Functional Fitness: Keeping It and Making It Work

A Lifetime of Functional Fitness.

In a few weeks, my great aunt will celebrate her 100^th birthday. Even as she becomes a centenarian, her activity level continues to amaze me. She still lives on her own, goes to the pool every day, and has a busy, active social life. With so many of us relative youngsters complaining of exhaustion and creaky joints—in a time when we seem to know so much more about fitness and nutrition—how does she do it?

Her quality of life at her age is due to a commitment to fitness for many of her 100 years. Yet my aunt is no gym rat. Her definition of fitness and exercise differs the expected definition. She’s maintained functional fitness because she’s always been on the move, with little time for sitting around. She swims laps constantly, she walks, and she performs simple, daily activities, like lifting shopping bags. These are perfect examples of the functional activities of daily living. In her own way, all of her life, my aunt has done a version of the very functional fitness that I teach. I guess that a commitment to fitness is in our genes.

What is Functional Fitness?

Functional fitness means better overall fitness. When you are functionally fit, your muscles have been trained work better together, which makes it easier and safer to perform everyday activities—from things like carrying bags of groceries to shoveling snow. With activities like these, your upper and lower body muscles are coordinating their efforts, so your core is engaged as well. Functional fitness incorporates multi-joint and multidirectional exercises and can be honed using body weight, kettle bells, fitness balls and more. A functional fitness routine, done in the gym or with a personal trainer, can improve how you perform in your daily life, making everyday movements like lifting, climbing stairs, and even sitting, safer and easier.

Are You Functionally Fit?

Let's say you can bench press a lot of weight, but you throw your back out while lugging a packed suitcase down the stairs. You may be fit, but your muscles are not functionally fit. The key to functional fitness is teaching the muscles to work together. Should you abandon your weight workout and replace it with functional fitness exercises? Not necessarily. Look for isolated weaknesses and tailor a workout to address it. Such weaknesses can cause a detriment in functional movement and should be strengthened with weights. Do you complain about an aching back at the end of the day? Are your neck and shoulders sore after hours on end at the computer? A functional fitness routine might be the answer.

Increasing Your Functional Fitness.

Functional fitness can be a vital part of aging gracefully, as proven by my aunt. Yet, jumping into a functional fitness routine can be challenging for some people because it is usually a lot harder than weight training. Functional fitness exercise is both physically and neurologically demanding. You cannot do functional exercises with the same levels of intensity and short rest periods, as you might do a weight workout. Also, unlike weightlifting, in functional fitness, if you train to failure, you "train to fail." Instead, your functional fitness set ends when you can no longer perform the exercise with perfect form. Quality, not quantity, is an important factor in working on your functional fitness level.

Follow Me to Functional Fitness.

Fitness isn’t just about cardiovascular endurance or muscle strength. We need to adapt and train our bodies to function in the real world—one full of holding squirmy toddlers, unloading the dishwasher, and spending hours in the car or in front of the computer.  My blog on Doylestown Patch will help you explore simple ways of increasing your own functional fitness. I’m not promising a century-long life, but you’re sure to see ways to add more life to your years.