Podcast - Functional Movement: Why You Need It As You Age
Functional movement is a form of movement or exercise that will give you the greatest “bang for your buck” in terms of your mobility, strength, agility, co-ordination and balance as you age.
The problem is, too many people are doing the wrong type of movement for the stage of life that they’re at. And they wonder why they’re constantly carrying around niggles, lacking energy or losing fitness or body shape, which can be very disconcerting and frustrating, and it causes many people to give up on exercise because they end up questioning why they’re doing it.
For example, think of someone who regularly does a high impact exercise like running and wonders why their joints are suffering. Or someone who spends an hour walking on the treadmill every morning and can’t figure out why their body shape is never changing.
Now the reality is, any type of movement is better than none – so if you’re someone who is content and happy with your current routine, whatever that may be, I commend you for being dedicated to daily movement and I encourage you to stick with what feels right for you.
But if you’re someone who wants to optimise and prolong your health span, energy, vitality and physical performance – who wants to be multi-dimensional in terms of your physical co-ordination and capability - then you need to seriously consider a few sessions of functional movement into your weekly routine (if you’re not already doing that).
So, what is functional movement?
Functional movement essentially incorporates a range of 7 basic movements that mimic or make easier, everyday tasks that we tend to take for granted when we’re in our prime. But these are tasks which tend to get harder as you age if you don’t practice or train for these movements.
So, functional movement makes every day physical tasks so much easier – think lifting a heavy suitcase out of a boot or trunk, placing something bulky on a shelf above your head, moving a piece of furniture, gardening, walking a set of stairs, picking up a child or pet…etc etc.
Functional movement will also help you to to say ‘yes’ to adventurous activities even as you age and to be physically independent for longer. It will also go a long way to protecting you from falls, broken bones and degenerative conditions like arthritis and osteoporosis which creep up on many, many people.
And the goods news is, you can do functional movement at home either with just your body weight or a set of resistance bands or dumbbells in just 15-30 minutes per day or session (if home is your favourite place to exercise).
Now, before I share the basic 7 movements with you and the easiest way to incorporate functional movement into your routine, I want you to consider this…
I want you to think about movement and exercise as an investment.
In other words, every time that you choose to spend time and effort exercising, it is a form of expenditure for which you ultimately want a return on – a short term, immediate return in terms of how you feel, AND a medium-long term return in terms of what it does for your physical body.
But the problem is, if you choose to invest in the wrong area, chances are you won’t get the highest possible return on your investment.
So, you need to choose wisely, particularly if you only have limited time to dedicate to exercise every day and you would prefer to be doing other things.
And this is where functional movement comes in.
Like I said at the beginning, functional movement gives you the biggest bang for your buck because it involves compound movements that target multiple muscle groups at the same time, as well as working your cardiovascular system to boosts your stamina and endurance, and it improves your stability, co-ordination, strength and reduces your risk of injuries and degeneration.
It also not makes you look and feel great in your body when you do it consistently. And it can be scaled up or down to suit your physical fitness and your age!
The 7 common functional movements are these which can be done at home, and with either body weight, resistance bands, weights or a combination of all these:
Squat – a staple for strong body foundations in your lower body and legs. The real life translation is being proficient and balanced at sitting down and standing back up, general lower body strength and balance;
Lunge – lunges are a great balance and agility exercise that can be done forward, in reverse, laterally or walking lunges. Daily life application is going up a set of stairs;
Push – is about pushing a weight away from your chest or pressing above your shoulders or upper body. Good examples include a push up regular or bent knee, floor press with weights, bench press or overhead press with weights or bands above your head.
Pull – the opposite of push, it involves moving weight towards your body. Like the push, the movement pattern can be vertical or horizontal to work different muscle groups. Horizontal examples include dumbbell, barbell or resistance band rows. Vertical examples include pull-ups, chin-ups or lat pull downs. Applications include lifting something off a shelf to bring close to your body or dragging a piece of furniture;
Twist – This is a rotational movement pattern that is often over looked but is very important for being co-ordinated physically and your stability to help prevent falls. Examples of twist movements include seated Russian twists with your body weight, dumbbell or medicine ball or wood choppers which are diagonal movements across your body;
Hinge – a hinge pattern is another lower body exercise which emphasises the back of the legs (hamstrings and glutes) and even your lower back. The best type of exercise for a hinge is a single leg dead lift or Romanian dead lift (RDL). Unlike a squat, you utilise less bend in your knees, meaning they are hip-dominant compound movements. Hinging as a functional movement is great for mimicking bending over to pick up something heavy off the floor such as a pair of suitcases.
Carry – think walking with two heavy items – one in each hand such as two heavy bags of groceries. The carry movement also improves grip strength, which according to Dr. Peter Attia, author of the book “Outlive”, is a fantastic proxy for longevity.
So as you can see, functional movements mimic practical, every day movements, that will make physical tasks much easier. They will greatly improve your stamina, muscular endurance, mobility, balance and strength.
But the question is, do you do functional movement or are you ready to incorporate these types of exercise into your weekly routine?
And you may be thinking, well how do I do that, Zane. Or it all sounds too difficult or I’m not fit enough or strong enough…there might be a bunch of reasons why you think it sounds too hard, but I want you to quieten the noise and think of the benefit to you, your body, your life span and your health span.
What it means to physically capable and independent. And when you focus on that, and the fact that you only get one body, you realise that functional movement shouldn’t be a choice in your life it should be a necessity if you truly value your health.
None of this needs to be complicated or difficult. Choose a level that suits where you’re at – and just incorporate and spread out these movements throughout the week across your exercise routine, even if it’s one exercise for 5 minutes per day. Or create a simple 15 minute circuit rotating 3 or 4 of these exercises and you’ll still get some great benefits if you’re consistent with it.
If you already visit a local gym, then you’re probably already including a number of these basic functional movement patterns in your schedule. If not, it’s time to add those that you’re not already doing into your routine.
And if you’re totally new to functional movement as a concept and have no idea where to start – get on to you tube and search “body weight” squat or push up or row and you’ll find some easy demos of these exercises for you to experiment with at home.
All you really need to get started is a yoga matt and a set of resistance bands or a set of light weight dumbells.
If you’re looking for an App that has access to a variety of on-demand functional movement and strength training workouts you can do at home, I use the Peloton App.
It offers sessions from 10 minutes – 60 minutes from beginner through to advanced with some phenomenal instructors (and you don’t need to buy the Peloton bike) you can just purchase access to the app and use it on your iphone, ipad or smart TV.
Another great App which is totally FREE and has some fantastic reviews is the Nike Training Club which you can download from the App store.
So the main take away really today, is to just highlight for you the importance of functional movement and why you should include it into your routine if you’re not already. And it’s not necessarily a substitute for anything you’re already doing but more so a compliment that you should be consciously thinking about.
Make the adjustments where necessary in your approach to movement – but above all choose a level you can stay consistent with and keep remembering that when you invest in your physical body, you will definitely see the return on investment as you age.
I hope you got value from today’s blog. Thanks for reading…
Until next time, stay strong and live well!
ZT.
