- Health, Fitness & Weight Loss
- A Personal Trainer Changed my Life!
- Abdominal Exercise Myths
- Basal Metabolic Rate - Burn Fat while you Sleep
- The Benefits of Swiss Ball Training
- Corporate Fitness Boosts your Bottom Line!
- Corporate Health Tips
- Functional Performance Training
- Goal Setting for Fitness Results
- Guidelines for Body Fat Percentages
- How to Choose your Personal Trainer
- Introducing the BOSU Balance Trainer
- Motivated for Success
- Not All Swiss Balls are Created Equal
- Personal Training Studio vs Gym
- Recovery and Regeneration
- Sizing your Swiss Ball
- Training in your Target Heart Rate Zone
- Walk Off your Waistline
- Weight Loss - Why Weights Work
- Why a REPs PT is your Best Bet
- Why I Fell for my Foam Roller
- 5 Hot Tips for Beating your Winter Woes
- Sport Specific Performance
- Nutrition
- Training with Specific Conditions
- References
Functional Performance Training
Put the Fun back into your Functional Training
Functional training techniques and exercises should be stock standard in any good training programme these days, because reinforcing strong and stable movement patterns is essential for your health and well-being. Ironically though most people follow programmes that fail to meet their body’s basic movement requirements, which at the end of the day can undermine their intentions for being in the gym.
Top fitness professionals have recognise the shortfall and are implementing functional training programmes that take advantage of free weights, cables, swiss-balls and anything else that challenges your body to create multi-dimensional movement and stability. This moves away from conventional body-builder techniques where specific muscle groups are isolated and programmes are designed to build bulging muscles and somewhat dysfunctional bodies.
Cheers to the Caveman!!
It’s not that hard to appreciate that our prehistoric ancestors are the inspiration behind functional training. Imagine not having a supermarket, oven, computer, telephone or car. The caveman did everything manually and in these times the term 'survival of the fittest' was quite literal. They were fast, strong, fit, agile, coordinated and balanced. Their bodies had to function efficiently or they and their family wouldn’t survive.
Functional Training aims to get your body back to this state - less the unsightly hair. Functional exercises demand full body control, strength and stability, teaching your body to once again move as a strong and stable system.
Does Your Programme Stack-up?
The goal of functional training is to prevent injury, decrease body fat and increase lean muscle mass, strength, endurance, flexibility and overall physical performance. If any of these benefits appeal to you, then maybe it’s time you changed your programme.
A well designed functional programme will incorporate the seven ‘primal patterns'; squatting, lunging, lifting, pulling, pushing, twisting and walking/running. Performing these patterns with control will improve your overall physical function, taking your body a step closer to being the complete package.
Put the FUN Back into your Training
The greatest asset of functional training is that it’s varied and enjoyable. You are only limited by your imagination as you define and stabilise your movement. This presents safety concerns however, as the movement must be performed technically correct to prevent injury. With this in mind, it is in your best interests to employ a qualified trainer to validate the integrity and safety of your programme given your goals, exercise history and medical background.
How does your Programme Stack Up?
Contact us today to see how your training programme stacks up. Whether you train in a club, at home or in our studio we can set you up with a specific programme suited to you and your needs.
By Hamish Abbie BPhEd, BComm, CHEK L1, XLR8 Coach, REPs - 04/02/2007