Functional training is something that’s becoming more and more commonplace at homes and in gyms all over the world. Essentially, it’s a way to improve the way you move when it comes to everyday tasks, wherever you are – at home, at work or anywhere else.
What is Functional Training?
In the simplest terms, functional training is about preparing your body for daily life by focusing on movements that build strength, power, and mobility. It’s like tailor-making your fitness routine to help you excel in your everyday adventures, big or small. Functional training emphasises core stability, balance, and flexibility, ensuring that your body moves the way it’s naturally designed to.
Think of it not just as working out, but as crafting a version of you that’s ready to take on a specific task, challenge or sport, one functional move at a time. It’s about making each day smoother and each movement more efficient, from bending over to pick up a dropped item to reaching up high to snag that top-shelf purchase.
There are specific functional tasks that relate to your individual tasks/sport, so the functional training that a slalom skier completes would be very different to that of a marathon runner as the movement demands are not the same.
Functional training doesn’t have to be done with any specific pieces of equipment. It’s just all about the way that you move and load your body. When you do decide to visit one of our gyms, however, we do have some great pieces of kit. These help provide the creative exercises to challenge those functional patterns too – so why not give them a try?
Why try Functional Training?
The beauty of functional training lies not just in its approach but in its foundation – real-life benefits. By simulating common movements you might do at home, at work, or in sports, you’re teaching your muscles to work together in harmony. This leads to:
- Improved balance and coordination
- Enhanced power and agility
- Decreased risk of injury
- Better posture and body mechanics
- Increased overall strength and stamina
What are the best Functional Training Exercises?
There are a whole host of functional training exercises that just about anyone can do. Keep reading to find out more about the most popular and common functional training exercises you can do at work.
Squats
One of the best resistance exercises that you can do, full stop. They recruit calf, thigh and your hip muscles, as well as your upper body and are a much more functional option than machine-based leg exercises. It’s a movement almost all of us use used every day when sitting, standing or picking items off the ground. There are lots of varieties to choose from to keep things varied and find the right version that works for you. A simple bodyweight squat is a great place to start.
Lunges
These recruit similar muscles to a squat but in a split stance while also providing more functional leg-based exercise than if you’re using a resistance machine. This helps to replicate functional tasks of climbing stairs, walking, running and bending down. Again, there are a huge number of options to choose from, but a simple forward step lunge is a great place to start.
Push Ups
A great simple upper body exercise that works on your push strength and challenges your core stability. Full push ups can be a little challenging to start with, but leaning against a wall instead of the floor, or doing floor push ups from your knees is an easier starting point.
Which Functional Training Exercises need Special Equipment?
These exercises need certain pieces of kit, which some of you may not have at home. Why not head down to your local Everyone Active gym, which are packed with all the very latest equipment and give them a try?
Suspension Training
Suspension trainers help add a different dimension to using your bodyweight for functional workouts, including emphasising rotational movement control. Follow this link to find out more about some functional suspension training exercises.
ViPR Training
These funky-looking weighted tubes help add varied load to your functional movement patterns. Check out some of the different ways you can use to challenge yourself with the ViPR right here.
BOSU Balance Training
Using a BOSU to perform functional training adds another dimension to your training regimen. The instability of the BOSU platform means you have to work your core hard to stay balanced while performing your functional training movements. Discover more about the functional training exercises you can do on a BOSU balance trainer right here.
Kettle Bell Training
Kettle bells are a great tool to help with your functional workout. They’re easy to manipulate, meaning you can add a greater degree of difficulty to any functional training you may be doing. Follow this link to find out more about kettle bell functional exercises.
Medicine Ball Training
Medicine balls are a common site in just about all of our gyms and they’re a fantastic tool to help improve your strength, co-ordination and performance. Discover how medicine balls can help with your functional workout here.
Slam Ball Training
Slam balls are rubber-coated balls that contain a mass inside them to stop them from bouncing. They’re often used to help improve muscle endurance, cardiovascular endurance, as well as explosive power. There are a number of ways these can be used as port of your functional training regime, discover a few slam ball exercises right here.
So next time you’re working out at your local Everyone Active gym, why not try functional training?