What is functional fitness? Functional fitness is what ensures you won’t be knocked out of commission from lifting a lightweight box or a small child. It’s being fit enough to do normal activities without worrying about injury or pulling muscles. It helps build balance and coordination with muscle groups, plus makes your muscles stronger. It improves your range of motion and helps prevent muscle and joint injuries in the process.
Functional fitness training works your whole body and gets muscles ready for everyday movements.
Unlike some workouts that are designed specifically to build muscles or help you shed pounds, functional fitness training prepares you to safely do every day tasks, whether at home, playing sports or at work. It causes you to use several different muscle groups at the same time and helps build core strength and stability. Many of the exercises you already do are functional fitness exercises. Squats can build muscle tissue but it also can help you sit down or get up from a chair.
Core training can also be functional fitness training.
No matter how you train, if you’re doing some form of core training or exercising several groups of muscles at once, you’re probably already doing some functional fitness training even though it’s not labeled that. No matter what your age, working out gives you a better chance of staying healthy and avoiding injury throughout your life. People who greatly benefit from functional fitness training can be of any age, but it’s even more important as you age. It can help people live on their own longer and also help prevent falls and injury.
There are many places to get functional fitness training.
Most gyms have a program that promotes functional fitness, even if it’s not called that. Kettlebells, exercise balls and weights are often incorporated into the training, since they work many body parts at once and create synergy. The fitness ball is extremely good for core and balance training, too. If you specifically want this type of training, a personal trainer can help you by created a program specifically for your needs.
- An exercise for functional fitness normally works several joints and muscles at once, rather than focusing on a smaller area. Instead of working just the muscles in the calf, it works the whole leg and hip.
- Functional fitness can improve balance and reduce the risk of falls. That makes it exceptionally good for older individuals.
- If you’re out of shape or have physical limitations, check with your health care professional first before starting a functional fitness program. Also make certain you let the personal trainer know about those limitations.
- Functional fitness improves strength, plus improve your power, besides improving balance and flexibility.