This is NOT what I mean when I say I do 'functional training.'
First, those exercises are dangerous. Getting injured will be a major setback in your training program, and of course make the rest of your life miserable.
Second, working on an unstable surface decreases the weight you can move, so you develop less strength.
Third, balance and complex movements are very sport and activity-specific, so standing on a physio ball swinging and shaking only makes you good at standing on a physio ball swinging and shaking.
Develop mobility and stability, train fundamental movements like stepping and lifting, then build strength. Skip the circus acts.
Here's a great article on the Functional Movement Screen, I method I offer. This is the foundation of functional training.
By MIKE TIERNEY
Published: December 25, 2011
The New York Times
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — When Coy Wire signed with the Atlanta Falcons in 2008, he considered himself in the vanguard regarding fitness techniques.
Wire, a linebacker, felt an instant affinity with his latest team. The Falcons’ meshing of newfangled training concepts with old-fashioned equipment broadened the scope of possibilities for the way Wire honed himself for the rigors of football. “Every single person benefits with this,” said Wire, a modestly talented player who attributes his nine-year career, which probably ended in September when Atlanta waived him, to superb conditioning. “The players who come into the system see this is what they should be doing.”
Roundup of recent links from my Facebook page. Typically I post here, then it is automatically sent to Facebook, but lately I've been putting links there first.
Here's a great example of pre-season training combined with FMS. For those wanting the training without becoming a ski bum, I have a Palo Alto ski and snowboard conditioning class that I'll announce soon:
"Due to previous years’ success, the Northstar Resort Ski & Snowboard School will again offer training opportunities including dry-land, pre-season training for ski and snowboard instructor candidates. This training includes aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, functional movement screen analysis and corrective exercise, and PSIA and AASI pre-certification prep and clinics."
Full Vegan. Been Vegan for about four months now and loving it. I have a plant based diet so I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, beans and whole grains. I feel a lot stronger and faster now and my workouts are simply amazing. My muscle recovery has also increased tremendously and I have noticed increased energy. My training is mostly consisting of bodyweight training in which I incorporate some calisthenics.
No, wobbly shoes don't work. Try squats and deadlifts instead.
In the September 2011 "Athlete's Issue" of Golf Digest, readers found a combine. TPItv's Lance Gill ran down TPI Senior Advisory Board member Gray Cook to discuss the article in which, "Staff Writer Max Adler and Functional Movements Cook test your fitness with basic competency, core stability and balance exercises."
From the magazine article:
"'Equating strength or flexibility with such stunts[eg. swinging a golf club standing on a physio ball] is all well and good, but with golfers I'm most interested in coordination,' says Gray Cook, founder of Functional Movement Systems and a leading author and lecturer on physical therapy. As evidenced by the myriad of body types that have succeeded in professional golf, swinging a club correctly and consistently requires harmony of movement, not necessarily brawn."
And even when having brawn is important, movement quality(harmony) improves performance and reduces the chance of injury. Which is why I use the Functional Movement Screen and exercises.
Another look at how mental state affects physical performance.
Vitamin D deficiency has been known to cause an assortment of health problems. Now, a new study suggests that lack of the vitamin might also increase the chance of muscle injuries in athletes, specifically NFL football players.
It takes more effort, but here's evidence of the health benefit of more intense levels of exercise. It's also more fun!
Intense exercise adds more years to your life than more moderate activity, researchers said after studying the bicycle commuters who fill Copenhagen’s streets.
Lately the topic of strength training for women has had a lot of discussion on the web. Rather than repeat it all, I'll make just a couple comments and then point my readers to some other more in-depth articles and websites.
First, lifting weights will NOT make a woman look bulky. Developing large muscles takes a sustained, deliberate effort and won't happen for a woman by accident. Second, there is a definite sense of empowerment gained from doing really hard exercise and feeling the increase in strength not available from the light weights and undemanding training typically marketed to women.
As a trainer, I'm proud to help women discover they can be physically strong, and don't need the limits placed on them by the mainstream "fitness" industry and many trainers.
