It’s not rocket science or weird secret society, functional movement, functional training, you do functional movement every day without thinking about it.
The term functional training was coined when coaches came across a concept used by physical therapists and rehabilitation coaches used it to describe and retrain people to perform or improve their daily tasks / lives. Since then, it has evolved in many shapes and forms and has been used in all aspects of the fitness industry, from personal trainers to strength trainers. The various forms are vast and varied and who can say what or which is good or bad, the common denominator is that all methods coincide in the improvement of a person or athlete in or on all levels of human movement; be it retraining a stroke victim to walk or an athlete to rebalance instabilities in a movement, the goal is the same FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT improves all aspects of movement (if trained correctly)
The dictionary defines functional training for sport as
Functional training for sports
Functional training can lead to better muscle balance and joint stability, possibly reducing the number of injuries sustained while performing an individual in a sport. Benefits may arise from the use of training that emphasizes the body’s natural ability to move in six degrees of freedom. In comparison, although the machines appear to be safer to use, they restrict movements to a single plane of motion, which is an unnatural form of movement for the body and can lead to faulty movement patterns or injury.
In 2009, Spennewyn conducted research, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, that compared functional training with fixed-variable training techniques; This was considered the first research of its kind to compare the two strength training methods. Study results showed very substantial gains and benefits in the functional training group over fixed training equipment. The functional users had a 58% greater increase in strength than the fixed form group. Their balance improvements were 196% higher than fixed and reported an overall decrease in joint pain by 30%.
Additionally, a recent study on the effectiveness of sandbag training in athletic conditioning found that variable load training has significant cardiovascular benefits over conventional methods. The study compared subjects who exercised with a punching bag, kettlebell, and battle ropes for 5:44 seconds each. The study concluded that sandbag training burned 24% more calories than the other methods.
Consideration when implementing a functional program This can go in either direction depending on many factors, including your experience, knowledge, and understanding of the concept. A key factor to consider when implementing a program for an athlete or the general public is that each session is an ASSESSMENT, from the moment they walk through the door to the moment they disappear from sight.
Other key factors to consider are
• Plan
• Management times in relation to the plan
• Liaison with other agencies involved with the athlete
• Define objectives
• Clearly defined delivery executions for those objectives
• Always work efficiently and effectively (quality before quantity)
• Workouts should be creative and challenging
• The EDIPP principle is paramount in delivering
• Both the athlete and the coach must be prepared for the long term.
• Consistency within the program (one step at a time), for example, each session should focus on one goal, not several.
• Play while you train, train while you play, remember that competition is the result of training
Other factors may affect your plan and must also be considered especially in relation to performance factors.
Sports performance factors
1. Power
2. Force
3. Speed
4. Coordination
5. Flexibility
6. Speed
7. Muscular endurance
8. Cardiovascular capacity and endurance
However, first of all, it is important that you understand the needs of the sport, you may not be familiar with a sport or at least not all the demands of the sport. Most sports can be divided into four basic categories.
• Chop
• Intermittent sprint
• Transitional
• Endurance
Thereafter, you should look at the athlete.
o Understand their position within the sport.
o Analysis of the athlete’s qualities
o Understand the most common injuries in sport.
o Impact factors on the athlete and injuries.
Hopefully, this article will allow you to understand a little more about the need for sports functionality.