True strength is always functional

Functional training

Meeting with a group of fitness people today I am told “functional training is the way of the future”. I maintain if it is training it is functional. Training is a display or practice for a given sports activity. Sports are practice for war, historically. Every event in the ancient Olympics was intended to show who had the best warrior. The modern Olympics, not as much. Why participate if the outcome does not serve the goal? All training is functional. There are fundamental barbell movements which everyone claiming to train is obligated to learn. “Newbies” have a tendency to re-write the language and trick clients into tests which highlight inabilities. Do not take part blindly. There are definite ways we are designed to move. If another tells you to move in a way other than functionally the results cannot be functional.

I like barbells. Some people like kettlebells. I am stronger than all of them. I am more explosive than all of them. I am forty-six years young. If the weight of a kettlebell is challenging to you, you have too many issues to discuss here. Do the weightlifting exercise as intended and you will go much further than doing some deviation of that movement with a kettlebell. The weights are just too damned light to get strong.

Throwing a medicine ball over-head is a good thing to do. It displays mid-back problems. It applies to everyday activities and sports as well. This is accessory work. It will not bring anyone to a higher level of performance if direct strength work is ignored. Superlative strength is upgraded with barbells.

This is functional.

There is not enough science on flipping truck or tractor tires to compare it with barbell training. If anyone tells you differently keep moving. They are an exercise instructor at best. I have used kettlebells to train older people. Only until they were strong enough to lift a dumbbell and then a barbell. The technique is unfinished with kettlebells. Once again there is very limited science on the topic. Kettlebells have not been used in training long enough for any long-term studies to have been completed. Kettlebells come from Eastern Europe. They were used in the sports festivals. These festivals were designed to compare athletes from different sports. The kettlebell was not used as a training tool by the athletes who won these events. Proponents of this tool say it has been a training tool for centuries. Maybe, but only by the weaker, slower, less-conditioned “athletes”. I have a picture of a world champion weightlifter doing a snatch with a 90 kg. kettlebell. He did not practice with the kettlebells. He practiced with barbells. If one cannot snatch a 90 kgs. barbell the kettlebell version of this movement is not possible. Most who use kettlebells cannot snatch 90 kgs in any form.

Corrective exercises are helpful. Physical therapists are making a living with them. If I can bench press 100 lbs. more than another the other has no business telling me anything about how the shoulder girdle should move. This is a problem. Just like me telling someone who can out swim me how she should change her technique if I have never done that technique.

This is not.

In college, GO TERPS, my human development professor told us to make people we train go through every stage of life during a warm up. Roll over, go on all fours, crawl, stand up, walk, run, skip and jump. This sounds like a good warm up. If my training session is based on this I will over train in no time at all. Doing each one of these activities as an exercise takes time. Work on these skills over a longer cycle.
Doing corrective exercises, no matter who you are, in lieu of fundamental strength work, is not only inefficient but absolutely dangerous. Strength is the foundation of all things physical for we humans.


Functional, operational, practical, and useful are a few synonyms. If one does not do these things in life it is not functional. Surfers and skateboarders may benefit from standing on a stability ball. One who sits at a desk all day will not. It is not a practical use of one’s time. If you come from a martial arts background and want to use the physical to attain the spiritual benefits, confidence or holistic-mindedness, go for it. It will be rewarding. Martial artists are lifetime participants in these acts; continually striving to move without thought. Moving without thought takes a lot of practice (time). Functional exercise, as it is done today, is folly for the bored. Boredom indicates a lack of measurable goals.
We must develop abilities with the barbells. These developments will serve us well in all of life. When do you really need to do a pistol squat in life unless you are a surfer or skater? Become logical. The science is done on barbell work. There is very little legitimate reliable, valid, scientific work being done on “functional workouts” in vented by the personal training world. Successful workouts are confidence builders, no doubt. If you are a high level athlete and still thinking about how you feel doing it you have a lot of room for improvements. I can get you where you need to be physically, mentally, and emotionally. During this process we use the physical to improve the mental. Also, during this process we account for emotional factors and improve these factors.

True strength is universally relevant.

Training is holistic. We address different needs during training. Practice is educational. Do it, go, again, now are all training commands. Good coaches listen. Have faith and discuss training with your coach. If strength is gained it is always functional. Strength serves all situations not just your drills. “Functional training” as it is done these days is anything but functional. It is a waste of time designed to display your deficiencies and sell you more training sessions.

Train to maximize strength and all aspects of your program profit. This assumes you are practicing. You cannot get stronger and expect speed to benefit if you do not practice speed as well.

My statements can seem harsh, I understand. I am happy to prove my points. Just reach out and we can talk/lift/run/jump. 


Get stronger!                                                                                docsgym@live.com