Functional Movements

If you’ve been to a gym recently or spoken to a personal trainer, you will have no doubt heard the talk about so called ‘functional movements’. We’re often told to focus on functional movements in our training as these are the best moves for getting results.

But what on Earth is a functional movement?! This article addresses the issue as these days everything is given the term functional. Completing a dumbbell bench press whilst lying on a stability ball and your feet balancing on a wobble board is NOT a functional movement. I use that particular example as previously a gym instructor had told me that was a functional move they had been doing.

Three Characteristics of functional moves:

1. Natural – They are moves found in nature. If your weight training exercise doesn’t represent something you do in everyday life, it is functional!

2. Essential – A functional move is something that everyone on the planet needs to carry out on a day to day basis. We train these moves with heavy weights and correct technique to make carrying out these moves in our day to day life much easier.

3. Compound – More than one joint is used in a functional movement. The move can also not be broken down into any smaller moves.

Examples of functional movements:

The below are the 3 main functional lifts needed in everyday more. You could argue that there are more, however these are without doubt the fundamental, core functional moves to master.

The Deadlift – this represents picking objects from the floor.

The Squat – any movement where you bend down to the ground requires muscles used in the squat.

Shoulder press/push press – represents lifting an object above your head.