“Training movements, not muscles”

     Functional strength training is a training approach whereby bodily movements are trained and targeted not just individual muscle groups.  It is training the body in the various ways the body is meant to move on a daily basis or in athletic activities.  The body is designed to balance, stand, move, walk, run or sprint, accelerate, decelerate and stop, twist and turn, flex and extend, rotate, change levels as in lunging, push/pull objects as in reaching, hop and jump, and climb.  All of these activities involve smooth, rhythmic motions in the three planes of movement, sagital, frontal and transverse. With functional training the body is trained in all three of these planes in a closed chain environment (feet on the floor,) in order to incorporate stability, coordination, balance, agility and proprioception into each exercise.  It requires stabilization of the musculature from the ankle through the knee, through the gluteals, abdominals, and erector spinae up through the cervical spine.  Multiple muscle groups are worked in an integrated fashion with combinations of exercises performed in multiple planes of movement.  These functional movements add challenge by changing body angles, vision direction and cervical rotation and adjusting body weight.  They require the body to absorb gravitational forces when moving upward from the ground, as in coming up out of a standing squat or lunge.  Gravitational pulls naturally accelerate and decelerate our movements. We can also work void of any gravitational pull whereby the muscles alone slow and reverse rotational actions.  This is termed “pure function” or “pure” muscle movements.  Functional movements can also be very dynamic in the sense that an exerciser may be asked to slow, stop or change direction creating the need to reduce force (eccentric contraction) in one direction, stabilize, and then produce force (concentric contraction) in another direction.

     In actuality, we are training to enhance the coordinated working relationship between the nervous and muscular systems.  It requires training against resistance in such a manner that the improvements in strength directly enhance the performance of movements so that an individual’s activities of daily living or sporting activities are easier to perform.  The primary goal of functional training is to transfer the improvements in strength achieved in one movement to enhance the performance of another movement by affecting the entire neuromuscular system.

     For sports performance enhancement it is critical for the body to move freely in training instead of sitting on an exercise machine isolating a muscle group and moving weight in one plane of motion in a stabilized, controlled environment.  Strength machines position the exerciser to move repeatedly in the same path, an artificial environment that limits the free-flowing motions of function. Machines limit the ability of an exerciser to stabilize “from the ground up.”  This is because the client is sitting while exercising.  Training this way may result in less functional improvement.  Machines can help strengthen a weak link in the kinetic chain, but they also prevent the body from moving in the most functional manner within the three planes of motion.

     The brain, which controls muscular movement, thinks in terms of whole motions, not individual muscles.  Humans do not move by isolating muscle groups.  The motor centers of every level represent movements of muscles, not muscles in their individual character. Think of how a well conditioned, skilled athlete moves.  Most athletes don’t move like robots in just one plane, using one muscle group, therefore we should not spend a good deal of time training in this manner.  Athletes now are strong, powerful and yet graceful, as they move many body parts, in a synchronized manner, into sometimes very interesting positions.  Picture a volleyball player spiking a ball.  The entire skill includes, acceleration, running, deceleration and stopping, jumping, twisting in the air, swinging at a ball with acceleration and deceleration of an arm swing, and force reduction involved while landing from the jump.  As the volleyball player is moving he is not trying to consciously activate individual muscle groups to perform each movement.  Instead, the brain has been trained to initiate a series of impulses to attain a synchronized movement pattern.  We have to integrate the entire kinetic chain to get the final result of spiking the ball successfully into an opponent’s court.  We cannot train for these types of movements while sitting on a machine.  For strength exercises to effectively transfer to other movements, several components of the training movement need to be similar to the actual performance movement.  This includes coordination, types of muscular contractions (concentric, eccentric, isometric), speed of movement and range of motion.  In simple terms, you will be successful with functional training when you simulate an actual sporting movement or activity using all four of the components listed above.

     You can train the movements and the muscles involved in the movement with resistance training aids such as dumbbells, medicine balls, tubing bands, stability balls and other balance training devices.  An example of a functional exercise would be a squat with dumbbells, coming up out of it with a bicep curl to the shoulders and continuing with a torso rotation into a shoulder press.  This is working within the 4 Pillars of human movement which are listed below; standing, level changes in the squat and a rotation of the torso with a press overhead.  Traditional strength training, on machines, still serves a purpose.  We, at FAF, are not saying that you should never get on an exercise machine again.  Combining some traditional strength training exercises with functional ones can still be an effective approach to strength training. You still see machines being used frequently in post rehabilitative settings (physical therapy centers).  In my opinion, the best way women should train for their sport is with a functional training emphasis whereby the movement patterns of the training will closely mimic the activity targeted for improvement.  You will be better prepared for the rigors of your sport and be less prone to injury.

     Functional exercise design must be based upon the “4 Pillars of Human Movement”:

1. Standing and Locomotion:  This pillar is the most basic human function.  It holds one’s center of mass or body weight along the horizontal vector.  Standing precedes locomotion because one must first be able to stabilize the center of mass over the base of support.  Locomotion occurs when we walk or run and is one of the most important activities we perform.  We walk on one leg at a time.  When one foot hits the ground, the other is swinging through the air.  Functional training covers various standing positions and challenges all planes of motion.  We work on one leg related to the human gate cycle, such as standing and squatting on one leg and reaching for an object with the opposite hand.  We do this in our everyday life and in our sporting activities.  This exercise also involves counter-rotation of the hips and shoulders, since locomotion is made possible by rotational movement.
2. Level Changes:  This pillar involves lowering and raising one’s center of mass along the vertical vector.  Level changes are typically non-locomotive tasks that require lowering and raising the center of mass.  Squatting, lunging, stepping, extending, climbing, and flexing are all level changes.  The muscles in the trunk and the legs most often perform these movements.  In the real world everyone must perform level changes in the activities of daily living.  Whether you are a parent squatting down to pick up your child or a softball player catching a ground ball, training level changes will enhance your ability to perform these activities.  In athletic events you must be able to squat, lunge, step, sometimes climb, flex and extend.
3. Push/Pull:  The focus of this pillar is primarily on movements of the upper extremities.  In general, we either push or pull with the upper body.  A push occurs when we take the hand away from the body and a pull occurs when we bring the hand towards the body.  In real life we usually perform these activities from the standing position.  In sports we perform a push-up, row, or shoulder press from “not so traditional” of positions.
4. Rotation:  This pillar is by far the most important.  If you look closely at the muscular system of the human body, one can easily see why our bodies are meant to rotate.  Over 87% of human muscle fibers are oriented in a diagonal or horizontal fashion.  Therefore, when muscles contract, the force produced causes the body to twist.  Any movement that involves swinging, throwing, walking, or running can only take place with rotation.  Many movements that we think of as being linear are actually dominated by rotational force.  If one watches a softball player throw a ball from behind, it is easy to see how she rotates her entire body to help generate force.  Waking and running involve the same principle.  Our bodies are like a bicycle: the bike cannot have linear movement without the pedals rotating, and we can’t walk or run in a straight line without rotation.  Since the body is built to rotate, many exercises in functional training involve rotation.  These types of exercises may include rotating the torso while holding onto an elastic band or performing a diagonal medicine ball chop across the body.

Benefits of Functional Strength Training 

1.      Enhanced bone modeling to increase bone strength and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

2.      Stronger connective tissues to increase joint stability and help prevent injury.

3.      Increased functional strength for sports and daily activities.

4.      Increased lean body mass and decreased nonfunctional body fat.

5.      Higher metabolic rate because of an increase in muscle and a decrease in fat.

6.      Improved self-esteem and confidence.

7.      Increases balance, agility, coordination and proprioceptive function.

     In conclusion, functional exercises possess “life-like” characteristics because they are free-moving and simulate how the body is meant to move.  I suggest that you try training in this manner, you cannot understand and appreciate the value of functional training until you put the training programs to use.  You may find that you can get more done in less time and you will be better suited to meet the every day physical challenges and demands of your sport.  These techniques are critical for sport performance enhancement and injury reduction.  So, get off the machines and get moving!

 RESOURCES

1. Santana JC:  “Functional Training:  Breaking the bonds of traditionalism,” Optimum Performance Systems, 2000.
2. Santana JC:  “The Four Pillars of Human Movement,” IDEA Personal Trainer, Feb. 2002; (20-28).
3. Wolf, C: “Moving The Body,” Training movements and not muscles may be the paradigm shift needed for today’s functional conditioning. IDEA Personal Trainer, June 2001; (24-31).
4. Chek, P: “The Evolution of Functional Training,” Personal Fitness Professional, Aug. 2004; (28-30).
5. Bryant, C: What exactly do people mean by functional strength training? Can you perform functional training using machines?, ACE Fitness Matters, Nov./Dec. 2002: (15)