Whether you spend your days chasing kids or chasing PR’s, functional training is going to keep you in the game longer. Moving side to side, reaching and rotating are all part of your day to day lifestyle – not to mention balancing on one leg or utilizing one arm more than another. The foundation of functional strength training is to increase your strength and movement capacity while decreasing your risk of injury. Functional training utilizes single leg and arm exercises, as well as cardiovascular and core exercises. Movements focus on traveling forward and backward, side to side, and rotating.
It’s no longer a question of heavy weight lifting vs. light weight lifting. If your goals are to get stronger, incorporating functional training is the right choice for you. While lifting heavier weights at a lower volume should be done with caution and proper technique, it is still possible to work in all three planes of movement, (frontal, sagittal, transverse) as well as on one leg and/or with one arm. Depending on your goals, your weights and reps may vary but the focus of your training should not. Is it making you more efficient, stronger, and decreasing your risk for injury?
A professional marathon runner, 45 year old mom of 2, and a college student trying to get in shape could essentially all do the same workout with the same exercises, with variations in complexity and weight. Strength training does not have to include new “fad” exercises, power lifting, or maxing out. It does have to include proper foundation of functional movement and progressions to improve mobility, muscular strength and endurance, while decreasing risk of injury.
At Triplex, we train for life. Not only do we want faster runners and triathletes – we also want healthy parents that reach to pick up their kids without tweaking their backs. Can we help you lose weight? Yes. Can we help you get stronger? Yes. Can we help you get faster? Yes. Can we make you better at daily life activities? YES. This is functional training and why we do it!