Functional Fitness is fitness that supports your life. Whatever your life involves, training functionally will benefit you tremendously.
That’s why we aim to help people Get Better At Life here at Defy.
There are 7 functional movement patterns that most of our training revolves around. These movements are seen in everyday life over and over again.
In the gym we focus on maximizing the output that we can do in these movements; do them heavier, faster or do a lot of them. We call this intensity. The intensity that these movements are done at the gym will be a lot higher than you’re likely to see them in day to day activities, but if you can do them at higher intensities in the gym then everything in life will be far easier.
Often people move outside of the gym in compromised positions. Most people aren’t thinking about perfect form when they pick their kids up or brace themselves when putting stuff in the attic. This is why it’s important to be able to lift and move at higher intensities in the gym (while focusing on your form) so that your body is ‘over qualified” for the daily tasks when you might find yourself in a compromised position.
We believe in being very good at the basics. Every new fitness model claims to be the best and has fancy stretch machines or incorporate some hop, skip, jump, clap push ups. The basics work and we don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
If your training regularly consisted of these 7 movement patterns, you would be ready to tackle anything. Here they are:
SQUAT
Squatting involves the knees and hips flexing at the same time to lower the hips towards the ground. Several muscle groups are used including; glutes, quads, hamstrings, adductors and core. You can change the emphasis of the muscle groups by adding weight to the body at different places
Practical Application: standing up from a seated position
Main Lifts: Back Squat, Front Squat, Overhead Squat, Goblet Squat, Air Squat
HINGE / BEND
Bending or hinging involves flexing at the hips while maintaining a more rigid knee position. To do this you will use your glutes, hamstring and core muscles mainly.
Practical application: picking anything up off the floor
Main Lifts: Barbell Deadlift, KB Deadlift, KB Swing
LUNGE
The lunge pattern is similar to the squat and will support progress in the squat and bend patterns. Being a unilateral movement pattern means it is great for targeting imbalances. Glutes, quads, hamstrings, adductors and core will be used during this pattern
Practical application: walking up stairs or any hill
Main Lifts: weighted lunges, step ups, Split Squats
CORE
The core is all your muscles in the torso and is quite complex. It protects and stabilizes your spine and allows it to flex, extend and rotate when needed. The core muscles are much deeper than just the visible “6 pack abs”
Practical application: your core is used constantly but when you pick anything up you will use your core to stabilize the spine
Main lifts: weighted Carries, Planks, Hollow (plus any heavy compound lift)
PUSH
The push movement pattern is an upper body pattern that pushes objects further away from you or pushes you further away from objects. The chest, triceps and shoulders are mainly used in the push pattern
Practical application: Getting up from a lying down position or pushing a door open
Main Lifts: Bench Press, Push Ups, Strict Press
PULL
The pull pattern is the opposite to the push and will pull a load towards your body. This pattern uses the biceps and upper back muscles.
Practical application: Taking something off a shelf, pulling garbage bag out of garbage can
Main Lifts: Pull ups, Bent over rows, Ring Rows
LOCOMOTION
The final movement pattern is locomotion, which means moving from one place to another usually in a cyclical fashion.
Practical Application: moving from one place to another
Main Movements: walking, running, biking
Using these movement patterns in your training will give great results. It can be as simple as picking one exercise from each pattern and performing them back to back 3-5 times for 10-15 reps. Then repeating this 3-5 times each week, mixing up the exercises.
Fitness doesn’t need to be complicated or flashy, the basics have worked for many years. Consistency in the basics will give all the results you ever need.