Full-body functional exercises can improve your range of motion, posture and balance while strengthening your abdominal muscles, pelvis, and back muscles.
Features
While single-muscle exercises such as a bicep curl can strengthen your arms, a functional exercise such as a push-up uses several muscle groups at once and requires that you stabilize your core during the exercise. This process more closely mimics the regular challenges that your body goes through daily, such as getting in and out of your vehicle. When you use these types of exercises, you achieve better bodily awareness and improved neuromuscular coordination, notes the American College of Sports Medicine.
Types
Several types of full-body functional training exercises exist. Obstacle courses are one form. Other forms include crossfit, which is a combination of gymnastics, calisthenics and weightlifting. Kettleballs, cast iron balls with handles, are also functional training exercise devices that you use to perform exercises such as rocking the ball between your legs, works multiple arm, back and core muscles. Additional types of full-body functional exercises include barbell dead lifts, dumbbell front squats, balance board walking and one-foot stands.
Considerations
Many interpretations of full-body functional training abound, says Scott Gaines, senior vice president for the National Exercisers & Sports Trainers Association on NestaCertified.com. Gaines says that true functional training incorporates concurrent movements, is not guided by an outside force but by the force of your own body, and usually involves controlled, choreographed movements. Furthermore, Gaines says that functional training stays within your body's bio-mechanical limitations, meaning that these exercises use natural movements that respect your muscular and joint structure. For example, sitting down on a leg extension machine and extending your knees is not a functional exercise, reports Gaines, because it is not something you would ever do outside of an exercise facility.
Warning
Speak with your doctor about the pros and cons of full-body functional training before you begin an independent or personal trainer-supervised program. Your doctor might suggest another program for you based on your current state of physical health.
Member Comments