A dedicated strength training routine is the best way to build muscle and improve your body composition, as well as your long term health. When you get into strength training, you might start hearing different terms like weight lifting and resistance training, both of which are ways to train strength. You might also come across the term “functional” strength training. 

But what is functional strength training? What are its benefits? And what is a good functional strength training routine? 

Get to Know Functional Strength Training 

With traditional strength training, individuals focus more on the different muscle groups, often repeating an exercise for many repetitions or to exhaustion. This is the type of strength training people who aspire to bodybuild do. The goal is a lot of strength and big, visible muscles. 

Functional strength training, on the other hand, improves your ability to complete everyday functions. This type of strength training is good for everyone as it can improve your quality of life and make day-to-day activities easier. 

Utilizing exercises that target multiple muscle groups, as well as improve balance and coordination, is the focus of functional strength training. With this, you want to emphasize working out the way your body moves everyday. These exercises are made to translate to everyday activities. These are activities like walking up and down stairs, carrying bags of groceries and delivery boxes, and squatting up and down, like when gardening. 

Benefits of Functional Strength Training 

The benefits of functional strength training are numerous. Because it enhances your day-to-day life, there are many benefits that you can see right away. 

One of the best benefits of functional strength training is increased core strength and stability. The core is one of the most important areas of the body, but it often doesn’t get enough attention. Poor core strength can lead to bad posture as well as pulled muscles and spasms in the back. Building strength in the core and learning how to activate your core muscles will make a huge difference — and your posture will improve, too! 

Stronger glutes and hips are another boon of functional strength training. For many people, especially those with sedentary jobs, the glutes and hips don’t get enough love and can often be weak and/or tight. Knowing how to activate your glute and hip muscles can improve your ability to run, ride your bike, and even walk. It also can prevent joint injuries. Many people who have knee injuries or knee pain actually suffer from weak glutes! 

Another reason to take up functional strength training is to improve balance and coordination. This comes in handy no matter who you are. From decreasing falls to making it easier to navigate difficult terrain (or just stairs!), with better balance and coordination, you will see a huge difference in your quality of life. 

With all of this strength training, you are also likely to prevent injuries. Most muscular injuries are caused by weaknesses in the body. When other muscles overcompensate for a weak muscle, you are more likely to get injured. 

Functional Strength Training is Part of Healthy Aging

Aging individuals, especially, can benefit from functional strength training. Increasing muscle mass also increases bone density and helps prevent dangerous falls. Taking your health and wellness into your own hands with healthy aging strategies, like functional strength training, can both help you live longer, but also enjoy your life longer.  

Since we lose muscle mass if we don’t use it, it’s important to prioritize strength training as we age. Additionally, many older folks suffer from limited mobility as they age and building strength can improve mobility, which in turn allows these individuals to still enjoy their independence. 

Functional Strength Training Exercises to Incorporate into Your Fitness Routine 

Building a sustainable fitness routine is a necessary part of taking back your fitness and improving strength. Building muscle through strength training has to become a habit if you want to retain the muscle that you build. 

Look through the exercises below. Each one will help you differently, but they can be combined into a strength routine you can complete in just 20-30 minutes a few times a week. That’s another benefit of functional strength training — you don’t need to spend hours in the gym to reap benefits! 

Bodyweight Squat. Bodyweight squats are a great addition to your functional strength training repertoire. Because we squat so much in daily life, using your own body weight as the resistance is perfect! With a squat you will build strength in your glutes and quads, making them stronger while making getting up from those pesky squats much easier. 

Step Ups. With bodyweight step-ups, you work your glutes, hips, quads, to build strength through a stepping motion. You can do this exercise on a stair or using an exercise stepper. Whatever equipment you choose, start by stepping up with your right foot. Life your left arm and left knee to a 90 degree ankle before lowering with control. Repeat on the other side. 

Planks. Planks are the quintessential ab workout. They work your entire core and are a great way to build full body core strength. Be sure that your body stays in a straight line. You don’t want to bend at the hips or sag in the stomach when you do this exercise. 

Push Ups. Doing push ups is an effective way to build upper body strength. You don’t need any equipment and can feel your muscles working. By doing push ups, you are improving your ability to lift and carry things, as well as bettering the strength in your chest muscles, which can help improve posture.

Lunges. You can never go wrong with lunges. This exercise expertly improves your lower body strength — and there are many variations. As you get stronger, you can add weights and resistance bands to make it more difficult. You can also try different types of lunges to work different muscle groups. Curtsy lunges and side lunges are great options.  

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