Functional training

🤸‍♂️Everything seems to be functional nowadays, but what exactly does it mean?

👶Think about the development of a baby. First they can spontaneously move their tiny arms and legs. Eventually they learn how to roll over, sit, crawl and, finally, stand up. Standing up is initially wobbly and babies spend a lot of time falling and getting up again. Once they gain a certain level of balance, they can walk.

✅So it is mobility first, then stability and then function – walking.

➡️If I think about functional training, I think about what function is the goal and then what mobility, stability and strength that requires.

🏃‍♀️+🏔For example, trail running requires decent lower body strength & endurance to move uphill and downhill, but it also requires good core and ankle stability because of uneven surfaces, rocks, tree roots and so on. Firstly though, it requires range of motion in the hips, knees and ankles. If we focus more on the ankles, they require stability in medial and lateral directions, mobility in dorsiflexion and strength in plantarflexion. So it turns out that truly functional training includes all of these aspects.

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I offer and practice FUNCTIONAL TRAINING rather than purely functional exercises. Some say that exercises have to replicate the sports or daily movements. I say the exercises need to cover the requirements of the sports or daily movements so they can be done in optimal form.

➡️Clients share what activity they do, want to improve or have difficulties with and I analyze the requirements for that activity, assess the client and then create individual programmes based on those factors.

The target activity can be anything – running, skiing, tramping, gardening and so on.

➡️ In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting a series of functional upper and lower body workouts covering mobility, stability and strength.

❕These are workouts for the general population and they are not sport or activity specific nor specific to any individual. They will be common functional exercises which most people can benefit from.

➡️For individual functional training sessions, inquire here or info@thebodygarage.co.nz