Functional Training - What it Really Means
Functional training has become a very popular over the last decade, but there is still a lot of confusion about what functional training actually is. As is often the case in health and fitness, once a topic becomes popular, such as with functional training, marketers jump on the bandwagon and start using the term to promote as many products or exercises as possible. This results in many exercises being labeled as functional when the term does not really apply, which naturally just leads to confusion and questions about which exercises should be considered functional and why. Another problem with the term "functional training" is even people in the fitness community cannot agree on what it means. Some people have adopted the philosophy that functional training simply means doing non-traditional exercises using equipment, such as exercise balls or balance devices, which work muscles in different ways than traditional training. These types of exercises are supposed to be more functional than traditional types of training, particularly when compared to training with machines. On the other hand, there are other people who say that every exercise is functional and the term functional exercise is essentially meaningless. Both opinions have a little bit of truth, but they also miss the whole point of what functional training is supposed to mean and what it takes for an exercise to be considered functional. To clear up this confusion, the first thing to do is to take a look at the definition of functional. WordReference.com defines functional as "designed for or capable of a particular function or use" and "involving or affecting function rather than physiology." In fitness related terms, functional exercises are designed to improve specific aspects of function, such as a basketball player using a particular exercise to improve his or her vertical jump. Therefore, any type of exercise can be considered functional, as long as it improves the specific function you are targeting with your training. The important thing to note is the functionality of an exercise depends on the situation, not the exercise itself. If an exercise improves the specific function, skill, or ability you want to improve, then it is functional.