stuke
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Posts: 913
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Post by stuke on Oct 16, 2018 16:26:16 GMT
Functional strsngth is another of those fashionable terms as is core.
There is a lot of stuff out there telling us that lifting weights is not useful in real life, that we will fail miserably in a real life situation that requires heavy moving / lifting, or injure ourselves. There is some logic behind it, but really, I think it is grossly exagerrated. I did perfectly well liftin the back of cars ofc rhe ground with a friend, putting my kids over my head whwn playing, clearing the drive of snow, climbing trees, mobing rubble and rocks, climbing ropes with just my arms etc just with conditioning from normal lifting.
I do like the idea of wofking sfabilizer muscles more by lifting awkward objects etc anf I think it does help deduce risk of injury.
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Michael
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He cuts down trees. He wears high heels, suspendies, and a bra?!
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Post by Michael on Oct 16, 2018 17:16:17 GMT
All strength is functional. "Functional Strength" is just something people coined to sell a certain kind of workout. I do what most would consider "functional" workouts, but when I moved recently, my friend who does bodybuilding types of routines was pretty helpful. His strength seemed pretty functional to me. My other buddy who hardly does strength training but does a lot of grappling was also pretty helpful during the move. We were all pretty strong guys who made moving a lot easier than it is for people who don't do any kind of strength training. People confuse the "specificity" principle for "functional." It's true that the powerlifter won't be as strong as the jiu-jitsu man in a grappling match, because the jiu-jitu man has develop a strength that is more specific for his sport. It's also true that the grappler probably won't lift as much as the deadlifter, because the deadlifter has fine-tuned a specific strength for that sport. But both guys are going to be "strong." I agree. |
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Michael
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He cuts down trees. He wears high heels, suspendies, and a bra?!
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Post by Michael on Oct 16, 2018 17:18:27 GMT
Everyone has a different opinion of what "functional" is and different reasons for functional style exercise As a young fireman i did bodybuilding style workouts, because I thought they resulted in strength and fitness, and to a degree they did But, one of my reasons to workout was to stay fit to do the job which involved climbing, crawling, dragging loads, lifting and pulling under difficult conditions and in awkward positions I began to experiment and try to incorporate exercises that would help in these activities After retiring, I discovered sandbags, which are a perfect tool for what i wanted to do back then They are ( or can be ) heavy, awkward to lift, the weight shifts, and dragging them, lifting them etc can be more difficult than conventional weights Wish I knew about them back then  Sandbags would be a fun way to exercise. |
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Dave Reslo
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Post by Dave Reslo on Oct 16, 2018 17:46:39 GMT
Unless you are old or unwell, I would hope most of us who are interested in strength aim for something well beyond taking one end of a sofa or lifting a suitcase into a locker. Almost any sensible training approach will give you enough strength for that. Sometimes I load or unload beer kegs or helium cylinders and although I enjoy the exercise of carrying them it saves me at most a couple minutes compared with rolling or sliding them along the ground.
On the other hand, if you compete seriously in some kind of contact sport then "functional strength" might be a more useful concept. I've done a lot of carries and what might be regarded as odd object training and I found it contributed significantly to punching power; much more so than conventional weights.
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Dave Reslo
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Not quite severely obese
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Post by Dave Reslo on Oct 16, 2018 17:49:17 GMT
Everyone has a different opinion of what "functional" is and different reasons for functional style exercise As a young fireman i did bodybuilding style workouts, because I thought they resulted in strength and fitness, and to a degree they did But, one of my reasons to workout was to stay fit to do the job which involved climbing, crawling, dragging loads, lifting and pulling under difficult conditions and in awkward positions I began to experiment and try to incorporate exercises that would help in these activities After retiring, I discovered sandbags, which are a perfect tool for what i wanted to do back then They are ( or can be ) heavy, awkward to lift, the weight shifts, and dragging them, lifting them etc can be more difficult than conventional weights Wish I knew about them back then Sandbags would be a fun way to exercise. If you are interested in sandbag training, consider getting a military surplus backpack and if possible line it with some sort of thick plastic. Also, using gravel makes less of a mess than sand. |
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TexasRanger
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A little here, a little there...
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Post by TexasRanger on Oct 16, 2018 18:00:22 GMT
Just grabbing a KB around the "bell", the sides of the horns, etc., provides a little unstable training. Maneuvering a heavy suitcases also serve the purpose. No kegs these days.  But nothing has matching sandbag training when I've done it at a gym. For "work" such as carrying things, have mentioned digging post holes, etc., not a whole lot you can do to replicate that work. Carrying a dresser up a couple of flights of stairs or a freezer down into a basement is something you simply can't replicate. |
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Post by billfish on Oct 16, 2018 19:04:24 GMT
Everyone has a different opinion of what "functional" is and different reasons for functional style exercise As a young fireman i did bodybuilding style workouts, because I thought they resulted in strength and fitness, and to a degree they did But, one of my reasons to workout was to stay fit to do the job which involved climbing, crawling, dragging loads, lifting and pulling under difficult conditions and in awkward positions I began to experiment and try to incorporate exercises that would help in these activities After retiring, I discovered sandbags, which are a perfect tool for what i wanted to do back then They are ( or can be ) heavy, awkward to lift, the weight shifts, and dragging them, lifting them etc can be more difficult than conventional weights Wish I knew about them back then Sandbags would be a fun way to exercise. Yes, they are and are fairly easy to make |
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Post by DrunkenMonkey on Oct 16, 2018 19:08:22 GMT
Sandbags would be a fun way to exercise. If you are interested in sandbag training, consider getting a military surplus backpack and if possible line it with some sort of thick plastic. Also, using gravel makes less of a mess than sand. I poured a bunch of sand into one of those heavy duty big black trash bags. Taped every inch of it with duct tape and threw it in a backpack. That was probably four years ago and I still use that damned thing. |
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Michael
Caneguru
He cuts down trees. He wears high heels, suspendies, and a bra?!
Winner of Twatformetrics Spartan Challenge
Posts: 5,294
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Post by Michael on Oct 16, 2018 21:47:01 GMT
Sand bag training is something I've never done. I'm supposing there's a grip factor with sand bags. I do lift alot of odd objects. Thanks for the ideas.
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Post by countryboy on Oct 16, 2018 22:15:55 GMT
functional adjective func·tion·al | \ˈfəŋ(k)-shnəl, -shə-nᵊl\ Definition of functional 1a : of, connected with, or being a function the functional differences between the departments b : affecting physiological or psychological functions but not organic structure functional heart disease 2 : used to contribute to the development or maintenance of a larger whole functional and practical school courses also : designed or developed chiefly from the point of view of use The design of the building is not only functional but also beautiful. 3 : performing or able to perform a regular function The flashlight was still functional after I had dropped it. I hope this simple yet comprehensive explanation puts a little light on the subject.  |
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Post by billfish on Oct 16, 2018 23:21:18 GMT
functional adjective func·tion·al | \ˈfəŋ(k)-shnəl, -shə-nᵊl\ Definition of functional 1a : of, connected with, or being a function the functional differences between the departments b : affecting physiological or psychological functions but not organic structure functional heart disease 2 : used to contribute to the development or maintenance of a larger whole functional and practical school courses also : designed or developed chiefly from the point of view of use The design of the building is not only functional but also beautiful. 3 : performing or able to perform a regular function The flashlight was still functional after I had dropped it. I hope this simple yet comprehensive explanation puts a little light on the subject. Clear as mud |
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Post by countryboy on Oct 17, 2018 0:49:10 GMT
functional adjective func·tion·al | \ˈfəŋ(k)-shnəl, -shə-nᵊl\ Definition of functional 1a : of, connected with, or being a function the functional differences between the departments b : affecting physiological or psychological functions but not organic structure functional heart disease 2 : used to contribute to the development or maintenance of a larger whole functional and practical school courses also : designed or developed chiefly from the point of view of use The design of the building is not only functional but also beautiful. 3 : performing or able to perform a regular function The flashlight was still functional after I had dropped it. I hope this simple yet comprehensive explanation puts a little light on the subject. Clear as mud Thank you billfish, and if you need more information, feel free to ask. Who knows, maybe there are 1 or 2 guys on this forum who could come up with some extensive studies regarding this.  |
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Post by billfish on Oct 17, 2018 12:56:22 GMT
Clear as mud Thank you billfish, and if you need more information, feel free to ask. Who knows, maybe there are 1 or 2 guys on this forum who could come up with some extensive studies regarding this. |
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Post by countryboy on Oct 17, 2018 15:41:04 GMT
Sorry Michael...you asked a serious question, and as often happens, the subject got hijacked by an abit of silly humor. Actually, that's one of the things about this forum that keeps it interesting.
Seriously, functional exercise is probably just exercises that strengthen the muscles you most often use during daily activity.
I remember a few years ago when hand grippers resurfaced on the market, labeled as 150, 200, 250, 300, etc. indicating the amount of resistance they provided, Ironmind had a series 0f grippers up to 400. (or something like that) The biggest one was almost impossible to move, and a few people set their minds on being able to "close" that big gripper.
I have a DVD put out by Olde Tyme Strongmen , where he interviewed the first man to close this gripper. The guy more or less devoted all his training to this one goal, and when he succeeded , he practically crushed the thing. What was interesting was that , if I remember correctly, even heavy squatting was part of that routine, and he worked so hard that , in the interview, he said that he would often throw up after a workout. Also, he was not a very big guy,and sort of complained that he really didn't gain any size either....but he closed the gripper. He also made some of his own devices to help reach his goal, and some of them would rival Bruce's and Gruntbrain's inventions.
Oh yes...my point... When thinking of functional exercise, it might be helpful to consider exercises that aren't functional as well. Putting in months of training to be able to close a gripper with the right hand, is not functional training, similar to training oneself to be a good arm wrestler. These are worthy efforts, but don't seem to be of any real value for day to day living.
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Post by mr potatohead on Oct 17, 2018 19:47:46 GMT
...... the subject got hijacked ...... Seriously, functional exercise is probably just exercises that strengthen the muscles you most often use during daily activity. ........... OK, but the OP of this thread is about "functional STRENGTH", not "functional exercise". All strength is functional. It's redundant to say, "functional strength". However, if we're actually hijacking this thread to talk about "functional exercise" as BF introduced several posts ago, then, absolutely, there are specific EXERCISES that will make one's physically demanding vocation, competition or recreational goals easier to achieve. |
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