What is Functional Training?

Functional fitness training! So hot and cool right now! I swear I’ll never do another workout!

But . . . what is it?

You may find it challenging to get trainers to agree on what “functional” means. Functional fitness training has grown in popularity over the last decade, as gyms with less equipment, loud music, and cool lights have taken off.

To start, functional isn’t defined by cool equipment and spinning kickflip kettlebell back handsprings...it's using exercise as a medicinal means to a longer life, more strength, improved body composition, and the ability to withstand any randomness that may occur outside of your control.

At Lynx, our personal training and group fitness staff are focused on bringing you results of fitness, rehabilitation, health, and longevity. To achieve this we start by understanding your current profile: strength, range of motion, cardiovascular health, pain, and more. This all occurs during your first two complimentary personal training assessments. After we have addressed your current profile by measuring your fitness, we will look to address the root cause of your symptoms. This is “functional training.” Lynx is therefore different because we attempt to address the “why” instead of giving solutions to problems. If we can locate the original reason the pain or dysfunction occurred, we can prevent it from occurring again.

Functional might be a tough word to define. It’s certainly not “no machines,” because there are clearly functional benefits to using them. Nautilus machines (a.k.a isolation equipment) were originally intended for injury recovery. They take away the balance and coordination used in tasks that require that degree of neurological fitness. This can be a good thing in some situations, but it depends on your goals. Some in the field have demonized machines as archaic, but I must disagree. They are tools, and just that. Every system has its problems, and marriage to just one system will lead to dogmatism, insularity, or both.

Your time in the gym should be spent bulletproofing your body against the tide. In general, the average person lacks coordination, balance, strength, and flexibility. This is due to the lack of activity and movement in our day-to-day life. “Functional training” should improve your ability to be a human.

During one-on-one personal training sessions and group fitness classes, we give clients challenging exercises not to make them complain, but to improve their ability to do work. The gym should resemble real life in some capacity, and life is not a rehearsal.

Forget balancing on a bosu ball while reciting the pledge of allegiance backwards. You know what’s functional? Having movement competency, health, and longevity in all three planes of motion. That’s functional.