Functional fitness isn’t complicated, it’s about mastering 7 essential movements. Even if you have NO idea what you are doing in the gym, adding one of each of these movements will ensure you are getting overall strength for your workout.
The 7 Movements
1. Squats
Squats are King. Period. There is no other move that we as humans do more than squatting! The KEY here is to do it CORRECTLY. Just think- none of us were TAUGHT how to squat when we were kids, it’s just something that we developed naturally on our own, hoping for the best. It’s only after becoming an adult that we realize we may have worked around different muscle weaknesses, causing our squats to look different than others (this is where personal training is worth its weight in gold). Squats SHOULD activate the glutes, quads, calves and feet, while also building lower body strength for everyday activities.
2. Lunge
Lunges are definitely a universally disliked exercise, but it’s because of what it shows you. Lunges are like truth serum – you cannot lie about your coordination and balance while doing a lunge! Many of us have left/right imbalances – meaning one side of our bodies are stronger than the other.
Fun fact: Due to our cross myofascial slings, usually if our LEFT arm is strong, it means our RIGHT leg is the strong side! Cross slings are how our bodies move together as one unit.
Lunges help to improve balance and coordination. They will also help with recruitment of the glutes, your BIGGEST muscle in your body! Our society tends to be sedentary, which has the nasty side effect of causing “gluteal anmesia”. This is when your mind forgets how to activate your glutes, causing back pain, knee pain, lack of coordination and can lead to injury. Strengthening the glutes are the first step in getting rid of back pain for good!
3. Push
Push exercises strengthen your chest and shoulders, and can decrease shoulder pain. Push ups need to kick on a bunch of smaller muscles in the shoulder girdle in order to be done properly, which is why they are so stinkin’ hard! I joke with my clients all the time that, “Push ups never get easier, you can just do more of them”.
When doing push motions like push ups, sled pushes and crawls, the key is in the serratus anterior. This muscle lives underneath your armpit and is the KEY to a good push. You can activate this muscle by thinking of ‘corkscrewing’ your hands outward, but keep your fingers facing straight. This corkscrew motion should face the pits of your elbows forward, having your elbows bend at a 45 degree angle from your body, and kick on that pesky serratus anterior! This will also help scapular winging (when your shoulder blades stick out of your back like a Stegosaurus).
4. Pull
Pull motions are one of the biggest New Year’s Resolution, bucket list type of moves. EVERYONE wants to be able to do a pull-up, but they are so stinkin’ hard! I have a theory about this- Movements that we don’t emulate everyday seem to be the hardest for our bodies to do. Plus, with the addition of the dreaded “Computer Posture”, where are shoulders round forward and the neck juts out, add to the poor recruitment and development of this muscle group. You CAN build a strong back through gripping and pulling motions, but the first step is building your awareness of these muscles for proper alignment.
The key to pull motion exercises, like pull ups, kettlebell swings, and rope pulls are in the recruitment of the lats, or latissimus dorsi. These muscles look like giant butterfly wings that extend from the center of your mid-back, out to your sides underneath your armpit.
Can’t tell if you’re recruiting them correctly? Puff your chest out and aim to kick on those lower shoulder muscles (the lower traps)!
5. Hinge:
Hinges are a complex, multi-muscle group exercise- they SCREAM functional fitness! Because of their complexity, this is why it is easy to get injured by not focusing on strengthening the entire hinge chain of movements. Hinge movements are like deadlifts and good mornings, and aim to enhance your posterior chain power. Your hamstrings and glutes are the main muscle-movers in this muscle group, and are just as important as your quads (front of your legs). By balancing out strength in both the front and back of your legs, you greatly reduce the risk of injury, muscle strains and imbalances. Believe it or not, hinge movements rely HEAVILY on abdominal strength. Without the proper abdominal strength, deadlifts can quickly lead to hernias and spinal injuries, just to name a few. Many people turn to weight belts to make up for lack of abdominal strength, but this is not recommended for your average gym goer (leave them to the trained powerlifters).
6. Twist
Did you just read the above hinge description and realize your core is is bad shape? Well say no more! Your sixth body movement is here to save the day – twisting movements! These movements will help engage your core for rotational strength and stability, in both your spinal stability muscles, as well as the outer obliques.
Now, I can talk for hours JUST about twisting movements, but I’ll save that for another day. In a nutshell, twist movements are advanced movements, designed to recruit your cross-body slings that support everything from walking, running, throwing, balance and stability.
To strengthen these muscle groups, uneven weightlifting is best. This is movements like off-sided squats, step ups, and uneven pushups. Some more advanced moves are the offsided swing variations that you can see on my Youtube here.
7. Walk/Carry
Last but not least, carries are the last of our body movements. Walks and carries help build functional endurance and grip strength. It is also something that we do every single day! It uses the ENTIRE kinetic chain, from the quads, to your torso, to the hamstrings, to the calves, to the FEET! A good walking gait is PARAMOUNT to good health, so much so, I did a seminar on Foot Health a few months ago that you can find here.
Walks and carries include exercises like farmers carries, drags, etc… pretty much any time you are holding something and moving – THAT counts as a carry! (Yes, that even means bringing the groceries in from the car)
Walking is one of the best fat-burning exercises, and can easily be implemented into a daily routine. Many people that feel intimidated by the gym use walking as a way to keep themselves healthy and enjoy a little fresh air as well!
Master these movements and you will take your fitness to the next level! Using a personal trainer to teach you the proper form and weights to use on each exercise is the easiest way to work these into a workout routine. I don’t know about you, but I ALWAYS had a hard time pushing past my comfort zone before getting a trainer. If you’re interested in learning more, come in to the studio and let’s get you started on a New Year’s program 🙂 Whether it’s weight loss or strength building, our trainers will make sure you get to your fitness goals ASAP.
