How to be a functional human….
Train to be a Functional Human……
We aren’t going to get caught up with what is a functional exercise and what isn’t functional,
the truth be told that no one really knows or can decipher what is functional and what isn’t functional as most exercises and machines do somewhat enhance something in a way that would help you become a functional human being.
What we want to touch on though is how it is important to be a fully functional well rounded human…….
We have all been to the gym and seen the big beef cake in the corner, well he looks as strong as an ox but he can’t run to the letter box.
We have seen the person running so fast around the park with a lean physique but when they stopped to tie their laces they can’t even sit on the park bench as they are super tight through their hips.
What we want to talk about here is how important it is to train for every day life and how to be functional and I guess just move your body the way it should.
There are so many ways to train these days and there is no right or wrong and to be honest what you like is what you will do….. no one can change that.
The way we want to look or the time you want to be beat or you simply don’t know any better usually will give us a good indication of how you want to train.
When you are young and fresh out of school we all want to be strong and look toned, when you hit 30 you want to look slim and don’t have a figure we refer to as the “Dad bod” and when you hit 40 you just want to happily be able to tie your shoe laces…. That is all true.
A lot of us train to be strong but in reality training to be strong doesn’t transfer to every day life, If you are a professional athlete then that is when it is important.When you are an office worker with a family of 3 and you don’t play any sport there really is no reason that you should have to be able to bench press 1.5x your bodyweight.
In reality if at any stage in your life if you are 20, 30 or even 40.
If you can run 5km without stopping, bend over to tie your shoe laces with ease, push your child on a swing with no pain, and can drop and do 10 x burpees you are a functional human.
The seven foundational movement patterns are Pull, Push, Squat, Lunge, Hinge, Rotation and Gait.
If you watch a young child they can do any of these with absolute ease and have no issues at all.
As we get older we get wiser and our body cheats anything that it deems as hard….
Why? Because why would it not, life isn’t meant to be hard BUT we can make it easier.
Train to be functional….. Ask yourself can you do what we said in the above paragraphs? Very likely something will be limited or have some limitation to what you can or can’t do.
Why it is important to mix up your training?
“Do what you love, love what you do” ever heard that? You probably have….
What about “Sharpening the saw”? Probably not, we don’t often mention it.
What we mean by these two quote is…. If you love it, you will do it.
“Sharpening the saw” well when it gets blunt, it simply doesn’t cut it.
This is super important….. You sometimes have to stop what you are doing, have a little freshen up and get back on the saw and you will be good to go again.
If you are a regular trainer or are thinking about getting into it, it is very likely you will have a routine… it will be your regular morning run, your same gym time you go to every day or the same fitness class you always hit.
Have you ever thought about changing one of those regular times to doing something different?
Probably not and the reason is because its not going to be something you love!
But change your mindset of it and think a little different… instead of going for my 5th run of the week how about a yoga class, then I maybe able to tie my laces with ease.
Instead of lifting big weights how about jacking the heart rate with a spin class… then I can run to letterbox to catch the postie…..
You pick up what we are putting down…