You may have heard me talk about functional (or practical) strength. Functional strength is used a lot by athletes who want to get rather strong in a particular aspect of their sport. For example I do Judo so I need a good strong grip. To do this I climb a rope, do a lot of Deadlifts and chin ups. These exercises not only strengthen my hands but also strengthen my back, biceps and abs.
In this report I'm going to talk about what functional strength is, what exercises are functional how you can learn more about it.
What is functional strength?
Functional strength is strength that you can use in everyday activities. For example what good is a rugby player who can bench press 200kg but cannot fend off a tackle? Functional strength training is being able to use that 200kg bench press and converting it into being able to fend off a tackle.
Another example of functional strength is a mother holding a baby in her arms for hours on end. You cannot convert this type of movement into a bench press or leg press movement, it is purely functional.
Gymnasts are a perfect example of functional strength. They can hold themselves on the rings and display awesome feats of strength but get them in the gym and they are nowhere near as strong as they look. This is purely because they are using their strength and co-ordination in a way that is practical for their sport and their needs.
What exercises are functional?
There are two types of exercises: Isolation and Compound movements. Isolation exercises work one or maybe two muscles at a time for eg: bicep curls, Pec Flyes, tricep kickbacks etc.
Compound movements are techniques that work between 2 and 6 muscles these are the bench presses, shoulder presses, squats, deadlifts etc.
I classify functional exercises as exercises that work the whole body. Exercises such as deadlifts, deep squats, standing SA shoulder press, carrying sandbags, sledgehammer work, keg lifts, pushing cars, rope climbing, tyre pulling, medicine ball throws, power cleans, power snatch, towel chin-ups etc. All of these exercises work and involve the whole body resulting in a full body conditioning and muscle co-ordination.
So if you want to do something different with your training instead of a boring bodybuilding program full of isolation exercises try doing a full body workout using practical exercises. Exercises and challenges such as:
- Hold onto a 25kg weight plate for 30 minutes without putting it down
- Try pushing a car round a car park for 20 minutes
- Carry a 20kg-boxing bag round the block.
- Attach a rope to a car tyre and pull it along hand over hand or bear crawl with it
- Piggyback a friend up a mountain
- Do 60 reps of body weight power cleans with 10 sec break in between each rep
- Row on a rowing machine superset with box jumps
- Do 30 reps of BW on squats superset with 1000m rowing
- Use kettle bells
Training for functional strength is great fun because you are doing something different besides a bench press and bicep curl. You are using your entire body to lift, pull and push all sorts of things, which requires massive amounts of muscle involvement and co-ordination.
If you participate in any physical activity like being a gardener, mowing lawns, playing rugby, Judo, wrestling etc you will feel the difference in not only strength but conditioning to.
I highly recommend functional strength training to anyone for the simple fact that it's fun, different, targets and uses the whole body - something that everyone needs.
Author: Matt D'Aquino
http://www.workoutsforjudo.com/
Matt D'Aquino is the founder of Beyond Grappling fitness and conditioning. He is a 2008 Beijing Judo Olympian as well as nationally ranked freestyle wrestler and National Champion in Brazilian Jujitsu. Matt has a passion for teaching all forms of grappling and is on the journey to qualify for his 2nd Olympic Games.
To learn more about Matt and his fitness and conditioning training visit http://www.workoutsforjudo.com/
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