By RMHP
Functional fitness trains your muscles to work together, making daily tasks easier. So picking up heavy boxes, vacuuming, and playing with the kids will all be easier when you focus on strengthening your whole body.
Here's how functional fitness can transform your overall daily activities, plus some exercises to get you started.
Think of functional fitness as a method to develop practical, useful, all-around strength that helps you in everyday situations. You’ll train your muscles to work together, rather than in isolation.
For example, the squat is a functional exercise. You use the same muscles to perform a squat as you do to sit down in a chair, stand up, and pick things up. Squats work your legs, but they also engage your core muscles.
Functional fitness may involve equipment like stability balls, kettlebells, and free weights. With our squat example, you could perform the movement with just your bodyweight, with a loaded barbell, or while holding dumbbells.
Functional fitness can make certain tasks easier, like picking up a heavy object. But, you’ll also improve your core strength, balance, stability, and more.
If you’re ready to give functional fitness a try, here are some great exercises to start with:
Looking for even more functional exercises? Try this guide from GB Personal Training.