeping a little bend in your elbows to keep tension on your triceps and off your elbow joints.
- Slowly bend your elbows to lower your body toward the floor until your elbows are at about a 90-degree angle. Be sure to keep your back close to the bench.
- Once you reach the bottom of the movement, press down into the bench to straighten your elbows, returning to the starting position. This completes one rep.
- Keep your shoulders down as you lower and raise your body. You can bend your legs to modify this exercise.
Try these above exercises at home! Do 30-60 seconds of each exercise, as many as you can, with a 20-30 second rest in between, pause for a minute+ and repeat all exercises 1-4 times!
“As you add more functional exercises to your workout, you should see improvements in your ability to perform your everyday activities and, thus, in your quality of life. That’s quite a return on your exercise investment.”
Read a full article on Functional Fitness from May Clinic here.
Hope you enjoyed this brief introduction to Functional Exercise!
<3 Katherine