Clifton Harski is a movment, strength and conditioning coach. He has a BS is Kinesiology, holds certifications in MovNat, Crossfit, ACE PT, Under Armour Combine Training and the coveted RKC. He is also an ice cream fanatic. You can get more good stuff from Clifton here.

“What the Hell is Functional Anyway?”

I think that functional has become the most bastardized term in the fitness industry with silly examples of people standing on a bosu ball while curling 4lb kettlebells or trying to take a barbell from the ground and in one move (the snatch) put it overhead (I love that exercise, but aside from with a barbell I’ve never had to do it). The term has lost it’s original good-intended-descriptive use: it initially tried to specify exercise modalities and selections which would better produce capabilities in humans that were more “functional” in real life instead of traditional bodypart training. So I’ll define it how I see it.

When defining something I like to start where things are defined, the dictionary.

func·tion·al

adjective
1. of or pertaining to a function  or functions: functional difficulties in the administration.
2. capable of operating or functioning: When will the ventilating system be functional again?
3. having or serving a utilitarian purpose; capable of serving the purpose for which it was designed: functional architecture; a chair that is functional as well as decorative.

Now let’s discuss these three definitions
1. Pertaining to a function or functions-In regards to “fitness” we are generally saying that the exercise choices will provide a training stimulus that results in capabilities which translate well to human life functions.  Lots of exercises fall into this category, indeed simply strengthening the body in any way could be labeled as functional as having a basic level of strength is necessary for functioning in life. But in our busy lives we want to know which of those exercises are better (not best) in regards to what is going to provide the most translation from the gym to real life. At the end, I will provide what elements are needed to be more functional than just strengthening.
2. Capable of operating or functioning: Most humans have bodies which are not functioning correctly, and so the idea of performing functional exercises is funny when performed by a poorly functioning human.  I’m putting the elements of what I believe to be functional at the end of this article, because before that is addressed, we need to address the human bodies which have stopped functioning correctly due to to disuse and misuse. Before (yes, some people really should go back to the beginning) even picking your functional workout program, you should be screened for a faulty, asymmetrical, injury-prone, non-functional body. I suggest going to a FMS certified trainer and getting your body better before/along with adding on any type of training.
3. having or serving a utilitarian purpose; capable of serving the purpose for which it was designed: functional architecture; a chair that is functional as well as decorative: The human body was designed to move….in lots of ways. While picking stuff up, lifting stuff over head, rowing, jumping rope, and running are some of the things a human can do, it is a very small selection of what things the human body is capable of.  If limited to one environment, the gym for instance, the body will not have to perform new and different tasks, essentially holding down it’s potential of what it can perform.  A true measure of how functional a body is would be to test what it can do in new situations-it’s adaptiveness. Containing your exercise experience to one situation will never achieve the goal of becoming functional at lots of things-in order to do that you have to do LOTS OF THINGS. You may never become the master at one particular thing, true-but really does it matter? If our goal is to be functional then we want to be able to function outside of the gym, in varied environments.

The 3rd dictionary definition also says “functional as well as decorative”, I like this because amongst all the functional talk a very real goal has been said to have less meaning: the goal of looking better. I won’t judge people for what they deem to look better, but the goal of improving one’s body composition and in turn confidence is almost looked down at by the functional community-which is arrogant and ignorant.  So please, let me encourage everyone to go ahead and yearn for a more attractive body-whatever that means to you.

It may be obvious that I’m not too big a fan of the term functional anymore-as it is too generic to really hold any meaning.  I do believe that humans should generally be more mobile, stronger, and have more confidence in their ability to move in varied contexts, and have more confidence in their own appearance. So what elements do I think make up “functional” fitness?
1. A really good diet. Paleo-esque works great, it provides the good fuel to run the human body. Because no exercise program can out perform a bad diet.
2. Some corrective drills which have been assigned to you by a qualified trainer/Dr.
3. Some basic strength drills for our general needs: lifting from the floor, squatting, one legged strength and stability, horizontal pushing & pulling, vertical pushing & pulling, and rotational competence both in stability and power development.
4. Some basic movement abilities: balancing (not static balance holds, moving and continually having to balance yourself), moving laterally, getting up and down off of the ground, apply your basic strength drills to various objects.
5. Fun things: sports, dance, yoga, tag, frolf, swimming, surfing…..etc. These things are essential to taking your capabilities earned from above and trying/applying them to changing situations.

The other articles in this functional series make excellent references to peoples’ individual goals driving your training (exactly!), and excellent varied options for increasing the options of training.