The Wellness Edit: the rise of functional fitness

Functional fitness is a type of exercise that has long existed but has only recently emerged more commonly in the fitness world. In essence, it involves fitness and exercise which focus on supporting the body for everyday life, allowing us to maintain strength and cardio fitness for a longer healthier life. Often, these exercises look to improve our ability to perform everyday activities rather than training for specific races or events that are one-offs. The clue is in the name ‘functional’, which means each part of functional fitness has a particular purpose and benefit to our lives and bodies.

By focusing on movements rather than muscles, functional exercises mimic the demands of everyday

The key components of functional fitness all serve to benefit our bodies including strength training, mobility, endurance, and core stability. Working on each of these areas provides us a better chance to live healthy lives and reduce the chance of injury from everyday activities. By working on the areas our bodies use in everyday life and will benefit from training, functional fitness differs from traditional strength training by working our bodies every day rather than training specific muscles in isolation. Isolating specific muscles refers to exercises such as leg extensions or bicep curls which are beneficial for strength building but don’t necessarily prepare the body for activities which use multiple muscle groups working together. Instead, by focusing on movements rather than muscles, functional exercises mimic the demands of everyday tasks, such as carrying shopping, climbing stairs, or reaching overhead, making them more practical.

To understand if an exercise is functional, you can compare how it can replicate everyday activities. For example, squats, and variations of squats, replicate sitting, standing, or lifting objects so including these exercises can help strengthen your muscles for these everyday activities whilst also improving balance and agility as we get older. Similarly, pushing movements, like push-ups or overhead presses, engage the muscles that are involved when pushing doors or lifting heavier items overhead. Essentially, each exercise will replicate an activity that is done in everyday life whether it is lifting objects, reaching for items, or balancing on uneven ground.

Everybody can benefit from functional fitness; it’s about preparing our bodies for getting older, so our muscle groups remain strong enough to do the things we love and also the things we need to do to maintain our quality of life. Starting from a younger age as university students allows us to work on our muscles, mobility, and endurance so that we can continue living our best lives without limitations from our bodies.

Make the most of exercising so that you can continue to do the things you love later on in life

If you are struggling to know where to begin, take a look at the exercises you already do in your week and reflect on what may already be functional exercises that you hadn’t considered. If you think there are some movements in life you struggle with generally or want to improve on, consider how this might translate into your training. If you struggle with carrying groceries back to your flat, then think about carrying weights whilst utilising an incline treadmill or stairmaster. The exercise that you may have previously been completing as part of specific muscle group training or for aesthetic purposes may offer you a further benefit than you had realised. Make the most of exercising so that you can continue to do the things you love later on in life.