Fitness is a lifestyle that you must live with.
Looks are not important but functional fitness is the key. Functional fitness and functional exercise are the latest trend.
They focus on building a body capable of doing real-life activities in real-life positions, not just lifting a certain amount of weight in an idealised posture created by a normal gym machine.
Functional strength training simply means training our bodies to perform better the types of movements we use for everyday life. The time spent developing dynamic strength, flexibility and agility carries over into your daily activities, making life easier. Our bodies go through a variety of motions every day —
Lifting: Laundry basket, grocery bags, kids, etc.
Reaching and pulling: Opening the refrigerator or dryer, putting dishes away or picking things up from the floor.
Power: Standing up from chair, going up stairs or walking up a hill.,
Balancing: Walking, holding multiple bags of groceries while carefully navigating the stairs or carrying a baby while talking on the phone and cooking dinner.
To get better at these daily movements, strength training is a must and there are four functional exercises that will help you get the most out of your body. Performing these several times a week will enable you to do more with less effort. Some basic functional exercises that you can do:
*Push-ups: Start with wall push-ups and progress to placing your hands on the kitchen counter. You can do five to six while waiting for the microwave to finish. These firm your chest, arms, abs and back.
*Squats or lunges: Most reaching, lifting and bending movements involve an element of squatting or lunging. Remember to push out your tush and don't let your knees go farther forward than your toes. You'll strengthen your knees, quads and hips.
*Grocery Bag Lift: Each time you go shopping, strengthen your arms by lifting a bag six times to the front, side and rear. You can also do a modified bicep curl. Just remember to keep your shoulders back and abs tight.
*Lift: Pick-up that heavy pet food bag or laundry basket by squaring your feet shoulder width apart, squatting down, grabbing hold and pushing up with your legs. Put it down and do it again. If your knees hurt, practice lifting from a chair until you get stronger.
Jaison Paulson is an expert holistic lifestyle guru. Contact: 280 5345. Jaison@jaisonsfitnessfirst.com