What is functional strength training? Functional strength training has become a popular word in the fitness community. We perform a wide range of movement activities, such as walking, jogging, sprinting, jumping, pushing and pulling. All our movements that we perform throughout our day involve smooth, rhythmic motions in the three plans of movement, saggital, frontal, and transverse. Training to improve functional strength involves more than training a isolated muscle or muscle group. It requires training to enhance the working relationship between the nervous and muscular system.
In functional strength training it is as important to train the movement as it is to train the muscle group that performs the movement. Our brain thinks in terms of controlling whole movements not individual muscles. Exercises that isolate muscles are training muscles not movements, which results in less functional improvement. For example a squat would be a better choice of functional exercise than knee extensions in improving a individuals ability to rise off a sofa than knee extensions.
Exercises performed on traditional strength training machines tend to be the low end of functional training because they stabilize in a controlled environment; this is not realistic in our activities of daily living. However this type of exercise does play a role in strengthening our weak links so that we can better perform our functional training activities and reduce the risk of injury.
Functional strength training is not an all or nothing concept, Functional strength training should be a supplement to traditional strength training to provide exercise variety and additional training benefits that may transfer to improvements to real life activities.
What is functional strength training? Functional strength training has become a popular word in the fitness community. We perform a wide range of movement activities, such as walking, jogging, sprinting, jumping, pushing and pulling. All our movements that we perform throughout our day involve smooth, rhythmic motions in the three plans of movement, saggital, frontal, and transverse. Training to improve functional strength involves more than training a isolated muscle or muscle group. It requires training to enhance the working relationship between the nervous and muscular system.
In functional strength training it is as important to train the movement as it is to train the muscle group that performs the movement. Our brain thinks in terms of controlling whole movements not individual muscles. Exercises that isolate muscles are training muscles not movements, which results in less functional improvement. For example a squat would be a better choice of functional exercise than knee extensions in improving a individuals ability to rise off a sofa than knee extensions.
Exercises performed on traditional strength training machines tend to be the low end of functional training because they stabilize in a controlled environment; this is not realistic in our activities of daily living. However this type of exercise does play a role in strengthening our weak links so that we can better perform our functional training activities and reduce the risk of injury.
Functional strength training is not an all or nothing concept, Functional strength training should be a supplement to traditional strength training to provide exercise variety and additional training benefits that may transfer to improvements to real life activities.