Core & Functional Training

Core training and functional training are two fitness buzzwords that are used, and quite often abused within the fitness industry.

They are often used to label various forms of training to try and entice people into believing that it will help them look better, without any understanding really of what the terms mean. Let me explain the two principles and give an understanding of their relationship to each other, and the associated benefits.

Core training.

Core strength and stability is the foundation on which a strong healthy and vibrant body is built. You wouldn’t build a house on foundations of wet sand without expecting some serious problems - the same is true of the human body.

Core stability is the ability of the trunk muscles to stabilize, support and assist the spine in all activities. From taking the shopping out of the car and maintaining good posture at our desks, to throwing a javelin, running a marathon or skiing a black run confidently. Our core muscles are responsible for stabilization, flexion, extension and rotation of the trunk.

Unfortunately as technology has evolved and lifestyles have changed, there is less and less effective use of this important muscle group in everyday life. At least 70% of the adult population will suffer from lower back pain at some point in their life. A high percentage of these will be due to weak core muscles and poor lifting technique.

Functional Training

Functional strength training is a discipline in which, the training emphasis is placed upon strength throughout movement patterns, rather than isolating muscles. The brain, which controls muscular movement, thinks in terms of whole motions, not individual muscles.

The musculoskeletal and the nervous system are designed to work in synergy with each other to produce optimum performance, so the body needs training that enhances the coordinated working relationship between them.

As humans, we perform a wide range of movement activities, such as walking, running, jumping, lifting, pushing, pulling, bending, twisting, turning, standing, climbing and lunging. All of these activities involve smooth, rhythmic motions in the three cardinal planes of movement - sagital, frontal and transverse.

Functional strength training is resistance training that improves strength and coordination for the performance of movements so that an individual’s activities of daily living are easier to perform. In functional training, it is as critical to train the specific movement as it is to train the muscles involved in the movement.

The Correlation

To follow any Functional training programme, core training should be implemented at the same time.

As mentioned, our core muscles are responsible for stabilization, flexion, extension and rotation of the trunk.  It would be inconceivable to perform functional movement patterns of the whole body without involvement of the core. Core training should be implemented into every exercise that you do and not left as a few crunches at the end of your session.

In many gyms and homes around the world we are finding more and more marvelous and hi tech fixed resistance machines promising us more and more for doing less and less. The simple fact of the matter is all these machines do is produce more cash for the manufacturers, more muscle imbalances for us and less effective initiation of the core into each exercise.

The most important piece of equipment we need to utilise is ourselves. 

Our body provides us with the best resource we can have for training. People often overlook how effective our own bodyweight can be as a tool in functional strength and core training. To be functionally fit is to be fit for the demands and stresses put upon our body in everyday life, and in the sports and leisure activities that we pursue.

Although many “Abs” classes exist in gyms today, many of which have good science behind them with regards to initiating core musculature through hollowing or bracing techniques, how effective is it to learn how to initiate these muscles when only lying on the floor?

Our body and spine is under far more duress throughout the day when we are standing and moving around, than it is when we are in bed asleep. Therefore it is imperative for the success of any core training programme to implement the same principles to a variety of movement patterns and different load dynamics, specific to the demands of lifestyle and postural imbalances, that exist in our working and recreational lives today.

If you would like to know more about functional and core training, contact matt@chisel-fitness.com.au