Functional fitness matters
Functional fitness means training your body to perform everyday activities more easily and safely. Instead of just focusing on aesthetics or lifting heavy weights, functional fitness helps you move better in real life — like bending, lifting, reaching, or even just walking up stairs.
Why functional fitness is important for longevity and overall health?
Functional fitness keeps you independent for longer strengthening muscles and improving balance, coordination, and mobility in ways your body actually uses for every day tasks. This means you are less likely to injure yourself doing normal daily activities.
Functional exercises increase core strength and correct movement patterns which can also help reduce and prevent common problem areas, such as pain in the neck, shoulder and back due to lifestyles. Many functional workouts also include full-body movements that get your heart pumping, so you still get a workout and increase your overall fitness levels.
The sled push is a functional movement with weight lifting benefits. It mimics real-life movement patterns, requires full-body coordination, core engagement, and lower body power.
Tip: Stay low and drive through your legs! Push with your legs and not your arms.
Side step-up trains lateral (side-to-side) stability, many injuries happen in sideways movements.
Tip: keep you whole foot on the box and push through your heel (not your toes). Avoid pushing off with your bottom leg, the leg on the step should take the load. Control the descent down. it stand out
Single arm cable pull helps correct strength imbalances between sides and mimics real life pull actions.
Tip: Engage your core and pull with your back, not just your arm, controlling the movement on the way down and up.
Does functional fitness benefit men and women differently?
While functional exercise benefits everyone, some unique advantages show up differently in men and women due to differences in physiology, hormones, and lifestyle needs.
Women:
Pelvic floor and core support: Functional movements that engage the core (e.g. planks and bridges) help strengthen the pelvic floor, which is especially important during and after pregnancy, and as women age.
Bone density support: Women are at higher risk of osteoporosis, especially post-menopause. Weight-bearing functional movements (like lunges and push-ups) help maintain and improve bone density.
Hormonal balance & stress reduction: Functional training (especially when combined with mobility work or breath-based movement) supports hormone regulation, reduces cortisol, and helps manage PMS, perimenopause, or menopause symptoms.
Body alignment & joint Health: Women often have different joint alignment (e.g., wider hips affecting knees). Functional exercises strengthen stabilising muscles to support healthy joint movement and prevent injury.
Men:
Improved mobility & flexibility: Men are often tighter in areas like hips, hamstrings, and shoulders. Functional movements help increase range of motion, which reduces stiffness and lowers injury risk, especially with age.
Balanced muscle development: Men often focus on lifting heavy or targeting large muscles. Functional training promotes balanced, full-body strength, helping to avoid muscle imbalances and joint strain.
Core activation & injury prevention: Men may unintentionally over-rely on upper body strength. Functional core-focused moves (like rotational lifts or anti-rotation planks) strengthen stabilisers that protect the lower back and improve posture.
Supports lean muscle maintenance with age: As testosterone levels decline with age, men can lose muscle mass. Functional strength training helps preserve lean muscle and support metabolic health.
