Top 5 Ways To Incorporate Functional Training Into Your Daily Life
We all want to cut to the chase, and understand what to do to be stronger, in the most efficient way. Functional training is a great way to achieve this goal!
This is the second installment from my conversation with Elizabeth Hills, who is a personal trainer & nutrition expert. In the original post we helped to simplify the concepts of functional movement and training by providing insights into their benefits. As a refresher, functional training focuses on the fundamental movement patterns that our bodies are designed to do, and therefore help in developing healthy movement and strength to maintain a strong, pain free body. Functional training is a great way to achieve strength and mobility that will serve us in our every day lives and activities.
Today my goal is to provide you with a quick list of five everyday movements that incorporate functional movements, which can be found in your daily life. My hope is for you to better understand the real life application of functional training.
Top 5 Functional Movements Found In Daily Life
Below you’ll find a breakdown of common exercises, paired with their real life (ie functional training) movement. Once you’re aware you’ll notice you do these activities constantly and you can be more purposeful. Also, as a bonus, remember that core strength is a foundational movement that can be achieved in all of the movements below.
Squat - Sit down and stand up
Single leg movement - Lunge, walking, stairs
Upper body pull - Pickup your groceries from the car
Upper body push - Load groceries into your car
Rotational Movement - Looking over your shoulder
Once you are familiar with what it feels like to engage the muscle groups involved in these functional movements, you’ll notice you are actually using these movement patterns all the time in your daily life.
Bonus Tips
Here are a few bonus tips that were too good not to include. These include tips for where to start and how to help your body recover.
Assess your baseline function
Be honest with yourself, and have professional an initial assessment, of your baseline function. It can be intimidating, or difficult to admit, but there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone has something to overcome, and the sooner you understand your weak links, you’ll be better equipped to measure your success.
Take care of your soft tissue
Soft tissue surrounds all the joints in our entire body, and when it doesn’t move well the result is pain. Simple ways to take care of your soft tissue include stretching, foam rolling, professional massage or myofascial release. Heat is also healing, you could try a hot bath, stream room, or sauna.
Rest and recovery
We all know it’s important to exercise your body, but it’s equally important to provide your body with time to recover. Just as you’d schedule a workout day, ensure you schedule days off. Especially if you’re participating in intense strength training, your body will need adequate time to recover. Walking, yoga, stretching are all great forms of active recovery. The soft tissue work mentioned earlier is a form of recovery. It’s also important to ensure you’re getting quality sleep, this is the time when your body is able to reduce and process stress.
My goal was to provide you with everyday applications for functional training movements, so you can see that our daily tasks provide amazing opportunities to gain strength and mobility. I also love the guidance to incorporate days of rest and active recovery into your routine. We can become so focused on pushing ourselves, the value of this downtime can be overlooked. I hope this provides you inspiration to focus on these aspects as much as your strength training.
I hope this has solidified your understanding of functional training and its benefits to your holistic health. If you’re looking to put these suggestions into action, check out my DIY Program, 7-Day Stress Busting Fitness Action Plan, where Elizabeth and I collaborate to bring you a plan you can do-anywhere. Your simple and effective plan awaits!