Functional fitness is one of the big buzz right now in the fitness industry. I believe functional fitness comes down to two specific concepts, adaptability and putting your fitness into practice in a real application. It’s great to be gym fit, to be able to perform pull-ups, endless sit-ups, and deadlift 200kg. But what can you actually do with this fitness? Are you able to pick up a couch, run to catch a bus, climb on to the top of a mountain, change the tyre on a jeep, carry heavy shopping bags etc ?
Transferability of fitness from the gym to the real world isn’t as easy as we would like to think. Pull-ups will strengthen your back, lats, and biceps. However, the strength doesn’t translate directly to climbing on top of a tree branch, doing a muscle up, or climbing rocks. The real world doesn’t occur in a single plane of motion. Rather, it is dynamic and ever changing. Picking up children, groceries, or furniture isn’t as easy as a barbell deadlift. Awkward angles can occur, the ground can be uneven, and you can’t always maintain straight arms and the perfect lumbar curve while lifting. Can you pick up an 60kg sand bag or 20kg bag of dog food that is going to shift weight and keep from injuring your back? Life constantly presents us with situations that can require technically improper form or, at minimum, slight compromises. That is one of the big reason’s we like to get outside the gym and ensure that your fitness will transfer over to real life. Strongman movement such a type flips, axel lifts, carries, holds and unilateral work is fantastic as prepping the body for real life movements but when programmed a given way they can act as prehab movements to keep the body safe.