Core training and functional training have been the rage words over the past decade. With all the rage it seems as if many people writing articles on the topic don’t have the basic understanding of what it is. Standing on a Bosu ball while playing catch may have some outlying benefit, but research time and time again has shown it doesn’t make your core stronger. Core training really could mean full body strength from your knees to your chest and how all the parts work together. Functional training could also mean a ton of different things based on how you want to function. Functional Training for an endurance athlete is different than functional training for strength athlete which is different than functional training for the desk jockey. Though entire books are written on this concept I wanted to highlight one way we like to train these concepts.
Kettlebell training has taken the world by storm, and if used appropriately with proper form they can be a life changer. The kettlebell swing can help increase gluteal and hamstring strength as well as improve power development, and core/trunk strength. We specialize in utilizing them and feel they are one of the best all around tool to train this concept. For general populations they can be the only tool they need to improve full body strength and fitness. For strength athletes and other athletes they are definitely invaluable as an accessory tool to teach healthy movement and teach power development within a short time.
Don’t be this guy.
Weighted Carries are functional training. How many times per day do people tell you, “man I really need to increase my functionality standing on unstable objects while lifting weight?” I am assuming probably never. How many times have people said, I get tired carrying my kids or grandkids, or I was at the airport and carrying my luggage hurt by back. So my question is why don’t we train carrying things? There are numerous different variations of carries. You can bilateral carries or unilateral carries. We will post a blog soon on all the different carry variations for your enjoyment! Here is a video of a more advanced concept we use with our more advanced trainees.. This is a kettlebell complex combined with weighted carries. If you are new to training I wouldn’t jump into this, but this should give you a taste of the awesomeness of carries. The benefits to the “core” and “functionality” are by far the best benefit with the shortest amount of time needed to see results!
