Movement Fixes Everything
Functional training has been
gaining in popularity
the last 3-5 years as many gym-goers are turning to swiss balls, medicine
balls, and other tools in an effort to find the latest technique to perfect
their bodies. Fitness enthusiasts are using swiss balls for ab crunches,
medicine ball throws, and tubing for a variety of exercise ”spice-ups”. Many
trainers are teaching new functional modalities to their not-so-ready clients
and late-night info-commercials are advertising BOSU’s and stability balls to
participate in the upstart of functional based training. How did it become like
this? Why did we let it get this far?
There are skeptics in the fitness world that
believe functional training is a fleeting state of uncanny
1-legged
exercises, cable wood chops, and ball push-ups. There are bodybuilders that
believe that functional training has no place for hypertrophic needs, and the
housewife who thinks she is not capable of performing single-legged deadlifts
(SLDL). If she only knew…she performs them everyday.
What exactly is functional
training? Is it
limited to the swiss ball and exercises on one leg? Not at all. According to Mike Boyle, in his book
"Functional Training for Sports", he defines “functional training as purposeful
training”. “Many athletes and coaches mislabel functional training as
sport-specific, which implies that certain movements and patterns are specific
to individual sports. In fact, functional training should be more accurately
represented as “sport-general” training. Functional training looks at the
commonalities of movement and reinforces them. Many misinformed argue that
functional training is only necessary for the athlete--that only athletes run,
sprint, jump, push, rotate, change direction, and pull. Not so. Our bodies have
the ability to perform all of those actions. We lose the movement because we don’t train for
the movement.
Movement Fixes Everything
How does functional training enhance
movement? Functional training focuses
primarily on multi-joint movements; therefore, it is key to note that
multi-joint movements integrate muscle groups into patterns. These patterns are
created everyday in our lives: walking upstairs, carrying groceries, picking up
dropped keys, carrying children, crossing the street, getting out of a parked
car, and so forth. It is no surprise that most orthopedic injuries occur while
performing normal activities of daily living outside the gym.
How many times
has a back spasm hit you while shoveling snow? A painful knee while wrestling
with your children? Or a pulled calf during your sprint across the street? Well
what about the office worker who is never active and needs a safe exercise
program? Proponents of machine-based training argue that machine-based
exercises are safer, however, machine based training will develop tone and
strength, but it lacks in proprioceptive input (internal sensory feedback about
body position and movement) and the lack of stabilization will more than likely
lead to greater incidence of injuries outside the gym.
Traditional resistance
exercises are usually performed along a single plane. The use of machines
further restricts the movement in an effort to isolate a muscle. However,
humans rarely move one muscle at a time along a single plane. Even when the
displacement of mass occurs along a linear vector, the joint movements that
allow this linear displacement of mass to occur involves all planes of motion
(i.e. sagittal, frontal, and transverse).
Modern
science tells us that the brain does not recognize individual muscle activities
because it doesn’t need to. Instead, the brain looks at movement patterns and
creates coordination between all muscles needed. Bodybuilders tend to isolate
muscles in the pursuit of hypertrophy and isolated muscle development does not
typically play a major role in motor pattern development. Because bodybuilders tend to isolate muscles
for bulk and strength, size and symmetry, they lack the appropriate movement
patterns. The goal of functional
training is to not only change how the body looks, but to improve how the body
moves. Muscles will develop naturally through progressive resistance loads as
different movement patterns are worked, which is why most athletes look like
they have performed some bodybuilding.
How is Movement Improved?
The basic principle of functional training is joint
stabilization. Picture this: You are
moving your refrigerator a few inches so you can mop underneath. If the
refrigerator is in the middle of the floor, you are going to have a hard time
moving it. If you are in between the refrigerator and the wall, and you can
anchor your foot against the wall and push more forcefully to move the
refrigerator. Depending on your strength and current fitness level, it will
move easier.
Why? Because you have been stabilized. Imagine your body is a
joint, lets say the shoulder, or more specifically, the gleno-humeral joint.
The wall represents the muscles of the rotator cuff and scapular stabilizers.
Once resistance is initiated (moving the refrigerator), the humerus must be
stabilized in order to produce enough force through the motion. Once the
rotator cuff and scapular stabilizers secure the head of the humerus (foot
against the wall), the prime movers can create the force to move the object
The kinetic chain is designed to manipulate variable forces from a multitude of
directions to effectively produce movement. Functional training focuses on
improving movement patterns to decrease alterations or deviations in the
alignment of a joint within the kinetic chain, which can affect the quality of
movement and the perpetuation of faulty movement patterns.
Working in unstable environments allows the
intrinsic stabilization mechanisms to produce joint and postural stability,
allowing you to enhance your stabilization strength and neuromuscular
efficiency. Performing exercises in a proprioceptively enriched environment
(unstable), the body is forced to recruit more muscles to stabilize itself and
thus intra- and inter- muscular coordination is enhanced. The more proprioception
your training provides, the more the body will learn how to interpret it and
use it. The greater the ability to use proprioceptive information, the body
will have greater ability in controlling new complex and diverse information.
The greater control you have over new and diverse environments, the better you
can perform and less chance of injury.
Once the ability of the neuromuscular system allows all muscles to work
together in optimal levels of motor unit recruitment and synchronization, then
the rate of force production and maximal acceleration improves. Athletes have
tremendous skill and body awareness because of their “movement-improvement”
training, and this translates to overall optimum performance in or outside the
competitive arena.
Why functional train? Mostly every task you perform
outside of sitting at a table, car, or lying in bed, is performed standing. For
the body to execute movements in a standing position, every muscle has to be
activated: from the soleus, biceps femoris, glutes, multifidus, transverse
abdominis, erector muscles, sternocleidomastoid, and numerous others. If all
these muscles are involved with a simple task of placing a box on top of a
shelf, why not train the muscles together simulating that movement? What if the
goal is fat loss? Fitness enthusiasts that have a goal of fat loss can benefit
from functional training because when exercises are performed in a
proprioceptively enriched environment (unstable), the body is forced to recruit
more muscles to stabilize itself and thus more calories are expended.
Who Needs It?
Our body is created to properly run like a machine. It is through uncontrollable tangible and intangible factors that our bodies tend to lose their efficiency: lifestyle, nutrition, medical conditions, occupation, and genetics all play a role in our ongoing development—along with improper exercise technique. There is a place for movement improvement training in anyone’s workout. The undying desire for a better-looking physique cosmetically goes beyond fat loss, big arms, and tight butts. The natural human physique can look strong, healthy, and balanced if it is trained how it is to function properly. If you sit, walk, bend, lift, turn, run, throw, kneel, sprint, step, push, pull, or lie, you can benefit from functional training. Functional training is “movement improvement” training. Athletes and coaches have been using it for years and making it specific to their sport. Now with proper instruction, you can use it to prepare for the sport of life.
Click Here for More Golf Fitness Articles
Boyle, Michael. 2003. "Functional Training for Sports".
Cook, Gray. 2003. Athletic Body in Balance.
Clark, Michael. 1999.
Santana, Juan Carlos. 2000. Functional Training: Breaking the Bonds of Traditionalism Companion
Guide.
