Functional Movement Class: What It Is and Why We Are Bringing It to You

Do you ever feel like the vibe of 2020 has just carried on into 2021 and now into 2022? Finding time to do anything feels like a struggle.

I went through this too, struggling to incorporate movement consistently in my life. I get it. Life, work, responsibilities add up and sometimes the last thing we want to do is move.

It's important to mention though, a study by Westcott et al 1 stated that inactive adults experience a 3% to 8% loss of muscle mass per decade, accompanied by resting metabolic rate reduction and fat accumulation.

What this essentially translates to is that inactive adults experience their metabolism slowing down, amount of muscle decreasing, and amount of fat increasing. But this doesn't have to mean we accept this fate of aging.

Let's talk about something called functional strength training.

Functional strength training can improve walking speed, functional independence, physical performance, and self-esteem. Incorporating functional strength training can improve the way you move and the way you feel.

So what IS functional strength training?

Functional strength training incorporates movement/exercises that help you perform activities in your everyday life. For example, incorporating hip and knee exercises that translate to you getting up and out of a chair easier.

How is functional strength training different from non-functional strength training?

Non-functional strength training will focus on one body part at a time usually not incorporating whole body movements. For example, doing bicep curls with a dumbbell in each hand. This doesn’t mean you can’t include these types of movements in functional strength training. We can absolutely still work on strengthening the biceps but adding a lunge to this movement to also target your balance and strengthen the glutes all in one exercise. This is one way we design the movement to be more functional.

How can you incorporate functional movement in your routine?

We plan on offering functional movement classes at the park near our office starting Tuesday, March 29, 2022!

We also have an online series available now if that works better for you.

In these classes we will target maintaining or improving overall mobility, reducing stiffness, and improving functional strength and ability. Classes will incorporate weights, resistance bands, and exercise balls.

Class size will be limited to only 4 to 5 participants at a time, so that you feel attended to by our instructor. Our goal is to always meet you where you are at in your fitness journey, thus modifications for all of our exercises will always be available and offered to you.

Classes will be held in 4-week increments and will meet once a week on Tuesday.

If you would like to learn more about our class and instructor you can watch the video below.

1. Westcott WL. Resistance training is medicine: effects of strength training on health. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2012 Jul-Aug;11(4):209-16. doi: 10.1249/JSR.0b013e31825dabb8. PMID: 22777332.