5-Star Saturday
March 12, 2022
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GET FUNCTIONAL!
By Lynne Bermel
Do you want to improve your balance and prevent falls? Get leaner and stronger? Improve your golf or tennis game? Recover from an injury? Or do you just want to make everyday activities easier? We’re thinking here about getting out of bed or off the floor, carrying heavy objects, reaching for the top shelf, bending over to weed the garden or to pick up your grandchildren, or turning to get something from the backseat of your car.
In today’s fitness world, the buzzword is “functional.” Or “functional fitness training.” Let’s face it, none of us are getting any younger. We all want to grow old gracefully. And functional fitness training is the way to help you move better, stabilize the body properly, enhance your posture and balance and improve your strength and cardio system.
You will be using multiple muscle groups to train this way, instead of isolated movements. So that means, Instead of going to the gym and sitting on machines (where you work only one muscle in isolation), you work multiple muscle groups in a series of fun, challenging exercises. You’ll get a lot more ‘bang for your buck” this way. And the good news is that functional fitness training works for all ages and experience levels.
It’s focused on working on your seven key movement patterns. In life, you bend, twist, push, pull, squat, lunge, and put one foot in front of the other (gait).
So what should you be doing regularly in the gym?
- SQUAT - You need to be able to get out of a chair, even out of bed, right? So you should include some form of squats in your training. Wall sit is a basic exercise to build up the quad strength as you advance to more squat-specific exercises.
- LUNGE - The lunge is a very important movement pattern. If you lose the ability to lunge, you lose the ability to get off the ground. A good way to start with lunges is by using the TRX machine.
- HINGE - Ever pulled your back out bending over to pick something up? You need to learn how to hinge from the hips and use them, along with the strength of your legs, in order to save your spine. In the gym, the deadlift is a great exercise to work on this.
- PUSH - Not being able to push properly can lead to a host of neck and shoulder issues. The push-up is the quintessential pushing exercise. If it’s too challenging to perform from the ground, you can use an incline bench. Or try the chest press. Even better, perform unilateral (one arm) presses, and you’re also working on core activation and stabilization.
- PULL - The cousin of the ‘push,’ pulling is equally important. Not being able to pull correctly can weaken the postural muscles, leading to kyphosis or that “hunched over” look. A basic exercise to try is the TRX pull-up.
- ROTATION (Twist) – This is one of the most important movement patterns, especially if you’re a golf or tennis player. If you don’t rotate properly, you could cause an excess amount of compression in the lumbar spine, which can lead to serious back pain. In the gym, you could try the pallof press or woodchop (rotation with the cable) or the Russian twist (medicine ball side to side on the floor).
- GAIT – Finally, your gait pattern. Of course, you know how to walk, but do you know how to walk properly? Do you have a slight limp? Hunched over? Shuffle? More than anything, a proper gait prevents falls in older adults.
So, the next time you’re at the gym, consider incorporating these exercises. Perhaps better yet, let us help you turn any dysfunctional movement patterns into functional ones. Your life will be easier!
THREE (3) FINAL POINTS!
PILATES REFORMER - Ever try the reformer? I recommend it highly! It’s a great way to incorporate these movement patterns. You’ll get a full-body workout and improve your balance and coordination. And it’s low impact.
POOL RUNNING - If you’re injured or tired of the treadmill or elliptical, why not try jumping in the pool? It’s a great way to get in your cardio and get your heart rate up. Thirty minutes of ‘water running’ in the deep end will have you huffing and puffing in no time. And it’s easy on the joints.
BATTLE ROPES - If you really want to get the heart pumping, try the battle ropes. People say ‘they look so easy,” but you’ll think differently once you try them. They are a dynamic, fat-busting burner. A few intervals of 20-30 seconds will give you a killer cardio workout.
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Lynne Bermel is a graduate of the Functional Aging Institute (FAI) and a certified trainer with the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). |
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