What IS Functional Training?
 
Functional training is not as complex as its name implies. Originally developed as a form of physical therapy or rehabilitation, functional training has grown to be a popular form of exercise. The idea of functional training is that you are training the muscular movements not just the muscles. Think of the lifting and twisting required to pull heavy objects out of the trunk of your car, or the bending, pushing and pulling required to vacuum a large rug. There are a lot of muscles engaged in these types of movements: core muscles (back and abdominal muscles), arms and even your legs.
 
While standard weight bearing exercises like biceps curls are great and will strengthen muscles, this type of exercise only strengthens one isolated muscle group, perhaps to the exclusion of other muscles that need attention too. Functional training can be performed by anyone and is one of the best ways to make your day-to-day chores easier to perform. Functional training can help make your stronger, improve balance and make you more flexible. All three of which can make it easier to do chores around your home. Not only will activates become easier, you will be less likely to injure yourself doing something as seemingly simple as bending over to take clothes out of the dryer.
 
Functional training can be particularly useful for individuals over 50. As we age our strength naturally decreases, so too does our ability to control our muscles (reflexes). Functional training which strengthens the coordination of the relationship between the nervous and muscular systems can help to maintain muscle and improve our reflexes and reaction time.

So what is an example of a functional exercise? This definition is different for everyone, but generally speaking functional training exercises are one in which you are using more than one muscle group at a time. Think again of biceps curls; traditionally to do these exercises you would stand with your legs hip-width apart, elbows bent at 90 angles and with weights in each hand, you raise the weight to your shoulder and back down. This exercise is working your arm muscles, but imagine doing this exercise on one leg, this would strengthen your standing leg, core muscles (back and abdominal muscles) and your arms! All of which is good for maintaining a strong body that can handle day-to-day chores easily.

There are many variations of functional training and every person will start at different levels of fitness, strength and endurance. If functional training is something you are considering ask a trainer at your local gym to show you how you can incorporate functional training into your workout and into your day.