What is functional fitness?

You may have heard this term recently and it certainly seems to be the latest buzzword. It’s really all about training your body to handle real-life situations.

Functional fitness has its origins in rehabilitation and physical therapists often use this approach to retrain patients with movement disorders. However, it can be referred to as outdoor training that attempts to adapt or develop exercises which allow individuals to perform the activities of daily life more easily and without injuries.

For example, if you lift a 60-pound suitcase to carry it downstairs and throw your back out, it is likely that you’re not paying enough attention to your functional fitness within your fitness programs. The key to functional exercise is teaching all the muscles to work together rather than isolating them to work independently.

So I hear you asking…what is an example of a functional exercise?

The best example of a functional exercise would be a clean and jerk. For anyone that has not completed one, it is lifting a barbell from the floor firstly to your shoulders and then pushing the bar to full extension above your head. If taught and performed correctly it teaches your body to lift heavy objects off the ground and place them safely at whatever height needed.

This is obviously an extreme version and unless your job is a human replacement for a forklift one that is not that relevant. The great news for you is that British Military Fitness incorporates a large number of functional fitness exercises into every military fitness programme, all of which will help you in your every day life. For example,

[B]A full squat (below parallel).[/B] Believe it not [B]MOST[/B] people do not have the flexibility nor strength to use their legs to sit down and stand up under control when going to the toilet, most drop on to the seat from a great height, then are forced to grab hold of something to pull themselves off. Imagine the implications of this if you find yourself in a roadside squat in SE Asia! Lucky for you at BMF our fitness boot camp will make sure you move through your full range of movement and hence build that strength and flexibility needed to power yourself off that seat when required! (NB. It may also help with other daily tasks!).

[B]The Burpee.[/B] You may think this is just an evil punishment exercise thought up by many generations of sadistic military PTI’s and you wouldn’t be completely wrong. However it is also very functional, it incorporates strength, power, speed and agility in one multi-directional exercise. By performing many, many, many burpees at each BMF military bootcamp you are making yourself bulletproof and almost superhuman (not really but you are likely to get less injuries performing everyday tasks).

I hope this helps explain about one of the fitness industries latest buzzwords, the best news for you is that BMF's outdoor fitness programs are made up almost completely of functional exercises and we have been doing it since day one.. enjoy!