220;Typical strength training attempts to develop the body through a piecemeal approach, isolating specific muscle groups. Worse yet, this is often done with the body unloaded, sitting stationary on a machine while moving one isolated body part through a controlled range of motion, usually in a strict linear, straight ahead motion”. Traditional strength training train isolated muscle function while functional training train the body to work as a unit. The central nervous system is programmed to make the body function as a unit, not to work in terms of isolated muscle function. Functional training is “functional” since it trains the body the way it has been designed to function. Benefits of Functional TrainingThis type of training has many benefits but the most important one being that it creates a healthy, well-conditioned body. Some of the major benefits are: to develop kinesthetic awareness and body control to improve Posture to improve muscle balance to decrease incidence of injury to improve athletic performance to have a positive effect on spinal health to enhance movement efficiency to give a more narrow-waist look (as a result of an improved posture) to improve both dynamic and static balance Functional training offers more benefits overall than traditional strength training. A combination of both is still possible if you are looking for the benefits of functional training while looking to specifically develop muscles. As a rule of thumb, always perform functional training first when your nervous system is still fresh. Functional Exercises“Highly functional exercises need to facilitate as much multi-joint involvement as possible to create muscular and joint interdependency ; it also need to challenge the body with proprioceptively enriched exercises in an unstable environment that excite and develop the nervous system” says Mark Cibrario, Owner of a personal training studio and expert in functional ...
