What is Functional Fitness?
Hi there! You might have seen our name (CFPR: Functional Fitness) and wondered “what even is functional fitness?” or “how does functional fitness differ from other forms of exercise?” and maybe most importantly “is functional fitness right for me?”. These are great questions so let’s talk about what Functional Fitness is and isn’t!
Functional fitness is best defined as a training regime that prepares the body for activities found in daily life. This is done by performing “functional movements” that mimic those activities! Since we encounter so many movements in our daily life, functional training also includes a broad range of functional movement exercises. You’ll find that we combine body weight movements like push-ups and pull-ups, cardio/conditioning and loaded movements like squats and snatches using free weights and barbells to support all the real-world activities we come across! Instead of specializing at being very fast or very strong we want to increase all our strength, stability, mobility, coordination, power production and endurance so we are well-rounded, well-prepared humans!
This differs from a traditional body building approach which mainly focuses on aesthetic goals by using exercises that use single muscle groups at a time. Body building often misses out on movements that use multiple muscle groups at once which better prepare folks for daily activity. For example, doing bicep curls will help you lift something with your arms but that is almost never the most optimal way to lift an object! Functional training also differs from traditional strength training which focuses on performance at specific lifts but often misses out on many natural movement patterns (like moving side to side or twisting) as well as conditioning. Both of these approaches definitely have their benefits which is why we incorporate them into our programming. The difference is we also try to get the benefits from a larger range of movements!
Our type of training is best for those looking to be well prepared for daily tasks and living life more fully outside the gym! Functional training can also be seen as supportive for other forms of sport to make sure an athlete’s sport specific training doesn’t make them prone to repetitive use injuries and ensures a well-rounded fitness level is maintained. That said, functional fitness isn’t necessarily for everyone. For example, folks with sports specific goals may need a more tailored program that emphasizes the movements in their sport. We know that everyone has different goals and only so much time to work out! Ultimately, the only way to know if functional fitness is right for you is trying for yourself!