Functional Training
Functional training is getting quite hot in
some gyms recently, but not everybody could grasp the concept completely and
implementing it correctly. The idea behind functional training is to do specific
strength exercises that most closely replicate and enhance the activities you want to
do outside in the three-dimensional world, like carrying heavy objects from the floor or
executing a golf swing.
The traditional way of doing strength training
with machines and weight benches is good only for developing strength in the
relevant muscles groups but it has very little value in the carry-over effect of
helping us in the types of movements we use for everyday living or sports (little wonder
bodybuilders are always being criticised for having a 'lot of non-functional
mucles'). For example, training leg muscles by doing hamstring curls and
leg extensions is not "functional" because unless you are training to kick
something every heavy in a fixed 2-dimensional plane. Another example is doing pectoral
flyes on the machine. The action of closing the arms in front of us forcefully
serves no purpose in our daily life. The basic foundation of functional training is
stability and mobility, these are the missing elements seen in the many typical
strength training routines.
In sports, doing typical strength routines
exclusively is also not very helpful. Many mistakenly think that as long as they
exercise the muscles that are used in the particular sport, they will
naturally perform better. If you do that, not only will you not improve the sport, it
may actually be counterproductive. Reason being, your newly acquired strength
are developed in a wrong way that affects your technical skill in your sport
negatively. For example, a tennis player who concentrates on typical strength
routines for upper and lower back (eg pull-downs and lower back extenstion), arms (eg
curls and extensions) and shoulders (eg lateral raise and shoulder presses), might be
strong and powerful while playing the game, but will quickly realise that the
accuracy will be off, impacting the scores negatively.
The only way to fix such problems is to
include functional training, on top of the usual strength routine (which is still
necessary to correct muscular imbalances and develop overall strength/power). Another plus
factor for inclusion of functional training is that it helps to prevent injuries and
aids in injuries rehabilitation. Some examples of functional exercise
are deadlift, squats, wood-chopping, dips, step-ups, lifting odd-objects and
walking lunges.
If you would like to take your sports to a
greater heights, prevent injury or recovering from injury, or simply just to get strong,
functional training is a must for you. Email us if you would like us to help you in
these areas.
