by Thomas Incledon, PhD(c), RD, LD/LN, RPT, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
What Is Functional Training?
Are you tired of the same old routine or are you just stuck at a plateau and can’t seem to get any bigger or stronger? Well, here is the answer you’re looking for: functional training. The idea is to incorporate a multidimensional approach to training that simulates activities that are naturally performed in sports, work, or daily living. Training functionally results in more complete development with greater strength, muscle, balance, and coordination gains. This is not a new concept, yet it has recently become popular in training athletes and in rehabilitating injured patients. For functional training with specific sports, exercises that mimic the athlete’s movement during each sequence of events are developed. Breaking down and focusing on each area of the athlete’s game will enhance the athlete’s overall performance. This same approach has also been used for rehabilitating injured workers. The worker’s job tasks are analyzed and a rehab program is designed utilizing the same movements the worker must do during their job. This will eventually improve the worker’s ability to perform work on the job site. Interested? Good, now let’s delve into functional training and see what it can do for you.
One-Dimensional vs. Multidimensional
Reproducing the movements people perform daily and turning them into exercises is the basis of functional training. Traditional bodybuilding consists of one-dimensional movements. An example of a one-dimensional movement is the barbell squat. You squat down and stand up in the same plane of motion. Unfortunately, this is not the way we squat in real life. During the course of our daily routine, we bend down to pick an object off the floor at a diagonal, while simultaneously reaching for a protein drink, and cradling the phone between our ear and shoulder. Now, if you could develop a multidimensional exercise that simulates this, you can perform that motion thousands of times a day and never spill your drink or hang up on your call accidentally. Single leg exercises (such as single-leg squats), which require balance in a variety of directions at one time, accomplish that purpose. The result is that the smaller stabilization muscles around the ankle, knee, and hip joints are developed more completely. Let’s take a look at how functional training can be applied to bodybuilding.
Applying Functional Training to Bodybuilding
To improve performance in bodybuilding, we need to look at the function of the sport, which is simply to develop larger and more defined physiques. Traditional bodybuilding utilizes large, superficial muscles in one-dimensional training routines. Functional bodybuilding focuses on smaller, usually deeper muscles that hold joints together called stabilizers. When the stabilizer muscles are properly trained, the larger and more superficial muscles can tolerate heavier weights, and heavier weights will stimulate more muscle growth. So, you can see the benefits of combining a functional training routine with a traditional bodybuilding routine are enormous.
Functional bodybuilding exercises
This can be accomplished by performing unilateral (one-sided) movements or exercises that place greater stress on one side of the body. For upper body movements switch to dumbbells. Dumbbell pressing movements can be done in an alternating fashion, which can make them much harder. Try doing dumbbell bench presses where you press one side up, hold it, then press the other side up, and hold it while lowering the other side to repeat the sequence. It’s tricky balancing the dumbbell you are holding, while trying to press the other one. This technique can be applied to back exercises, as well. Try performing dumbbell rows while you stand on one leg and then alternate pulling up one dumbbell, while holding the other at the top position. For lower body movements, try one-legged exercises and lunges to the front, side, and rear. One-legged squats are tough to perform. At first body weight will be more than enough. As you get stronger you can hold onto dumbbells. Front, side, and rear deltoid raises can be done with a dumbbell or cable while standing on one leg as well. Just remember to alternate the leg for each set when doing the above exercises. The whole point of this type of training is to put the body in a situation where it will have to recruit more stabilizers around a joint. Now, when the switch is made to traditional exercises, the joint should be more capable of handling heavier weights. Both types of training can be combined, or you could switch from periods of functional exercises to traditional exercises every 3-4 weeks to keep variety in your training.
Examples:
Traditional Exercises Functional Exercises
Barbell squats Single leg body weight squats
Side lunges
Leg Press Staggered leg press (one foot further up)
Bench press Alternating DB benches with a hold at top
Incline Press Alternating Incline DBs with a hold at top
Leg Curls DB stiffleg deadlifts on one leg
Getting Lean
Along with throwing away old traditions of one-dimensional training, we would also like to open your minds to an interesting concept in getting lean – training muscle, not the cardiovascular system. The purpose of bodybuilding is to improve muscle size and definition. Of course, this also means limiting as much fat tissue as possible. Traditionally this has been done by performing a half-hour to forty-five minutes of “cardio” three to four times a week. But, have you ever seen any large, muscular runners or aerobics instructors? The reason for this is that different muscles and body systems are stimulated for bodybuilding than for aerobic exercise. The two are so completely different from one another that to perform both at the same time could defeat your purpose. Therefore, we suggest functional circuit training as a way to get and stay lean, train your heart, and maintain hard-earned muscle. Performing sets of ten reps with about 50-60% of your best set of ten, with 4-5 exercises, in less than a half-hour, three - four times a week, should do the trick.
Example:
Single leg squats
Alternating dumbbell bench presses
Alternating single leg dumbbell rows
Abdominal crunches
Try the functional circuit training on your typical “cardio” day and remember that you are not training to lift weights, rather to do an aerobic activity by lifting weights.
Now you have some ideas, so let’s pull it all together. Start by coming into the gym and doing some warm-up exercises with a barbell, dumbbell or using cardio equipment. After stretching, begin either your traditional bodybuilding, functional bodybuilding, combination, or functional circuit training routine. Use your imagination and stick with movements that mimic a joint’s function during your daily life. By using functional training techniques, you should see better gains in strength, muscle size, balance, and coordination, while keeping lean.
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