What's your FUNCTION?

We hear it all the time, so what exactly is “functional training?”
I ask because I’ve developed this reputation as being a very “functional” trainer. I don’t dispute that some of the exercises I do are a little different, but as long as they’re safe, functional and produce the desired effect, that’s all I’m concerned with. The definition of functional training continues to be discussed by many, including those of us in the fitness industry. If we as trainers don’t have a clear definition of it, I’m sure that most of you don’t either.
The reason for the ambiguity, in my opinion, is because there are so many variables to it. An exercise that’s functional for a hairdresser who stands on her feet all day might not be functional for the accountant who sits all day. Squats and lunges, though longstanding traditional exercises, also fall under the large functional training umbrella. Still, there are some elements of functional training that remain constant. First of all, the majority of it is ground-based. Why? Because that is how we homosapiens live: on our feet! That’s not to say I don’t do dumbbell chest presses, seated lat pulldowns, sit-ups or crunches (although the last two are vastly overrated and overdone). I love dumbbell presses, but just as often, I’m going to do a standing chest press with cables or bands, which is going to force me to engage the muscles in my core and make it more of a total body exercise. Instead of working mainly chest and front delts on a lying chest press, I’m now also working the stabilizers in my trunk, hips and even my legs. And if more muscles are engaged, guess what, you’re burning more calories, which is going to help you get lean!
Most definitions of functional training also include core-based, multi-joint, multi-planar INTEGRATED movement. This is a shift from decades ago when so much of weightlifting focused on lots of machines and performing isolated movements, which will build muscle but won’t do much else. As I wrote in my blog on rotation, again, it boils down to what you’re training for: for function and performance or for vanity? (For the record, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a little vanity. I include some isolated movements in my routine and my clients’ because, hey, don’t we all want to look better? I wish more people would take some pride in their appearance, but let me not even get on that soapbox).
Many years ago, training was driven largely by vanity: make my muscles bigger. So we - guys especially – obsessed on pumping up our arms with curls and triceps pushdowns. We did five sets of bench press - and then another five on inclines - because “Hey, how much you bench?” was the measuring stick of one’s strength. I benched with the best of them back in the day, but I don’t know or care what my max is these days.
When I assess my training style and what might make it different, I’d say it’s probably more function/movement-base with greater emphasis on hips and glutes. That falls in line with my training philosophy. My goal as a trainer is to get my clients to first to feel better, move better and then look better. And if I accomplish the first two, the third one will take care of itself. Where so many people go wrong is that they train with the PRIMARY focus of looking better, yet their bodies are hampered by inactive, non-firing muscles and postural imbalances due to limited flexibility/mobility. To go directly into a hypertrophy (muscle growth) phase would be akin to building a house on a faulty foundation. Sure, you might be fine for awhile. You’ll even start to look better. But eventually that house is going to crumble. As trainers, we have to assess and correct before we worry about building.

So when I think of functional training, I think of getting the body to do what it’s supposed to do; assisting the ease of movement. Because through the years all of us have developed restrictions and faulty movement patterns that sooner or later will manifest in the form of pain or injury. For instance, maybe you sit 8, 10, 12 hours a day, which leads to the shortening of your hip flexors. That in turn leads to an anterior pelvic tilt and excessive curve in your low back (lordosis). If you constantly carried your kids in your right arm, it may have caused a slight shift in your hips and back. That postural imbalance might not presently cause pain, but over time, it will. And it also will compromise your ability to produce power because your body is no longer optimally aligned. For instance, if someone lacks mobility in their hips and ankles and can’t do a bodyweight squat without arching their back, their knees caving in or their heels coming off the floor, do you think it’s wise to compound the problem and have them do a squat with 135 pounds on their back? That’s a back or knee injury waiting to happen.
The biggest problem in getting the body to do what it’s supposed to do is that most people don’t know what it’s supposed to do: they don’t understand muscles’ functions. And hey, I’ve been a workout junkie since high school, but I didn’t have a grasp of function until I became a trainer nine years ago, so I don’t expect my clients to. But armed with that knowledge, I train my body first for optimum function/performance. That’s why at 45 I don’t have the slightest bit of pain and why I do things athletically that I couldn’t do in my 30’s when I benched 350 and squatted 500 (and always had back pain. Hmmmmm…..!)
So my advice to most is to include a few more functional exercises, ones that make your everyday activities easier by improving your movement patterns AND then get you stronger. Remember, think feel better, move better, look better – and in that order. Don’t let vanity drive you. But she can be a passenger! If you’re experiencing weakness, tightness and pain in an area, don’t train around it. Correct it. If you’re unsure of what to do, drop me a line and I’ll give you a few tips.

Robert Haddocks is Certified Personal Trainer with the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the National Academy of Sports Medicine; and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the NSCA. He works at Lifetime Fitness in Woodstock, GA.