Functional Training at FitStop

Let's go back to the basics, shall we. That's exactly what functional training is. Moving as our body is made to. Allowing our joints and muscles to do what they were formed to do. What am I talking about?

Everyday activities, such as: bending over to pick something up; reaching to grab something; getting up off of or sitting down on a chair; walking while holding something heavy; bending while holding something or someone. Just to name a few.

I'm going to break these activities down for you in exercise movements. Then you will see what I mean by functional training.

BENDING OVER to pick something up: Romanian Deadlifts. See the similarities? You could also use lunges to help with this as well. Lunges allow you to lower yourself down with your legs and not your back.

REACHING to grab something: Overhead presses, front raises, lateral raises. You could also put calf raises in this as for some of us we need to be on our tippy toes to reach things.

GETTING UP and SITTING DOWN: Squats! The king (or queen) of functional movement!

WALKING while holding something heavy: Farmer carry. Even bent over rows will help you with this function.

BENDING while holding something: Again, deadlifts, but also single leg deadlifts, lunges with a rotation, loaded squats.

Again, these are just to name a few. Every exercise is intended to strengthen your muscles so you can go about your day pain free and full of mobility. Exercise keeps your brain young as well and allows you to thrive through life, not just survive.

If you have a moment today, think about all the things you do in the run of a day. Now think about the different muscles you use for these tasks. Lastly, think about some exercise that target those muscles. If the task is important to you, then you will put the necessary work in to make sure you can continue to do it.

Another thought. Think about an area you may be struggling with. Perhaps its getting up off the floor. Or lifting your leg to get into the bath. Whatever it is, take a moment to think of the muscles you may be struggling to use and, lastly, think on an exercise you can do to strengthen that muscle.

Isn't Functional Training amazing! It blows me away.

If you do take advantage of the little challenge I place before you in this blog, and you decide you would like some help figuring things out, please reach out. I'd love to assist you.

tracy.jones@summerside.ca

PSA!!

We have an APP. sside.ca/FitStopApp. Please download and take advantage of the many things you can do on it. NEWLY added: FitStop survey and Step tracker for Challenge participants.

We are 2 weeks into our Step into Summer Challenge! A big shout out to all those participating! Keep up the great work.

BIRTHDAY DRAW is on Monday June 30th! Good luck!

As you probably noticed, some of our strength training equipment has rather sticky, gooey, black pads where the bars rest. We are ordering new ones, but in the meantime, I will do my best to keep them as clean as I can.

Summer Class Schedule will be up next week on the wall. Changes will take place on Friday, July 4th until end of August.

We had a wonderful turnout to our Wellness 101 Workshop last Wednesday and we are already planning our next workshop. The theme is Stress Management and date in July to be announced asap.

Thanks again for being so amazing.

Happy Canada Day!!

Your coach,

Tracy