Functional Fitness: What does that mean?
Today’s guest post is from Michelle Gauvin. Michelle has been running her massage therapy business out of The Way HPI since it first opened in 2011, and in that same time has worked out with our trainers consistently. Michelle is not only an exercise enthusiast, but also leads a very activity-based lifestyle which includes hobbies like volleyball, paddle-boarding, hiking, and snowboarding. Because of the way she lives her life, Michelle is the perfect person to describe what “Functional Training” really entails, and does a great job doing so in this blog post.
Don’t worry. This is not going to be some technical treatise because I know that no one wants to read that crap and I don’t want to do the research. I’ve been working out most of my life and I know a lot but my knowledge is merely experiential and anecdotal. I am a total amateur even though I am often asked if I’m a “trainer”
My massage therapy practice is located inside a functional fitness training facility and my friends, family and clients glaze over when I tell them that. They ask, “What does that mean?, Is it a gym?, What’s the workout like?, Sounds really hard.” New clients passing through the gym on the way to my office ask if it’s Crossfit. No Virginia, it is not. Crossfit is many things but functional is not one of them.
So, think of a tool. Each tool has a function(s). Your body is a tool. We use it to carry, to climb, to reach, to step up and down, to lift, to hold, you get my drift. A functional workout is based on exercises that strengthen your body in the ways that you use it in daily life. For example, a common task you might do in your regular day would be picking up a heavy box from the floor. A corresponding functional exercise would be to bend down and lift a tire and flip it over. Much more fun! Continue Reading…