Time to bust a myth: choosing a lifestyle in which fitness plays a key component is NOT just for bodybuilders, gym bunnies, models and those who like to punish themselves. Fitness has been misrepresented in the media as a means to a pretty specific end, and here at Trojan, that goes against our whole philosophy.

We believe that, sure, there’s ample room for high-performance athletes in the fitness space, but also that everyone should be able to enjoy moving their bodies – and the benefits that accompany the process – without expectations of being the best or looking like a magazine cover. A degree of fitness, or even just regular mild exercise, improves everyone’s quality of life immeasurably, a philosophy which ties in with the topic of this article: functional fitness.

What is functional fitness?

Functional fitness is defined as “a type of strength training that readies your body for daily activities.” Functional fitness workouts equip you for the most important type of physical fitness, the kind that preps you for real-life, daily living stuff like bending, twisting, lifting, loading, pushing, pulling, squatting and hauling. Picking up your youngest cousin to play a game? That requires functional fitness. Bending over to pick up the pen you dropped under your desk? That’s also functional fitness. Climbing onto a chair to reach a high shelf? You guessed it, that requires functional fitness.

Functional fitness exercises are all about practicality and they improve an individual’s mobility, balance and coordination. These types of exercises are for everyone but may be the approach to fitness that’s most ideal for seniors, individuals with limited mobility, or those who are recovering from an injury. At its core, functional fitness is working out with the purpose of genuinely making the most of your everyday life. We believe there’s no better reason to do it!

What are the benefits of functional fitness?

1. Your movement patterns will improve

Functional fitness doesn’t work on isolated muscles, but rather on muscle groups working together, so adding it to your routine will make the way your body moves more graceful and practised. The way our bodies move is grouped into a selection of specific motions, or movement patterns, namely: the hinge, squat, lunge, push, pull and rotation. Functional fitness refines and streamlines these core movements, allowing them or combinations of them to be performed with ease.

2. You’ll start to move with greater efficiency

Even elite athletes make an effort to practice their functional fitness, and that’s because it improves the overall efficiency of how your body expends effort. “Functional training is best characterised by exercises done with the feet in contact with the ground and, with few exceptions, without the aid of machines,” writes Coach Mike Boyle, the author of New Functional Training for Sports and the owner of the world-renowned Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning. These “feet on the ground” exercises lay the foundation for consistently using one’s energy in the most efficient way, even when performing more varied movements. This means higher energy levels throughout your days!

3. Functional fitness may improve your physique.

A body that’s being used just looks better. Though you may not be training for specific aesthetic goals, a leaner, more toned body is an inevitability when you increase the amount of exercise you’re doing. Alongside the mental health benefits that come from the endorphin release, you may find your tightest pants fitting a little better or your arms looking that extra bit more defined when you go in for a handshake.

It’s a great self-esteem boost for anyone! Think about dancers’ bodies. They’re toned, purely because these dancers are consistently performing exercises that move their whole bodies rather than doing just isolated resistance training or specific cardio.

4. Functional fitness could improve your coordination and mobility

Injury prone? Stop those embarrassing tumbles, aches and scrapes with the help of functional fitness. You can reduce your risk of injury by improving your overall coordination and mobility. For example, when muscles on one side of a joint shorten, they cause the muscles on the other side to lengthen which means that many integrated movement patterns like squats or doing pushes and pulls from a standing position can improve joint mobility while enhancing overall muscle coordination. When your muscles are used to coordinating with one another in workouts, they’ll do so much more easily in day-to-day life, too.

5. Functional training can move at your own pace and has incredible scalability

Because you’re not training for a specific sport, event or goal but rather to improve your own quality of life, there’s no time crunch and you get to take your workouts at your own pace. Just doing what feels good and right for where your fitness level is at.

It’s usually pretty low-impact activity, which means you can do as much of it as you please. As you get stronger and more capable, your workouts and intensity can grow with you. At any point, you can turn your functional fitness routine into a goal-oriented workout plan. And you can take the skills you’ve learned from getting in touch with your body into other sports and hobbies immediately. What’s not to love about functional fitness?

How to start functional fitness

You can begin your functional fitness routine from the comfort of your own home, today! Grab all the necessary equipment from Trojan at an affordable price, and depending on your fitness level and desired outcome, perform a combination of these exercises until you get fatigued.

If you manage to go over 5 reps of each set, try to increase the weight or intensity of your workout rather than just endlessly repeating what you’ve been doing. This will make for significant progress, faster. These are some of our favourite functional fitness movements (and the equipment that goes with them) to try out:

– Squats (Dumbbells)

– Renegade rows (Dumbbells)

– Pushups (Pushup bars)

– Pull-up to knee raises (Door gym)

– Inverted rows (Weight plates)

– Kettlebell swings (Kettlebells)

– Feet-elevated pushups (Flat bench)

– Burpee to broad jump (Yoga mat)

– Crunches (3-in-1 body blaster)

– Skipping (Jumping ropes)

– Pilates (Yoga and pilates set)

If you’re excited to give functional fitness a go, simply head to your nearest Game or Makro outlet, get your hands on some durable yet accessibly priced Trojan exercise equipment, and set up your very own gym from the comfort of your home. It’s as easy as that! You get to unlock your full potential (and the power of free movement) with functional fitness and Trojan.

Don’t delay, take control of your life, health and potential today.