As a fast paced industry where trends come and go at an impressive frequency, keeping hold of a philosophy that remains disaffected by the passing crazes can be quite a challenge.
Is functional training actually functional?
Sticking to your guns
As fitness professionals, earning and maintaining the respect of clients whilst keeping a finger on the pulse in terms of the industry is a must for developing a successful business. Being consistent is one crucial component of doing this. It wouldn’t bode well if a trainer asked a client to stick to a particular eating plan one week only to advise against it the next week. The basis of trust comes from reliability and having mixed messages doesn’t achieve this. The challenge as a trainer is that the industry does move fast and often contradictory or conflicting messages are cascaded from the industry leaders. Constantly seeking to deliver the latest and greatest advice can leave a trainer almost working against themselves. The question is, how can a trainer maintain integrity in the eyes of the customers whilst being able to work with the latest research, guidelines or methods.
Changing perspective
Looking at the most recent trends, function is real buzz word which people are starting to really connect with. In terms of meaning, the industry has travelled with a rolling understanding of what function is. From using unstable platforms to side lunges to rehearsing sporting patterns and then weird and wonderful equipment, it’s fair to suggest that there has been an evolution in process. Trying to coin a definition of function from industry professionals usually reveals a statement similar to “multi-planar, multi-direction whole body movements that are specific to everyday life”. However, in the eyes of customers and clients, function is understood as being “good for them”, the kind of movements and exercises that will help their body work better. This is very much the intention of function but is this what clients are actually receiving?
It’s not what you do but the way that do it
Whilst the components of a typical industry understanding of function are true, these more dynamic, versatile and interesting exercises are often still prescribed in the same realms of traditional reps and sets. This is like putting a 1 litre engine inside a porsche. The capacity of the vehicle is fantastic but it’s not being driven to it’s potential. To exemplify the point, getting out of a chair could be seen as a functional activity, does this mean that performing 10 seated squats in a row would be a relevant functional exercise for this activity? The exercise relates strongly to the activity in discussion but performing 10 repetitions back to back doesn’t necessarily support how this activity fits in context. The context of the situation would be that after standing up, stepping forwards and performing another activity would normally take place.
The function of change - what Darwin really said
Having established that breaking from linear or saggital patterns can better condition the body, repeating these newer movements with conventional sets detracts from the possible benefits. Instead, function represents the ability to cope with change. Whilst the term “Survival of the fittest” is widely known and used as a sales tool for activity, what Darwin actually said was “It is the not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change”. Ok, not quite as snappy for marketing terms but the sense is clear. Being able to cope with a continual environment of change is the real essence of function.
It couldn’t be simpler
So how does this apply itself to exercise? Bearing in mind that the key is adaptability, the solution is extremely simple...transition!! It is not the individual exercises that create adaptability but the transition between them. By connecting movements into sequence, the body is continually dealing with a state of change. Applying the dynamics of being multi-planar and multi-directional helps create bigger and more useable states of change but it is the transition that demands the body continually adapts to it’s new environment.
Phill Wright
Director
Creating Chaos
Phill developed the Primal Flow training system which is part of the 2 day Primal & Functional Movement Specialist course. For more information on this fully accredited course which provides trainers with a complete training system endorsed by Leeds Rhinos, visit www.teamchaosuk.com/primal-pattern-course.php
