I have heard the phase “functional training” too much. I know, many will disagree with me. I am okay with that. It is after all, just a pair of words. There are countless phrases that are used unnecessarily. So, why should I care? I care because it causes confusion, and, frankly, shortchanges the exerciser. It distracts from a focus on proper goals and effectiveness.
The phrase “functional training” implies that all other training is “nonfunctional training”. Since any exercise can benefit performance, it is more a matter of functional v. dysfunctional (that which leads to injury). The most important concern regarding training is that it appropriately matches the goals of the exerciser. Functional training (if we call it that) includes the health-related components of physical fitness (cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle endurance, muscle strength, flexibility, and body composition) and neuromotor skill-related components of physical fitness (speed, power, agility, balance, coordination, and reaction time). It may or may not involve stability balls and/or body weight exercises. It may or may not involve machines or free weights. Exercises may or may not resemble real-life movements. The “basic 5” (i.e., squat, deadlift, bench, row, and overhead press) are, indeed, functional in their many variations. So, the reality is that there is effective training and ineffective training. There is not much gray in between.
Know your goals and how to achieve them. That is functional exercise.
“You can’t definitively label an exercise or a workout functional or non-functional—there’s only appropriate or inappropriate for a person given their particular goals and limitations. Choosing exercises, rep schemes, and workout programs that match your goals and tracking performance indicators to help you reach them doesn’t sound like a functional approach, a non-functional approach, or anything in between: It just sounds like smart training.”—Andrew Heffernan1
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!
1 https://www.muscleandfitness.com/flexonline/news/whats-difference-between-functional-training-and-bodybuilding?fbclid=IwAR1EngThhQFAxc2eD0IRPlx2zas7j6gMkhqB1XwOoZWv136nFPy7dChhn9E