FUNCTIONAL training improves your body's ability to work efficiently as one unit. When training multiple muscle groups at the same time, you are helping your body function better as a whole. You are training your body to be a system and not just individual parts that works independently.

There are so many reasons why we are told to start to add exercise and fitness into our lives. Whatever the reason, the biggest reason for doing so is to IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE.

People who are physically active age well, sleep well, eat better, move better and think positively; more so than those who are not physically active. Functional fitness is a term coined to reference the simple fact that WE SHOULD BE TRAINING FOR LIFE. Training to improve our everyday quality of life.

Every day we are required to do repetitive movements. This may be work related or it could be things like bending over to pick something up, walking, putting something up on a high shelf, and climbing stairs. These simple movements we often take for granted until they are not so simple anymore.

Functional fitness puts the focus on day-to-day mobility and makes us aware of movement patterns that greatly affect our quality of life and how we can strengthen our bodies to keep up with the tasks we ask of it.

There are SEVEN BASIC MOVEMENT PATTERNS which are PUSH, PULL, SQUAT, LUNGE, HINGE, ROTATION, and GAIT. When we look at incorporating a strength program into our lifestyle, functional training has us performing movements that mimic these seven patterns and correct the movement patterns we may already be doing based on habit.

This is where gait comes in, how we walk and carry ourselves has a huge impact on how our muscles operate over time. The long-term effects of this can cause us joint pain, muscle imbalances and poor flexibility and range of motion loss. Functional fitness strives to help us correct poor posture and walking habits, fix muscle imbalance and inflexibility due to repetitive movements over time.

As we age, the importance of maintaining mobility increases. It is important to be mindful of repetitive movements, how they effect our bodies and how we can adapt our exercise programs to compensate.

We should ALWAYS be chasing HEALTH and aesthetics will come. Think athletic and train health for longevity.