Functional Movements vs. Moving Functionally

While the title of this post might seem redundant, I believe “functional movements” and “moving functionally” are two very different things. 

FunctionFunctional workouts are the latest buzz in the fitness industry. You have “functional” bootcamps, “functional” workout equipment, and even certification courses for trainers who want to become “functional” trainers. Functional movements encourage you to bend, twist, shift weight from side-to-side, lift, push, pull, squat, reach–movements that include using multiple joint across multiple planes of movement. However, I don’t believe making these movements ensures you are moving functionally. For example, I’m going to guess that the guy in the picture to the left is experiencing some incredible compensations in trying to squat while on an exercise ball. Seriously…who comes up with this stuff?

The fact of the matter is that if one shoulder is rounded forward, or one hip is sitting higher than the other, or if your knees and feet point out to the side, you can do functional movements until you’re blue in the face, but you’re still not moving functionally. Instead, you’re getting dysfunctionally strong, disfunctionally explosive.

I believe you can improve your functional movements by getting your body to move more functionally. I believe you need to combine moving functionally with functional movements. The catch is that moving functionally needs to precede functional movement. One way to ensure you are moving functionally is to incorporate Egoscue into your daily routine (click HERE to download 4 Free E-cises to get you moving functionally). Our philosophy for years has been “straighten, then strengthen.” We need to get you functional and then begin to implement functional movements that are designed to get you stronger on your new, functional frame.

I’m all for functional movements, bootcamps, workouts, exercise equipment and trainers, but I’m more for getting the body to move functionally like it’s designed. Make sure you know the difference between the two!

QUESTION: Are you more concerned with functional movements or moving functionally?