Functional Fitness: Benefits, Moves & How To Get Started

"Functional movement refers to movements that are performed naturally and often in our everyday lives, so functional fitness is about incorporating these movements in a higher-intensity setting to strengthen the muscles used and help us move better in our daily activities," explains Nathan Mago, athletics director of F45 Training. 

While you might immediately think of things you do every day like walking, going up stairs, bending over to pick things up, or reaching for something overhead, functional movement can also be performance- or sports-based training. 

Functional fitness mimics how you move in everyday life, so you'll naturally feel and move better in your day-to-day. "It's all about movement patterns," explains McAdams. Specifically, functional training is built around bending and lifting (also called the hip hinge), lunging, pushing, pulling, and rotation. 

Unlike isolation exercises that you perform on a machine at the gym or with a set of dumbbells or a barbell (think chest fly, hamstring curl, or bench press), functional exercises are compound movements, meaning they incorporate more than one joint, explains Mago. "Generally, the more joints and muscles that move together throughout a movement, the more energy is expended, and this helps us provide a time-efficient, full-body workout." 

In fact, one study found that women who performed a functional training program showed greater training improvements1, including strength, endurance, and explosive strength, than a group using resistance exercise machines.

Because the nature of functional fitness is goal-oriented, whether you're working toward greater depth on your squat or being able to crawl around on the floor with your kids, you're more likely to stick with your training. Those small, measurable victories keep you going, explains McAdams. 

Injuries are often signs of muscular imbalances that get exposed through different activities, explains McAdams. By training your most common movement patterns, you'll improve those muscular imbalances that can make you more likely to get injured. 

Benefits: A great move to warm up the whole body and encourage joint mobility before you get into more intense movements.

Benefits: This multi-joint movement works on pushing through the chest and then opening up with some rotation.

Benefits: Lateral movement encourages joint mobility and stabilization in the lower body.

Benefits: This challenges muscles throughout the core.

Benefits: Doing a burpee in both directions helps with proprioception (your body's ability to know where it is in space) and challenges your balance. 

Benefits: This move activates your glutes muscles, which can improve hip-hinging.  

Benefits: This move works on rotation through your core muscles, particularly on the obliques. 

Benefits: This move challenges your balance and coordination while improving your core control.

Benefits: Staying low in between the lunges will activate your quads and glutes and challenge your smaller, stabilizing muscles.

"Functional training can be done by virtually anybody," says Mago. If you have any medical conditions, you may want to check with your provider before starting a new exercise routine, but the great part about functional fitness is that the moves and intensity can be regressed or progressed to meet any level of fitness or any goal. 

"There are a number of ways to stress each movement," says McAdams. You can increase the number of reps, increase your speed, or work in different planes of motion (like performing a lunge forward, to the back, side to side, or transverse). You can also add resistance to most movements, such as adding dumbbells, sandbags, or resistance bands.

Or you can slow down each movement and focus on form. Particularly for people who are older, have any movement restrictions, or are just starting out with exercise, slow movements will build a strong foundation for long-term fitness without stressing your joints.

If you have a very specific goal in mind, or if you want more personalized attention, personal training is the way to go. 

McAdams stresses the importance of making sure your trainer is certified and has a few years of training under the belt. Trainers with some experience will be the most comfortable working with people at all levels, with injuries or limitations, or with any medical conditions like asthma, ensuring you'll stay safe during your sessions. 

The American Council on Exercise (ACE), a popular personal trainer certification program, offers a database to help you find a personal trainer. You can also call your local gym and ask about personal training. Ensure your trainer is certified by asking about their credentials. Other reputable certifications come from NASM, ISSA, NCSF, ACSM, and NFPT.

Most trainers should be well versed in functional movement patterns, but everyone has their own style, so when you're talking to potential trainers, ask them if they're comfortable with functional training.

Group fitness classes, whether in-person or online, can offer community and take out most of the guesswork. "We do all the programming for you; your trainers will walk you through all of the movements and are on hand every step of the way. The music is pumping, everyone is working out together, and this makes the time fly while you get a full-body workout," says Mago.

You can also build your own workouts at home. Start by choosing five to 10 moves (like the ones above), making sure you have at least one move that hits each basic movement pattern. Start with 8 reps or 30 seconds for each move, slowly increasing to up to 12 reps or 60 seconds per move as you get comfortable. You can begin with just one set of each move, increasing up to four sets. Rest for 90 seconds between each set. 

When you're ready for an extra challenge, add resistance. TRX is a great piece of equipment for beginning functional training, says McAdams. "It makes it so that everybody can do a pullup." The TRX can also be used for moves like an incline pushup, lunge and squat variations, and rotational movements.

He also recommends resistance bands as an inexpensive and minimal piece of equipment if you're training at home.