There is a lot of talk about functional training but is it just another passing ‘fitness fad’ or should all of us be incorporating this training concept and equipment into our own clubs? The move to this form of strength training and conditioning is happening due to the type of training that allows your members to smarten up when it comes to their own specific needs for strength and conditioning. According to the American Council on Exercise, functional training is here to stay, which is why they named functional training one of the top trends of 2010. The addition of a functional area into your club will be one of the most important changes you could make to increase your base market, member retention, market share and club profitability.
Functional training emerged primarily from the sports conditioning and rehabilitation world and refers to the type of exercises that contribute to better, more efficient and safer performance of real-world activities or sports movements.
It all starts with your core muscles. Working this muscle group will actually improve your entire body, as the core is responsible for keeping you upright and balanced. Functional exercises are multi-plane exercises that are more complex and require different types of resistance to achieve this result. It allows you to work muscles on different planes, at variable speeds and variable resistance levels.
The two most popular types of functional training today are, free weights, balls, bands, kettle bells and body weight. Free weights allow for the range of motion but do not allow the body to move with naturally with variable resistance. The compression of joints limits free weight applications during functional training — since loading is placed on the joints and ligaments during exercise, safety is a major concern.
The use of bands, balls, suspension training and other balance devices has grown to fill the need of the functional training movement. All these devices provide a different weight that acts as the resistance during training. Most devices have many different weights available that are applicable to the training of the user. These devices allow for the body to move and perform naturally as it does in daily life and can be used by the majority of the club’s members. For the past 10 years these items have been the staple of the functional movement with new devices coming to market everyday. They have been effective but lack the ability to provide variable resistance, creating true muscular overload for optimal benefit.
The newest resistance concept to re-enter the market is Omnikinetic resistance. Exercise machines using this type of resistance use an adjustable hydraulic cylinder that provides variable resistance at any joint angle throughout a range of motion. Omnikinetic resistance allows the muscles to train at high velocities while providing accommodating variable resistance on both the agonist and antagonist muscle groups in the same exercise — the result is a balanced lean muscle.
As the benefits of functional training grow, club owners are beginning to see the benefits of this type of functional training and its applications to new markets that may have been previously underserved. What will this type of training achieve? If a member feels as though they are reaching their goals and achieving the results they are after, as well as feeling better about themselves, they will be more inclined to talk about their club to friends and visit more frequently. -CS
