Fitness Focus Copy-and-Share by Brad A. Roy, Ph.D., FACSM, FACHE FUNctional Exercise Training Brought to you by the American College of Sports Medicine wuw.aesm.org unctional ining is one of the F hottest trends in the fitness arena today, earning the number 8 spot in ACSM’s worldwide survey of fitness tends for 2014, Many fitness clubs have imple- mented classes that incorporate functional movements, whereas programs such as CrossFit, P9OX, Core Performance, and oth- ers have gained wide popularity. Some people have even designed their own backyard obsta- cle courses and events that require total body conditioning (e.g., the Spartan Race), and these events have brought flocks of people to the starting line. Although tremendously popular, the coi cept of functional fitness is nothing new. In fact, our early ancestors relied on physical endurance, agility, balance, core strength, proprioceptive awareness, neuromuscular coordination, and other functional fitness attributes to eat and live. This requirement has changed significantly as the high-tech revolution climinated many challenging mul- tidirectional physical work tasks, The result has been an increased incidence of work- related repetitive strain and cumulative trauma injuries and inadequate whole-body conditioning to carry out many real-life activ- ities. Functional exercise, focusing on activi- ties requiring multidirectional movements and the simultaneous coordination of a vari- ety of muscle groups, may prevent some of are ant 3 (For your Clients: Place your business card here, copy, and distribute.) these injuries and provide a stronger base of conditioning for undertaking various life and recreational activities. Typical resistance training workouts using weight machines and cardio sessions on tread- mills, bikes, or elliptical trainers tend to iso- late muscle groups and challenge them with single plane or linear movements. Thus, although excellent for promoting health ben- efits and developing a base of conditioning, such workouts fall short of training the body for the multidirectional movements required for many common life activities. Thus, it is not unusual for someone to chug along on the treadmill consistently only to experience significant soreness and stiffness after a week- end of yard work, participating in a softball game, or simply demonstrating to a youth soccer team how to change directions while moving the ball downfield. Participation in functional exercise activi- ties also will help minimize declines in Acs EAN TESS suL™ y yw vwmd Fitness Focus strength, coordination, balance, and many other functional attributes associated with aging. Annually, numerous people incur severe injuries because of trips and falls. Many of these events could be prevented by includ ing patterns of movement in an exercise pro- gram thar develop kinesthetic awareness, body control, and balance. On the other end of the spectrum, competitive athletes, while needing to do sport-specific training, also will benefit by incorporating a variety of fune- tional exercise activities into their overall training program. Most fitness facilities offer functional exercise programming, and there are anum- ber of facilities/programs that specialize in this type of conditioning. In addition, many personal trainers also are well versed at coaching a variety of functional exercises. However, functional exercise training does not require fancy equipment and specialty programming to get started. Begin by incor- porating exercises that require you to con- trol and balance your own body weight. Exercise examples are single leg squat, step- ups, multidirectional lunges, and other activities that challenge balance and coor- dination and eequire you to move in multi- ple directions. As conditioning improves, exercise activi- ties can be made more challenging by adding balance beams, BOSU balls, dumbbells, ket- deballs, rocker and wobble boards, and other equipment to the routine. In addition, many fitness facilities offer cable machines, suspen sion systems, whole-body vibration equip- ment, and other types of equipment that require multiple body parts to work together. Because the foundation of functional training is core conditioning, activities should be included that require integrated movements and utilization of the muscle groups around the trunk and pelvis. For some people, undertaking the same cardio and resistance training activities each week has become boring and dull. Incor- porating functional fitness activities into the weekly routine will add an element of fun and social interaction that can keep us going. As Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “We do not quit playing because we grow old, we grow old because we quit playing!” Consider livening up your exercise program with a bit of FUNetional training. Brad A. Roy, Ph.D., FACSM, FACHE, is an administrator! executive director at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, He is responsible for The Summit Medical Fitness Center, a 114,800 sq ft medical fimess center located in Kalispell, Montana, and a nuniber of other hospital departonents, Acs EAN TESS suL™