Everyday life?
A natural gym.

 

What’s the best solution? It's often right in front of our eyes. It also happens with physical activity and the extraordinary ability of Functional Training to get us back in shape with everyday movements.

What’s the best solution? It's often right in front of us, it's just a pity that almost nobody thinks about it. This also happens with physical activity and the extraordinary ability of Functional Training to get back in shape with everyday movements. Everyday life is a natural gym, which Functional Training artfully replicates. What’s the goal? To stimulate the heart and tone the muscles. 

Functional Training: an all-natural gym

Everyday life turns out to be a natural gym, made up of routine and endless actions. What are some examples? Going up and down the stairs, cleaning the windows, catching an object that’s about to fall, forcefully opening a particularly tight bottle of water, and running after a bus that we risk missing. These are daily movements that if we could observe them under a magnifying glass, we would see that they are composed of millions of tiny movements, each different from the other, and performed in perfect synchrony. Functional Training repeats this sequence by deliberately training everyday movements to make the body strong, agile, coordinated, and responsive at (almost) zero the cost.

Functional Training: a handful of small tools

But how does Functional Training work? First, you need to get a few simple pieces of equipment: balls, ropes, steps, benches, and the usual weights. Speaking of weights, using either your full or partial body weight can effectively tone your muscles. Once equipped, you perform some body exercises in sequence or isolated by muscle group. What’s the purpose? To involve the body in a dynamic way on several levels at the same time and often in the same movement.

Functional Training: also a matter of the core

But in order for these exercises to be effective, it’s necessary to improve proprioception, that is, the ability to recognize the position of the body in space, and to stimulate the core, that is, the muscles of the abdominal corset, which give strength and stability to dynamic actions. Proper breathing is the core’s faithful ally, and it must be diaphragmatic. Once these two objectives have been achieved, the body can face a series of more demanding exercises, not only from a muscular point of view, but also involving coordination and balance.

Functional Training: gradual progression above all

In the beginning you need to be gradual. If it's been a long time since you've done any physical activity, a weekly session of about twenty minutes is fine. If the body responds well, you can make the movements more complex or perform them a little faster or for a few minutes more.

Functional Training: any place is a good place

Functional Training can be done anywhere: at home (three square meters are fine), in the park, on the beach.... When starting out, it may be better to work with a fitness expert, who can establish the exercises. Later the exercises can be done with (almost) total independence.