Introducing Functional Training April 9th, 2008

    Before I begin, I must discuss an important aspect of anatomy for everyone interested in fitness; the three planes of motion. The human body is divided into three planes, as illustrated below:

    bodyplanes.jpg

    The sagittal plane divides the body into left and right halves, the frontal plane divides the body into front and back halves, and the transverse plane divides the body into top and bottom halves. All of our movements are multi-planar; in other words, we do not live in just one plane. Unfortunately, most of our training regimens (specifically, weight training) are single planar. Although it feels good and has some benefits, single planar training is not ideal since we have in all three planes! Enter functional training. . .

    Functional training is essentially training the body using movements that one would encounter in his or her everyday life. The goal is to condition the body in an unstable environment. After all, life is full of unexpected moments which require sudden movements, and we’re not always prepared for those movements. Thus, it is necessary to train the body to be balanced. Its movements reflect the fact that people live in all three planes; we rotate and twist along the transverse plane, we walk forward and backward along the sagittal plane, and we bend along the frontal plane. If we don’t train in those planes, we are at more risk for injury.

    One of the foremost authorities on functional training is Juan Carlos Santana, Director of The Institute of Human Performance in Boca Raton, FL. I watched a video of his on functional training, and was immediately hooked. As is the case with most men, I was merely concerned with getting bigger; I would go to the weight area and just go HARD! Functional training completely changed my way of thinking. I still strive for size, but now I usually incorporate balance training and core strengthening techniques into my workouts.

    Some people call functional training “integrated training” because the techniques involved require multiple muscle groups on multiple planes. As mentioned before, this is how we live our everyday lives. Rarely do we use one group on one plane. For example, if you’re cooking, you may stand stationary at the countertop, but rotate to the left to pick up a pot. You’ve just rotated along the transverse plane, and used your core, arms, shoulders, and maybe chest. Functional training mimicks this natural movement in order to strengthen those muscles and prevent injury. Noticing the benefits yet?

    If you’ve ever played a sport, then you are already familiar with functional training to some degree. I’m a basketball player, and all the drills we did were functional training. The lay-up drills, the slides, the backboard touches. . . . all were designed to improve my performance on the court. The neurological transfer of skill (or muscle memory) was evident because these drills mimicked the EXACT movements I performed during games. We can apply this same concept to everyday life, too. You will notice that everyday tasks like pushing objects, squating and pick things up and even turning around become 10x easier.

    The great thing about functional training is that it’s economically efficient. Some may not be able to afford a gym membership, and I know for a fact that not may people have a few extra thousand dollars laying around for a personal trainer! You can spend about $25 - $30 TOTAL to get an exercise ball and resistance cables. From there, you can perform various squats, lunges, chest presses, pushups, bicep curls, tricep extensions. . . these are just a few of the techniques you can incorporate into your training regimen! If you are looking for specific programs, please don’t hesitate to email me and I can tailor something to your specific needs.

     anwar@cannedfitness.com

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


Leave a Comment