What is Functional Training?

Functional Training has become a popular catch phrase in the fitness industry. Personal trainers and coaches strive to make their programs functional to best serve the needs of their clients/athletes. You're likely to run across a number of different definitions and interpretations of functional training, but how are you to separate the truly knowledgeable from those who are just trying to keep up with the Jones'? I will attempt my definition and interpretation of this popular concept in the hopes of shedding some light on the issue.

If you look up functional in the dictionary, you are presented with the following definition:

Capable of serving the purpose for which it was designed.

Applied literally to training, this could mean anything. If the function of a bicep curl is to increase the strength of the biceps muscle, then yes, it is functional. If a client's goal is weight loss, then the protocol that does this the most effectively is arguably the most functional approach. In fact, any trainer that succeeds in having their clients meet their goals is arguably implementing functional training principles.

So if meeting your immediate goals is all you desire, then implementing functional training is easy. I encourage you to look a little deeper. What if, beyond getting stronger biceps, you also want to be able to use that biceps strength in a variety of real world activities? What if, beyond losing weight, you want to maintain the weight loss indefinitely and not burn out in the process? The definition of functional doesn't change, but the training method probably does. Those same bicep curls that produced massively strong biceps probably won't help you out when you need to pull yourself up over a ledge. Why? The principle of specificity provides some insight:

The training effect (change in performance level) on an individual as a result of performing any particular exercise or drill is very specific to the action practiced. The training effect can be expected to be different if the same action is practiced at a different speed, level of intensity, body position or under different environmental or psychological conditions.

What does that mean, you ask? Well, specifically, it means that performing bicep curls makes you better at performing bicep curls! Neuro-muscular pathways that you create are very specifically "learned", so trying to apply the biceps strength that you gained from doing bicep curls to any other exercise that is not a bicep curl, but involves the biceps muscle, will not produce the expected result of increased strength in that movement. The following statement from Rushall Thoughts sums this up well:

When training has occurred on a relatively simple activity, the benefits of that training are specific and do not transfer to more complex activities. Specific weight exercises do not cause improvements in the more complicated Olympic lifts (which, incidentally, require a high degree of complex skilled movement). Thus, when a coach considers auxiliary training exercises that are supposed to benefit a particular sport, if those exercises are simple, they will not be beneficial for an athlete. If they are performed with sustained intensity, they actually could prove to be counter-productive, primarily because of the development of unnecessary fatigue that could hinder more beneficial recovery.

Simply stated, in order to improve your performance at a given task, you must perform that task and/or tasks as closely related to that task as possible. Remember, it's all about neuro-muscular pathways. Your body remembers movements (like riding a bike) because it remembers the neuro-muscular connections, in sequence, that comprise the movement that it performed. The challenge then becomes determining which movement patterns are the most appropriate for your sport, and then designing your workout regimen around them.

Beyond sport we are left with the segment of the population that has no sport, that is interested in Functional Training for general health and/or injury prevention purposes. Luckily, we can use the same principles outlined above and apply them to your everyday life, your activities of daily living. The movement patterns most important in daily life are those that are going to encourage functional independence, that are going to keep you upright and physically able for the rest of your life. Your training program should consist only of those exercises that are going to improve your ability to perform activities of daily living, by closely mimicking movement patterns found in life. Crossfit founder Greg Glassman says it well in the CrossFit Foundations article:

There are movements that mimic motor recruitment patterns that are found in everyday life. Others are somewhat unique to the gym. Squatting is standing from a seated position; deadlifting is picking any object off the ground.They are both functional movements. Leg extension and leg curl both have no equivalent in nature and are in turn nonfunctional movements. The bulk of isolation movements are non-functional movements. By contrast the compound or multi-joint movements are functional. Natural movement typically involves the movement of multiple joints for every activity.

By creating a program that consists only of compound, multi-joint movements that mimic motor recruitment patterns found in everyday life, you are ensuring the most bang for your training buck. This is what defines functional training for me. If you can't think of a functional application of the exercise that you are performing in real life, then it's not functional. Plain and simple. That being said, I believe that the squat (free standing, see picture), is the MOST functional exercise you can perform. In my experience as a trainer, I have seen the most back pain relieved, knees healed, and improvements in performance from simply teaching my clients how to squat properly. It can take up to 3 years to fully develop a functionally sound squat, but trust me, it's worth it.