Functional Strength Training- Time to Really Get Stronger

So you lift weights… but are you getting stronger?  The common, knee-jerk reaction to this question is a highly defensive, Yes! Of course I am! I can bench 60 pounds more than I could last year…  Ok, great. So youre bench press has improved. But are you really stronger? Not just bench-press stronger, but functionally? Are you able to use this new strength in other aspects of your life? Can you employ it in motions outside of the gym, or are you restricted to gym strength only? Think of one area this strength has helped you with (other exercises dont count).  Bench press is a classic example of an isolated strength exercise. Before you get offended, let me say Ive nothing against the exercise. I do work on various forms of bench press myself and with clients, but one should understand that the ability to bench press weight does not transfer a lot of strength to other activities. Perhaps if you were stuck underneath a very low car you could lift it a few inches with this strength, but other than that your bench strength is mostly limited to performing more bench presses.  What really irks me is when a potential client tells me he (this statement invariably only comes from men) only wants to work on upper body strength because his legs are already strong enough.  This statement only makes sense if it comes from a person confined to a wheelchair. Unfortunately its a fairly common line of thought among those who workout with weights.  The whole purpose of strength training, at least in my opinion, is to gain well strength! Can you ever have too much strength? I dont really think you can. Let me clarify. I think you can have too much muscle tissue hanging off your bones. And you can definitely have imbalanced strength that could be excessive in areas, but only because its insufficiently balanced with other areas. You can also workout to excess where youre moving enough resistance to injure joints and other areas of the body that develop more slowly, but in general I dont believe you can have too much balanced strength.  That means, first of all, your legs cannot possibly be too strong. You might feel that your leg muscles are too large, in which case you should switch to more of an endurance-based regimen for your legs rather than one consisting of heavy weights and long breaks. Or, more to the point, you should be working on gaining functional strength.  Id like you to take a second now and think about your daily life. Mentally run through your job, your leisure activities, sports, playing with your children/pets, and anything you do in a day… from walking through a parking lot to cleaning the bathroom to cooking dinner. Think about it from this simple perspective. You use your muscles constantly (if for nothing else than to breathe and pump blood). So in all of your daily activities, how often are you employing more than minimal strength from any position other than standing? How often are you at least positioned so your trunk is upright and needing support from your core muscles? Tapping keys on a keyboard and flipping the pages of a book dont count as activities requiring more than minimal strength by the way.  As it turns out, its pretty hard to be active and employ your strength unless youre standing or at least maintain core tension in some form. One good example might be wrestling, because this can happen from any position, including flat on the floor. But still, the wrestler is using his or her legs to generate most of the power for movement. Also, the wrestlers core is tight creating stability and balance for many weird positions. So while it may seem like an exception, its actually a perfect example.  You may have heard about functional strength training. It may conjure images of explosive, plyometric movements. Maybe you think about Olympic-style weight lifting, where you lift heavy free weights using violent jerking motions. Or maybe you think about jumping around and running.
These are valid forms of functional strength training, but they may be too extreme for someone who is not already a well-conditioned athlete. Safety should be the number one priority of any exercise program, whether youre a computer programmer or an NFL running back, it doesnt matter. You cant afford to get hurt while lifting weights, because it will at best set back your weight training, and at worst disrupt your ability to do your job and live your life.  Though there are highly beneficial elastic movements as part of functional strength training, the first step is to build core strength, balance, and footwork. Start attempting exercises similar to those you already do, but from your feet. No more pressing weight laying on a bench, instead doing it from a standing position (youll need a cable machine or stretch bands). Or at least start unbalancing yourself as you do the exercise. For example, perform your bench press using dumbbells (or one dumbbell for more of a challenge) on a stability ball or foam roller so you need to employ your legs and core to keep balanced.  For those trying to lose weight, functional strength training is going to be your savior. While isolated resistance training does help achieve gains needed to increase metabolism and build necessarily muscle tissue, functional strength training does it much better. Why? Because it builds the larger muscle groups first, and utilizes more muscles in coordinated movements, instead of in highly restricted, supported motions where only a single muscle or small group of muscles is isolated.  (continues below)
This means you get faster gains through shorter periods of exercise. It does mean that those periods will be more intense, because youll need to use more of your body in each movement.  The impacts of quality functional strength training can be felt throughout your daily life. Youll have been posture and balance. Youll learn to move in a more coordinated, graceful, and efficient manner. And, as is the primary goal of functional strength training, youll employ your newly acquired strength in a wide variety of every day activities.