W
hat’sfunnyaboutthenotionof“functionaltraining”is that
it’sbecomea paradox.Quiteoftenthegurusthatpromote
it don’tactuallytrainina waythattranslatestorealworld
environments.Evenif yourwholeparadigmofsuccess
is basedonposture,youdon’tneedtostandona Swissballandthrow
a medicineballata trampolineinordertoimproveit.Itcanbeaddressed
at themostbasiclevelbymakingsureyou’rebalancedbetweenthefront
andbackofyourbody.Functionaltrainingdoesn’thavetomeanthe
pussification of training; it can just mean the right exercise for the right
personattherighttime.So,giventhattheterm“functional”hasbeen
hijacked,beatupandleftfordeadina gutter,let’sreplaceit withtheterm
purposeful.ThefollowingexerciseswillallowyoutoTRAINWITH
PURPOSE.Theycanmakeyoubigger,stronger,fitter,fasterand
healthier.Ifyou’rebeatupfromyearsofsquats,deadsandbenches,they
canhelprecalibrateyoursystemandkeepyouprogressing.They’llalso
helpyoutofunctionbetterineveryaspectofyourlife—fromtheweights
roomtotheboardroomtothebedroom — and that’s truly what functional
training is supposed to be all about.PURPOSEFULMOVEMENTNUMBER1:
THETRAPBAR
DEADLIF T
Thedeadliftis a crowdfavourite
and,tobefair,youcan’tgetmuch
morefunctionalthanpicking
heavyshitup off the ground
andmovingit around—but
oftentimesphysicallimitations
stoppeoplefromexecutingit
effectively.Enterthe TrapBar
Deadlift.Thisis oftenseenas a
hybridmovement—technically
it’s a deadliftyet the loading
mechanicsonthequadsand
glutesgivesit squatlike benefits.
Witha neutralgripthatmore
easilyengagestheupperback,
anda slightlyhigherpulling
positionallowingyoutoremain
morevertical,you can shift
heavierloadswhileminimising
someofthestressandrisks
associated with a normal deadlift.
PURPOSEFULMOVEMENTNUMBER3:
THEBEARCRAWL
Wantan“easy”warm-uptoget
readyto lift, run,throw,or just
movebetteringeneral?Lookno
furtherthana classicbearcrawl
whichallowsustoworkonthe
motor patterns we use whensprintingwhilealsochallengingthe
core,shouldersandhipstostabilise
thebody.Thelowimpactnature
ofthisexercisemakesit safefor
everyone,andif youwanttomake
it a tonhardertrycrawlingusing
dumbbellsorKettlebellsand/or
pushing a heavy deadball around.PURPOSEFULMOVEMENTNUMBER2:
THEDEADBALL
GROUNDTO
SHOULDER(GTS)
Torsostabilityis oftenthe
limitingfactorin compoundlifts.
TheGTStacklesthishead-on
whiletrainingexplosivetriple
extensionofthelegsasused
in traditionalOlympiclifting.
“Gettingunderneath”something
awkward,pullingit towardsyour
centreofmass,thenforcefully
shiftingthe weightupwards
again,encouragesthe effective
transferofforceandpowerfrom
thehipsandposteriorchain
throughthecoreandintothe
upperbody.Youneeda tonne
ofstrengthandstabilitythrough
yourmidsection to be ableto
do this well.PURPOSEFULMOVEMENTNUMBER4:
THEFARMERCARRY
Farmer’swalksare a safe,efficient
andeffectivewayto overloadthe
traps,core,hipsandgrip,aswell
asthecardiovascularsystem.
Doingthemregularlycanbuild
strongermovement,improve
shoulderhealth,targetfatloss
andincreasestrengthandmental
toughnessina “functional”way.
Thefarmer’swalkhasbecome
a stapleexercisefortrainingthe
coretodealwithrealforcein
motion,whilealsojust being
brutal to execute.