What Is Functional Training?
If I were to describe what functional fitness is in one sentence, I’d describe it as training for strength, mobility, and adaptability with an emphasis on human anatomy and biomechanics.
In this article, I am going to break down some of the basics, and no, you don’t have to be an Exercise Science Major, or a Certified Fitness Instructor to start adding more functional fitness into your training!
What is Functional Training?
“Functional” by definition is anything that is designed to be practical and useful, rather than solely aesthetically pleasing.
In terms of fitness and training, functional exercises are based on activities of daily life that follow natural movement patterns, like squatting and hinging.
Aside from training for everyday life, functional training is often utilized as an approach to rehabilitate people with movement disorders or injuries.
Being that this type of training can also help restore and strengthen the tissues and joints, functional training has become more popular due to the benefits of injury prevention and long-term health (longevity).
Training for Human Movement
When breaking down what functional movement is, it’s important that we start with the fundamental planes of motion.
To ensure that we are creating a well-balanced body and training regimen, each plane of motion should be taken into consideration.
Planes of motion:
Sagittal (forward and back movement)
Frontal (lateral movement)
Transverse (rotational movement)
In everyday life, we utilize all three planes of motion. However, many of us primarily move in a sagittal plane (forward and back) when exercising, often neglecting the frontal (lateral) and transverse planes (rotational).
When we undertrain any area of the body, that is when we become more prone to injury. That’s why I love to incorporate variability with consistency to stay healthy.
Being that the human body is designed as a dynamic and integrated system - functional training routines often reflect this by combining different elements of strength, balance, coordination, flexibility, agility, etc. to incorporate as many elements as possible.
If you ask me, the best part about functional fitness is that you don’t always need a gym, you can workout at home or at the park by sticking to the fundamental planes of motion and the basic movement patterns that we will cover.
Biomechanics
On any given day, our bodies go through five fundamental movement patterns:
Push
Pull
Squat
Hinge
Rotation
When choosing exercises that utilize functional movement patterns, they usually closely relate movement patterns you do every day, rather than focusing on isolating muscle groups.
Additionally, functional exercises usually include multiplanar and multi-joint movements to simulate how we would actually move in our daily life.
As previously mentioned, balance and coordination are typically emphasized along with core strength since these are extremely important for injury prevention.
The most common types of exercises are done with bodyweight, kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells, sandbags, TRXs, medicine balls, and more.
Unconventional training is an umbrella of functional fitness that uses odd tools like sledgehammers, and Indian clubs rather than machines that you’d find at your local gym. Therefore any type of tool can be used as long as it is used properly.
Joints: Stability vs Mobility
Stability by definition is the ability of the body to maintain postural equilibrium and support joints during movement.
Mobility is defined as the ability of a joint to move freely and easily, with control.
One of the reasons the body is able to move so dynamically is because of our sophisticated joints!
Most training systems tend to focus on muscular strength and endurance while ignoring the joints - keep in mind, neglected joints are what usually end up causing pain and injury.
Like all things in nature, the body follows a pattern of stable and mobile joints throughout the body (see image below).
Joint Structure
There are 3 basic joint structures in the body: ball and socket, hinge, and facet joints.
Ball and Socket Joints
This type of joint structure allows for a greater range of motion than any other kind of joint in the body.
Only the shoulder and hip joints are ball and socket.
These joints require a vast amount of musculature to move and support such flexible joints.
Because they are such mobile joints, they are more prone to injury and require more stability and mobility than other joints.
Hinge Joints
This type of joint is structured in a way that permits movement in only one plane of motion.
The knee is the largest hinge joint in the body. The elbow, ankle, and digits are also hinge joints.
The function of the hinge joint is to increase stability.
Facet Joints
These joints are located on the back of the spine and are a part of each vertebra.
They provide support for the transfer and constraint of loads applied to the spinal column.
These articulations ensure the stability and also overall mobility of the spine while protecting the spinal cord.
Between each facet joint is a cartilage surface (disc) that provides a sliding surface to facilitate motion during normal conditions in a healthy spine.
If you’d like to read more about the spine and how it functions, check out my article Spine Health Is Wealth.
Making sure you have a good mixture of stability and mobility exercises throughout your training will help you achieve a healthier, more durable, and pain-free body!
Functional movement patterns
Humans can seemingly move in many different ways, but virtually all movements stem from the five basic movement patterns mentioned earlier.
Keep in mind that any exercise and movement pattern can have the potential of injury if performed improperly or with poor form. Intention is everything!
Squat
The squat is one of the most common strength training exercises and also one of the most prevalent movement patterns used in everyday life (i.e. picking up a child, cleaning something off the floor.)
Having a good balance of ankle, knee, hip, and low and mid-back (thoracic) mobility and stability is key to moving functionally within a squat pattern.
The squat pattern is considered a more knee dominant movement, where the knees are pushed forward over the toes as the hips descend downwards.
The squat is focused more on quads and glutes.
Single-leg squats, like Bulgarian Split Squats are a great way to train strength discrepancies too!
Hinge
Also one of the most common strength training movement patterns that’s used often in everyday life (i.e. bending over while brushing your teeth, moving a couch, grabbing something off a low shelf).
Core strength is very essential to execute the hinge to protect the low back.
This movement is considered more hip dominant and should have a little bend in the knees.
The hinge focuses more on hamstrings and glutes.
Push
Pushing movements are generally any movement involving pushing an object away or pushing yourself against gravity.
This can be broken down into mostly horizontal and vertical pushing patterns.
These are important for everyday activities such as pushing open a door, getting up off the floor, or putting something on a high shelf.
To perform correctly you need a good amount of mobility as well as stability in the shoulders, scapulae, and thoracic spine.
Pull
Pulling movements involve anything that require you to pull something toward yourself, or pulling yourself closer to an object (ie. pullup bar).
There are also vertical and horizontal pulling movements.
These are important for everyday movements including picking something heavy off the floor, carrying groceries, and opening a door towards yourself.
Pulling movements also require stability and mobility of the shoulders, scapula, and thoracic spine.
Rotation
Any movement that involves a twisting motion of the torso; used in everyday activities like picking up a child, reaching for something across from you, or looking behind you.
Rotational movements are the most complex and typically involve multiple planes of motion as well as some sort of pushing or pulling movement.
Often disregarded when it comes to training patterns.
These movements often increase the tension that’s put on the spine and require a good amount of core strength to perform effectively.
Most of the things we do in our everyday lives will include a combination of these movement patterns which is why functional training usually includes multijoint and multiplanar exercises to mimic that of everyday life!
Check out this kettlebell flow where I incorporate all of the movement patterns - hinge, pull, squat, press, and rotate! Flows are fun - but be sure to practice each movement pattern on its own for mastery!
Elements of Functional Training
Any well-balanced functional training program will include some key things to ensure your body is strong, mobile, and ready for whatever your everyday life throws at you - with longevity in mind.
Essentially, your training should include a combination of strength, mobility, stability, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, agility, balance, and coordination.
Muscular strength is the foundation of all physical movement - every movement requires a certain degree of physical strength including picking up a glass of water, walking up the stairs, or sitting down on a chair.
Cardiovascular exercise is an aerobic exercise that gets your heart and lungs working consistently. This is important for activities like walking upstairs or even vacuuming the house. This can be executed during training by walking, jogging, cycling, or completing a circuit style workout for a prescribed amount of time.
Agility is the ability to move quickly and freely. Agility training can improve the rate at which your muscles contract, which can diminish over time. This is considered essential for your everyday life for things like catching yourself when you trip.
Balance is a foundational element of all exercise programs. Balance requires you to have control of the body’s postural alignment while standing still and moving. It helps us in everyday life when we move from one leg to the other (walking), change directions, or stand on unstable surfaces.
Coordination is the ability to use different parts of the body together smoothly and efficiently. Improving your coordination in your workouts will improve your coordination in everyday life.
Example of Functional Workout
Warm-up
Lateral Lunges
Kneeling Spine Wave
Kettlebell Good Morning
Circuit 1
Kettlebell Squat to Rotational Press
Face Pulls
Push-Ups
Circuit 2
Bent Over Double Kettlebell Row
Beast Wave
Crab Reaches
Finisher
Skiers
Plyometric Lunges
Cool-down 5-10 minutes
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