Ways To Improve Functional Training

By Tyron Thompson


It has for a while been my personal position that athletes of all kinds and all levels can benefit from a smartly designed and well executed strength training routine. I have repeatedly seen this to be the case in my own athletic endeavors .

No matter what sport I was playing at any given time, weight and strength training were a part of our overall training routines, and for good reason. Strength training not only builds just strength, but dependent on the kind and design of the strength training session, athletes can improve balance, coordination, suppleness, power, speed and endurance.

One area of strength training which has been gaining popularity during the past one or two years is Functional Training ( though many of these exercises have been about for a long, long time ).

Functional Training is concentrated on building strength in the muscles we use to perform daily functions like carrying groceries, walking up and down stairs, slicing wood, digging the driveway, etc .

Training in this fashion sounds right in that the strength gains made can be applied to the areas that we really need strength in. If you concentrate on it this way, though the bench press is a great resistance training movement, I would not say that it necessarily helps a person that is looking to gain strength required for their job as a chef.

Think of functional training as particular to the game or way of living that someone lives. I read a neat phrase recently that said learn how to train the "go" muscles, not the "show" muscles. That just about sums up functional coaching.

So what are some Functional Coaching exercises? There are actually masses of functional movements, and it fact I'd say you can make a discussion that pretty much all exercises can in some ways be considered functional movements, but in the interests of this writing, we'll just name a couple of the more frequently utilized ones.

Take into account that Functional Coaching can involve weights and weight machines, use resistance bands and tubes, medication balls, kettle bells, ropes, pull-up bars, plyometric "jump" boxes or platforms, and stability balls. Regard it like this, the main muscles utilized in swimming are the shoulders, the legs and the back.

Secondary muscles would be the arms, the hips and the trunk muscles. So as to set up a functional training routine for swimmers, I would recommend swimmers focus upon buttressing movements that target both the number one and secondary muscles used. I'd say pull-ups and other pulling movements would be of use for the back muscles. Overhead presses and lateral raises with kettle bells or resistance bands would be acceptable exercises for the shoulders, but also add some movements that target the rear deltoids and the rotator cuff muscles for balance.

Most times wounds happen in the shoulders springing from a lack of balanced strength inside particular muscles in the shoulders. For legs, squats are always a go-to exercise and leg presses work similarly also. I like these 2 leg exercises as they work the whole leg and not just categorical muscles within the leg. I recently read research discussing how to become a quicker pool swimmer by using the free speed that comes from a strong kick-off from the sides of the pool.

This research discussed squats as a movement to help a swimmer increase the power they generate from kicking off the sides during each lap. So it is comparatively easy to develop a functional programme on your own if you think about it. Simply establish which muscles you are using for a particular function or sport, and then find exercises that strengthen those muscles. From there it is merely a matter of performing these exercises during your workout routines.

It's also worth mentioning that many exercise that require balancing, like One-Leg Romanian Squats employing a bench and dumbbells, compel you work on balance and strengthen the muscles that are involved in balancing yourself in the exercise. This improves balance, but can also transliterate into more power and agility, which are both vital in sports performance.

It is worth joining in both Functional Coaching and Sport-Specific Strength Training to take your sports performance to the next level. Strength coaching is a complete must for any athlete looking to be competitive in any sport or hobby. Whether you do resistance band coaching, weight lifting, power yoga, Cross Fit or any other type of strength coaching, it should be considered as important as flexibility and express sports training.




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