Functional Strength Training Routine
How to perform strength training anywhere and keep consistent
Functional Strength Training: Key to Consistency in Your Fitness Journey
I've been a Personal Trainer on the Wirral for over twenty years now (I know, showing my age), and I've seen firsthand the powerful impact of functional strength training! Being functionally strong will turbocharge your life by making you a dynamically strong individual, enhancing your ability to run, jump, pull, push, squat, and every other foundational movement pattern.
Functional strength isn't just about lifting weights in a gym; it's about building a body that performs well in the dynamic physical world we live in. Subconsciously, you will make thousands of joint movements at different angles every day. Sometimes, these dynamic movements will be under a degree of great tension depending on the position, speed, and load you place through them.
Basically, the more functionally strong you are, the better you are at handling any physical demands you encounter each day. Not to mention, it creates a great-looking body!
This is why it's the third principle of the Fit Body Code!
If you want to learn more about the importance of Functional Training for your Fitness, Fat Loss, and Strength journey (click here)
Believe it or not, strength training can help with consistency by vastly improving your quality of life and overall health, even without traditional gym equipment.
Why Consistency Matters in Functional Strength Training
As I told you in the Mindset article on consistency (click here), consistency is the cornerstone of any successful fitness regime, particularly functional strength training. The beauty of this type of training is that it doesn't require a gym membership or expensive equipment. It's about using your body weight, leveraging everyday movements through three dimensions, and occasionally improvising with items you can find at home.
I won't bore you too much, but the human body moves through 3-planes of motion.
Sagittal Plane - Forwards & Backwards
Frontal Plane - Side to side
Transverse Plane - Rotation
For many of my personal training clients on the Wirral, integrating regular functional strength exercises into their routines has improved their physical strength, body composition, and overall health. Let's break down why this consistency is crucial:
- Adaptation: Our bodies adapt to the demands we place on them. Regular functional training ensures continuous improvement in strength and endurance.
- Injury Prevention: Consistent practice reinforces the muscles and joints, which reduces the risk of injuries in everyday activities.
- Lifestyle Integration: Making functional strength part of your daily routine means it's more sustainable. It becomes a habit, not a chore.
A Simple Body Weight Functional Routine
Try the workout I've created to help you maintain functional strength with minimal equipment. You'll see how simple movements can be incredibly effective. The routine allows you to complete it anywhere with literally no equipment.
This allows a low barrier to execution and helps you stay consistent with your strength training.
Emphasising the Impact of Functional Strength
Incorporating these exercises into your weekly routine can significantly improve your functional strength, which translates to better performance in daily activities and enhanced fitness on the Wirral. What's more, this type of training supports weight loss on the Wirral by improving your metabolic rate and increasing muscle mass, which burns more calories even at rest.
Conclusion
Remember, the key to benefiting from functional strength training is consistency. As you integrate these exercises into your routine, you'll notice improvements in your physical health and your ability to perform everyday activities with ease and confidence.
Stay strong, stay consistent, and remember, if you need my help on the Wirral or Online, I'm here to support you in every step of your journey.
Embrace functional strength training and make it a cornerstone of your fitness routine. Whether you want to enhance your overall health, lose weight, or get stronger, my Fit Body Code programme will help you.
You can contact me on [email protected]
Keep fit, lean, healthy, and strong.
Lewis
Home & Gym exercise guideline
Disclaimer: Please ensure you seek medical advice before doing this routine should you have any medical condition. By completing this exercise routine you accept 100% responsibility for your own health & safety and you accept doing this routine is at your own risk. Should you suffer an injury or any other issue you agree Lewis Bailey cannot be held liable!
1. You must start by doing at least a 10-minute warm-up. Note, this is not to be included in the 20-minute workout.
2. Follow every exercise with the best possible form to avoid the risk of injury but also go through as much range of motion as possible to keep the tension on the muscle tissue. You want to aim for both quality and the quantity of repetitions when doing this.
3. There are 4 exercises to follow, and you must complete as many reps as possible on each exercise without stopping if possible. Once you have completed the 4 exercise circuit then take 1 minute rest before repeating the circuit again with the stated rep ranges. Should you begin to fail at any exercise because of exhaustion, take a couple of seconds rest, and then continue. If you struggle, don't worry; with practice, you'll soon be able to do it once you get fitter and stronger!
4. Water - When you need some water at certain stages, make sure it's handy and aim to drink it during your 1 minute rest period between circuits.
5. Weights - The 5 or 10kg dumbbells will be more than enough should you conduct the exercises in the video or you can use an improvised prop of similar weight.
