The Law of Functional Fitness

Functional fitness is both a buzzword as of late and an important approach to training that can transform both your workouts and your life. Like how athletes train specific movements for their sports, the average person and gym-goer can benefit from training the movements they’ll need in everyday life, rather than focusing on bulking up big “show” muscles. But we’ll get to that.

“The key to functional training is to develop usable strength.” — Mike Boyle

dryworld blog img (9).png__PID:bc03600e-1ad8-43a8-930d-7f537fa14c95

Here is the Law of Functional Fitness.

What Is Functional Fitness?

Exactly as it sounds, functional fitness is a workout style that focuses on exercises that trian your muscles and prepare them for daily tasks. It does this by stimulating common movements you might do at home, work, or in sports. And no, it’s not just for old folks, although it will help ensure you age gracefully and with the ability to live independently for longer. Rather than isolating muscle groups like traditional bodybuilding, functional fitness generally engages multiple muscle groups at once to improve strength, coordination, and balance.

Why Is Functional Fitness Important?

Functional fitness is all about training your body for real-life activities, such as lifting groceries, playing with your kids, or competing in your favorite sport. It won’t only help you perform better, ubut will also reduce the risk of injury. It’s about building a body that is strong, versatile, and resilient.

What Does Functional Fitness Look Like?

If you want to make your regime more functional, it’s likely you already do some of the most common exercises. For example:

1. Squats: Great for building leg strength and improving your ability to lift and carry heavy objects.
2. Lunges: Enhance your balance and stability, which is crucial for activities like hiking/walking/running on uneven surfaces or climbing stairs—especially as you age.
3. Push-Ups: Strengthen your chest, shoulders, and arms, which is essential for pushing strollers, swing sets, and other pushing movements.
4. Deadlifts: Perfect for training your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings, while mimicking the action of picking up items from the ground.
5. Planks: Core strength is fundamental for almost everything you do.

New To Training? Try This:

If you’re keen to try a functional-style workout, we’ve put together a basic circuit below. You can do it with or without dumbbells/kettlebells, and should look up the proper form for the exercises before trying it out.

This routine targets your full body, and will take about 30 minutes.

Warm-Up (5 minutes)

🟠 Arm circles: 1 minute
🟠 Alternating forward lunges: 1 minute
🟠 Bodyweight squats: 1 minute
🟠 High knees: 1 minute
🟠 Jumping jacks: 1 minute

Workout (20 minutes)

Circuit 1:
🟠 Squats: 15 reps
🟠 Push-ups: 15 reps
🟠 Plank: 30 seconds
🟠 Rest: 1 minute
Repeat Circuit 1 three times.

Circuit 2:
🟠 Lunges (each leg): 12 reps
🟠 Deadlifts (with dumbbells or kettlebells): 15 reps
🟠 Mountain climbers: 30 seconds
🟠 Rest: 1 minute
Repeat Circuit 2 three times.

Cool Down (5 minutes)

Circuit 2:
🟠 Walk at an easy pace (if available)
🟠 Stretch your quads, hamstrings, and arms

What Are The Benefits?

We all know working out already comes with a full suite of benefits, so what makes functional fitness great? Here are the top five perks of a well-rounded functional fitness routine.

1. Improved Strength and Coordination

When you focus on functional fitness, you work multiple exercise groups and improve overall strength and coordination. It makes you more efficient at both daily tasks and athletic activities.

2. Balance and Stability

With exercises like alternating lunges where you’re offset, you enhance both balance and stability by engaging smaller muscles that keep you steady. Functional fitness workouts can help reduce the risk of falls and injuries.

3. Increased Flexibility

Dynamic movements involved in functional fitness routines improve flexibility and range of motion, helping you stay agile and limber.

4. Enhanced Core Strength

A strong core is the foundation of all fitness—and all movement, really. It supports your spine, improves posture, and enhances overall performance across daily activities and sports.

5. Reduced Risk of Injury

By training your muscles to work together, functional fitness helps prevent injuries. Plus, your stability and balance will also be improved. You’re not just building muscle; you’re training your body to move efficiently and safely, no matter what you’re up to.

dryworld blog img (7).png__PID:600e1ad8-e3a8-430d-bf53-7fa14c95fc29

Function And Form > Everything

If you love the look of big muscles and all those “mirror muscles”, that’s fine, but you should still consider training for peak functionality, as well as peak fitness. You want a body that’s capable of handling whatever life throws your way. Plus, incorporating functional fitness into your routine will help keep your workouts fresh, challenging, and rewarding.

At DRYWORLD, we care about building resilient bodies that can perform at their peak, and that’s why we love the functionality aspect of fitness. You can be ready to tackle any challenge on and off the field.

“Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keeps you going.” —Jim Ryun