One of the hot new topics right now in the fitness world is that of functional training. While some people want to go to the gym strictly in effort to look better, for most, it’s a combination of looking good – and performing better.
They want to have an easier time completing day to day activities, making their life that much more enjoyable. Especially as old age creeps up on us, if we aren’t taking steps to ensure optimal physical function, we might find ourselves struggling to do simple everyday tasks.
This is where functional training comes into play. It focuses on gym workouts that help you succeed in all physical areas of your life.
Let’s look at four of the key reasons to adopt this sort of training.
Reduced Risk Of Injury
The very first reason that functional training stands out as one of the best ways to get in shape is because it’ll help reduce your risk of injury. When training in a functional manner like this, you’ll not only strengthen your muscles, but the ligaments surrounding the muscles as well, which can often become injured.
Functional movements are also excellent for boosting your overall level of core strength as well, which will help to keep you balanced when doing other activities. This too contributes to a lower risk potential of injury.
Greater Muscular Balance
The next reason to try functional training is because it’ll help you achieve greater muscular balance as well. Many of the moves during functional training are compound exercises, meaning you’ll work multiple muscle groups at once.
This ensures all areas of your body are strong and there’s no ‘weakest link’. This important for well-rounded conditioning and also to decrease the risk of injuries as well.
Improved Adherence
Perhaps one of the best benefits of functional training is that most people will notice an improved adherence to this sort of training. The primary reason? You’ll see great progress in all areas of your life.
With functional training, you’ll notice that you are much stronger when you are just performing routine daily tasks, which shows you that your workouts are paying off.
With a program that’s designed more to focus on aesthetics only, you may get stronger in certain movement patterns you do in the gym, but not so noticeably stronger outside of the gym.
The more you can see and feel results, the easier it is to stick with it.
Greater Sports Carry Over
Finally, for those who are involved in any sort of athletic sporting events, you’ll also notice benefits carrying over here. Functional training will help you run faster, be more agile while on the court, ice, or field, along with help you have more strength and power behind you.
These are all key elements involved in optimal performance. Functional training will serve athletes incredibly well, so should be a primary part of their overall training plan.
So if you have yet to try functional training, make sure that you give it a chance next time you’re in the gym or planning for a new workout program. You won’t be disappointed.
This article is written by Shannon Clark in conjunction with Gym and Fitness Equipment. Shannon Clark has been working in the personal training field for the last 12 years as well as has written for numerous websites, providing content in the fitness niche. She holds a degree in Exercise Science from the University of Alberta and practices what she preaches. Leading the healthy lifestyle herself, she loves trying new theories with her own diet and workout to discover what works and what doesn’t when it comes to fat loss and muscle building.