Functional Fitness

Functional Fitness? Is It the Right Move for You?

1/23/23

Most of us go to the gym for greater strength, energy, and stamina that we can carry into our day-to-day lives. And while running on a treadmill and tapping it back on a bike will definitely help achieve those goals, they don't fully reflect the movements we do in our everyday life: carrying heavy farmers' market bags, squatting down to grab leggings from the bottom drawer, or pushing a vacuum cleaner around an apartment.

That's why our trainers recommend adding functional fitness to your routine.

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What is Functional Fitness?

1/23/23

Functional fitness exercises mimic the motions you make every day, training your muscle groups to help you do everyday activities easier, more safely, and efficiently.

Moves like squats, lunges, push-ups, and pull-ups (aka a lot of staple strength training exercises) fall into the functional exercise category."These movements are easily transferred over to real-life scenarios such as getting out of bed, which is rising in a squat, walking up a flight of stairs, which involves lunges, falling and pushing yourself back up, or a push-up motion, and climbing over a fence, or a pull-up.

Here, trainers break down what functional fitness really entails, what its many benefits are, and how to find the right gym for you. Keep reading for everything you need to know about functional fitness.

What are the benefits of functional fitness training?

1-23-23

Overall, the main health benefit of doing functional fitness training is that it helps you move in everyday life more fluidly and with better posture. These are all of the perks that functional exercises give you:

1. Less injury: The number-one benefit of functional fitness is that the slow progression of difficulty will protect you from injury. A good instructor / trainer will have a variety of exercises to help someone overcome physical limitations such as a bad back, sore joints, or other issues. So a proper functional fitness program will restore and maintain strength across multiple muscle groups, train your muscles so that you can move better in everyday life, minimizing the risk of injuries, and increasing endurance.

2. It can be social: There may also be some social perks associated with functional fitness, just like there are for any highly interactive group fitness class. We find clients get better results and become more engaged, compared to the typical commercial gym experience of putting on headphones, getting on a treadmill and then hitting a few exercise machines. Just think of Crossfit, which teaches a lot of functional fitness and is known for having a big community.

3. It's for all ages: Functional fitness is not just for the young and active—according to the Mayo Clinic, it can also be beneficial for older people, as it helps improve balance and agility.

4. You get increased flexibility: Functional fitness strengthens your muscles and your bones, and results in an increased range of both motion and flexibility. Because of this, you'll get a reduction in joint pain.

What dose functional fitness look like?

Here are some of our favorites:

1. Push-up:

Start off in a plank position with your hands placed directly beneath your shoulders. Keep your feet elevated and shoulder-distance apart. Lower your chest in a controlled manner to the ground and explosively push up to the starting position. Modify by doing this from your knees or using an elevated box or a bench for assistance.

2. Squat:

Start with your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly wider and angle your toes out about 20 degrees to allow hips to open at the bottom of the squat, says Castillo. Maintain your weight mostly in your heels and center of the feet, and send your butt back while lowering, keeping the chest upright and open. Allow your butt to lower knee crease level or below for full range of motion. Push through the heels to rise back up.

3. Renegade row:

From a plank position or from tabletop as a modification, use dumbbells underneath your shoulders and grip the weights. With your abs tight, pull one dumbbell up to the side of your chest, driving that elbow up to the ceiling while grazing the ribcage on the way up. Lower the weight down back to starting position in a controlled movement. Do the other side.

4. Pull-up:

Set your body up directly underneath a pull-up bar. Hop up or step up to the bar and dead hang, positioning your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Retract your shoulders and pull yourself up towards the bar until your chin fully clears. Keep your abs tight, fleet glued together, and maintain a slightly hollow position with your body. For a modification, try a banded pull-up or a leg-assisted bar pull-up.