SuperWatches

Super Smartwatches and Wearables

Maygen

Garmin Instinct Solar Watches – Surf Solar, Tactical Solar, Camo Solar

Earlier this month (July 6) Garmin released a range of new Garmin Instinct Solar watches with variants called Surf, Tactical and Camo.

What’s New?

Garmin introduced its Solar Glass tech on the Fenix 6x Pro Solar last year. This increases the battery longevity for a considerable amount of time, by drawing energy from direct sunlight. This technology advancement has also been shared with the new range of Garmin Instinct Solar watches:

Garmin Instinct

The weather conditions are influential on how much of a boost you get. It will get a little charge if left indoors, but the most beneficial environment is direct sunlight. The tech itself is a new addition to the Instinct which explains why the cost has gone up marginally. Specifically, it’s meant the incorporation of photovoltaic cells. Two, to be precise. One lives in a strip surrounding the watch face and the second covers the watch face from underneath the glass. This physical modification is not without cost.  

To make this technology work, there isn’t any kind of advanced battery life management needed. It’s possible to use a pre-set battery mode which turns certain battery-draining features off, like GPS. You can tailor your own battery profile to suit what you need.

Garmin have also introduced a new screen that enables battery management by way of giving you data on how the charging of the battery has been working in the background.

Shared specification

The overall size of the three variants are the same: 45 x 45 x 15.3 mm and all weigh 53g.

They offer 100m water-resistance.

The battery life is unparalleled thanks to solar power. This military-standard sportswatch is the toughest watch on the market. It has built-in sports apps and smartwatch capabilities to deliver your notifications on your wrist for up to 54 days in this mode.

This watch has been specifically designed for endurance. It has a reinforced polymer case which has been through chemical strengthening. It’s also highly scratch-resistant thanks to the use of Gorilla Glass on the face.

The design offers a highly contrasted display with a subtle colour case. It’s made to differ from classic smartwatches and the boldness really comes through.

Levels of sun exposure impact just how much of a boost you’ll get out of the battery life. The variety of settings and sensors will have an impact too. You can tailor how you use the watch to get the most out of it.

You can make the most of pre-loaded sports modes for activities like running, hiking, swimming, biking, rowing, weight lifting and more. 

Sensors

It’ll monitor your heart rate and provide notifications if your heart rates rises too high or drops too low at any point. It’ll monitor how hard its working during a session, even when underwater.

For accurate sleep and altitude acclimation monitoring, the Instinct Solar(s) have a Pulse OX2 sensor that uses light beamed directly at your wrist to get an idea of how effectively your body absorbs oxygen. 

It uses your heart rate to cleverly work out a stress level score. You’ll know if your physiology matches your mood; calm, stressed or anything in between.

If you’re constantly tired, this watch is going to be your new best friend. It’ll optimise the energy level in your body by calculating your stress levels, sleep and heart rate variability throughout the day. It’ll crunch this data to tell you if you’re at a prime time for being active or if you need a rest. Of course this doesn’t replace listening to your own body, but it’s a really helpful tool.

GPS

You can have unadulterated access to global navigation systems – GLONASS, Galileo and good old-fashioned GPS.

Combine your pin-point accurate location capabilities with navigation using the ABC sensors. These include an altimeter to tell you elevation information, a three-axis compass and a barometer to let you know if there are any storms ahead.

Essentially, the Instinct is a powerful friend who takes the guesswork away. You can make a smooth return journey using the navigation features and land right back where you started.

You can get your notifications delivered along the way too. Text, emails and various social media alerts. You will need your phone in your pocket for this, though.

If you’re really heading into the wilderness, with the addition of an InReach device, you can get weather alerts, send messages and, should the worst happen, send an SOS message to a dedicated emergency team available 24/7.

Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical

This version is built for those on a mission of endurance. It’ll be a faithful companion as you go, regardless of how far you go.

You can go between nighttime and daytime mode using its special screen which can be read using night vision goggles.

Flip the watch into stealth mode means the watch will quit broadcasting your GPS location as well as disabling the wireless connection and therefore communication.

If, however, you want people to know your location you can share it with others. This is done via use of a UTM (Universal transverse Mercator) plus an MGRS (military grid reference system). You’ll always be able to find your way back to a given location, which you can mark before you start a trip.

Garmin Instinct Solar Surf

If, in particular, your chosen adventures are in the ocean, you’ll love the Surf version of the Instinct Solar. This variant offers you specific tide data and in addition to the surf sports mode, offers dedicated surf-specific activities.

You can focus on the tide knowing your Instinct battery is going to last and last.

Garmin Instinct Solar Camo

The Camo has all the awesome features of this military-grade watch but comes in specific camouflage colours available only in this variant line.

Conclusion

There’s a lot going on under the Power Glass hood of the Instinct Solar. It has Garmin’s impeccable sports tracking capabilities as well as being able to customise your own modes to follow on your wrist. It has a superb breadcrumb navigation feature meaning you can focus on enjoying your surroundings knowing you’ll be lead right back to where you started. The Garmin Instinct Solar watches are the perfect companion for any outdoor lover, on land or sea.

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Garmin Fenix 6x Pro Solar Review

This could be the defining multisport watch of 2020. The Garmin Fenix 6x Pro Solar makes a big impact but has a lightweight touch being made from titanium. It carries every app and sensor you might possibly need inside, too.

The Garmin Fenix 6x Pro Solar takes the lead of the 6x thanks to the injection of solar charging. It quite literally does everything under the sun.

Background 

The Garmin Fenix 6x Pro Solar is like the Swiss Army Knife of multisport watches. With the natural development in technology, we see more and more functions on sportswatches. On this 51mm beast, you can track your general fitness as well as utilising coaching towards specific goals like marathon running or other fitness indications toward your health. This could be recovery time or VO2 max. If you’re connected via Bluetooth or Wifi, you can make the most of entertainment apps like Amazon Prime Music, Deezer or Spotify.

This isn’t really a sportswatch, it’s a fitness tracking weapon! Keen athletes with a penchant for the outdoors will love this. It packs in a bunch of training and navigation features as well as those nifty entertainment apps.

You might be sweating thinking about the battery life, hearing about all this? Here’s the innovation. The addition of solar charging has lengthened the battery life beyond expectation.

6X Pro Solar VS 6 Pro

You might be wondering what the difference is between the Solar and its predecessor? The Solar has really built on the already incredible variety of sensors and algorithmic abilities. 

The 6x Pro Solar and 6 Pro are both able to deliver maps and music. They also both offer training coaches, and heart rate monitoring through the companion app.

The Solar has swapped out the previous steel case for a lightweight titanium. This has shaved a few grams off the weight. The clear difference is the battery life, thanks to the addition of Garmin Power Glass.

The quality of the build on the Solar is exceptional. The use of titanium and Torx screws give it a real rugged look. Garmin advertises that the Power Glass is scratch-resistant, but it’s not made from sapphire glass, there’s only so many knocks it can take before it’ll give in. Sadly, you can’t have both.

The screen also isn’t a touchscreen, which is why you get five buttons on it. They’re labelled, though, which users say is handy for getting right to using the watch and not spending days pressing the wrong buttons.

The ‘quick-fit’ straps are welcomed. They release with the touch of a button. They’re technically a dive watch and the silicone wristband keeps the HR monitor in place snugly.

The look is not at all subtle. Once you consider what comes inside this 51mm animal, you shouldn’t ever expect it to be sleek.

Battery Life

The most important feature to discuss. The Solar is bringing an AK47 to a knife fight. If used as a smartwatch, you’ll get 21 days. Perhaps GPS is what you’re relying on for a big adventure, you’ll get 60 hours. If the watch is getting a feed of direct sunlight, though, it’ll get a boost from this. This boost will take you to an astonishing 46 days when in expedition mode. To put that into perspective, that’s a trip up and down Everest. 

In terms of harvesting the sunlight, it can absorb some when indoors but unsurprisingly the best impact comes from being outside.

Different modes offer different battery life length. It all depends on what modes you’re using and how hard you’re smashing the apps.

  • 21 – 24 days as a smartwatch
  • 60 – 66 hours in GPS mode
  • 15-16 hours using GPS and listening to music
  • 46 – 56 days in expedition mode (including GPS)
  • Up to 120 days in battery saving mode  

It offers an astronomical amount of sports, algorithmic calculations and sensors.  Listing them would take too long, but it covers a lot of pre-loaded activities from trail running, biking, hiking, swimming and even golfing. The latter uses the map settings in a similar way to the skiing mode, but the latter offers turn-by-turn navigation. They really have considered what’s needed from the user during the specific sport. During running, for example, it’ll monitor your VO2 max based on your changing altitude. 

Maybe you think that’s overkill? If you’re overwhelmed with the options, you can easily manage this data with the companion app. You can load a likely profile, or multiple profiles and upload those to your watch. By pressing a button you enter your bespoke list. The app will provide you with granular detail which you can choose to learn from.

Activity Tracking and Accuracy

Garmin has always been great at accurate activity tracking. The heart rate monitor on a Garmin has always been great at monitoring and the GPS has been able to pick up the location within a few yards. This isn’t a new thing, but they have certainly spent considerable time developing their sensors from previous models.

The Solar will display up to 6 data fields on-screen during a given activity. You’re able to pick these from the menu. Things like pace and cadence, lap times and heart rate. 

Verdict

The Fenix 6x Pro Solar isn’t unique, but it’s certainly refined. Garmin has gathered the best bits of their other models and integrated them together. You get everything you need quickly and easily.

The downside might be that it’s very data-heavy, maybe to the detriment of the user. You might not need sleep tracking, hydration checks and stress monitoring. It all depends on your needs.

Otherwise, the onboard coach, sensors, exceptional battery life and ability to connect your Bluetooth headphones for hours of music on an accurately-tracked run make this Solar watch an absolute winner.

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How to be More Productive (with the help of your smartwatch)

Misfit Vapor

Introduction

Could you be more productive? Everyone’s experienced the stress that comes with having too many tasks and not enough hours. Life admin can get on top of you and all it does is make you procrastinate more. Sometimes there are just too many things.

Utilising the features of wearable technology can really help you get things done. The number of devices and associated apps grows every day. There are so many solutions aimed at helping you improve your productivity. It could be a tool to help you be more organised or a simpler way of finishing a task. These should make you feel less overwhelmed.

Let’s dive into some of the best ways a smartwatch can help you be more productive at work and at home.

Stay in touch with work

Everyone loves Slack at the moment. It’s a funky platform that allows you to chat as well as do work-related tasks like sharing and collaborating on documents. First, it was only available on desktop, then mobile but now you can access it via an Apple Watch.

The Slack app on the Apple Watch allows you to read and respond to messages with pre-written replies. You’re also able to keep an eye on your mentions. It lets you glance at your work items whilst you’re in a meeting or out for lunch so you don’t miss anything. The beauty is you don’t need to get your phone or laptop out. 

Never miss your expenses

If you’re self-employed or run a business of your own, you know how critical finances are to keep on top of. It’s so easy to get lost when you’re sat in front of a mountain of invoices and receipts. There’s another Apple Watch app called Billings Pro that will help you. It enables you to track things like mileage, time and general expenses right there on your wrist. By quickly adding entries as you go in this uber-convenient way means the tax man won’t be on your back and it helps you be more productive. 

Also, the other cool thing is that the information syncs across all your Apple devices so you’re able to manage it all on one device. The app is free, but there are some in-app purchases for more advanced features.

It’s got to make you wonder if smartwatches are going to replace smartphones, eventually?

What’s also nice is that it syncs across your Watch, iPhone, iPad and Mac, so you can keep things in order from any device. It’s free, but you have to pay in-app for its freelance and professional plans.

Start a family hub

Lots of smart devices around the home are compatible with Alexa. Alexa is also compatible with a few smartwatches, like the Fitbit Versa 2. You can give voice instructions from your wrist for things like playing music, turning lights on or off, changing the heating settings, creating a shopping list, ordering an Uber or a takeaway… So many things! You can focus on other things whilst your smartwatch works for you in the background. 

To-do lists

To-do lists are the original productivity tool. The digitisation of the old paper and pen method means you can use your Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch to create a list or agenda. Also, they’ll send you reminders about looming deadlines or tasks that are incomplete. 

Translate on the go

We’ve all been caught short when abroad, not knowing the local lingo. It could be business or pleasure. Either way, there are times when we’ve found ourselves either flicking through a cumbersome dictionary (that we’ll never touch again once we get back) or not having one at all and trying pointing and speaking louder. This isn’t ideal.

Again, if you’re an Apple Watch or Android user, you can utilise Microsoft Translator. You speak into your device and the app will translate it into the language you need. There are 50 languages to pick from. It’s not perfect, but it’ll be better than the dictionary or shouting.

Learn about your habits

If you’ve hit the wall and feel unproductive, don’t worry. You can take stock of your emotions, habits and behaviours to think about where you can make positive changes. 

Mindfulness is the practice of pausing everything and taking stock of how you feel in that moment, including appreciating what’s happening to your senses. Doing this regularly brings your mind away from ruminating on the past or from anxiously pre-living situations ahead. It teaches us to live in the moment. 

When we do this, our mind is clear and we have better concentration.

You might be wondering where the tech comes in? A major exercise in practising mindfulness is to focus on your breathing. Many fitness trackers come with a native app for guided breathing exercises, like Fitbits. Using these will boost your ability to be mindful, which will enable you to be more productive.

Access your notes, everywhere

If you’re out and about, you can still have access to notes. Smartwatches that have built-in digital assistants like Google Assist, Bixby, Alexa and Siri can offer voice notes or dictate text notes. These are anti-forgetfulness solutions and the best bit is you won’t have to grab your phone.

Never miss a deadline

The AmazeFit GTR is a wonderful example of how you can use your smartwatch to send you reminders so you never miss an important task. It’s also affordable, which helps. 

Some smartwatches have native apps for reminders, others will require you to download one. Either way, you can forget to remember important things, because your watch will do it for you! Maybe you frequently forget your medication or always fail to get the chicken out of the freezer in time. Reminders will make sure you get those little tasks done, making you infinitely more productive.

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Garmin Vivomove Style Review

Introduction

Fitness tracking and sportswatches have long been known to be thick, boldly coloured, rugged and rubber. They aren’t concerned with looking good, they’re supposed to be a companion for your adventures and training. Fitness is the number one priority.

Some people like sending the message to others that they are serious about sport. It’s like having a bumper sticker on your face. Well, your wrist. This approach isn’t for everyone, though. Some people prefer a more subtle approach and luckily the Garmin Vivomove Style is perfect for those types. It has all the wonder of a fitness tracker with the cleverness of a smartwatch. 

Fitness watches tend to have a distinct look: Chunky, brightly colored, rubberized. You’re sending a message to the world that you make fitness a priority — or, at least, that you buy the stuff that makes fitness look like a priority.

First impressions

The first thing you’ll notice is just how light the watch is. 35 grams when sporting a nylon band. It’s 42mm by 42mm and only 11.9mm thick. It looks like it would be heavier than what it is and what’s inside.

The case is aluminium and this helps the sleekness of it. There are a few variants of materials and bands depending on your colour preference. Although if you want something fancy, check out the Vivomove Luxe for higher-quality materials like rose gold, titanium and real gold.

Design

The look is subtle. On the face you’ll notice a simplicity. You get a traditional analog face and very little gives away the fact that there are smart features baked in. 

Truth be told, there’s a touchscreen. At the top and bottom of the face there are AMOLED displays for your selected data. They’re so subtle that you have to look hard to even distinguish them from the traditional face.

By moving your wrist to your face you’ll wake the screen to see the data fields. You’ve got the option to totally turn this off, keep it on during activity or simply, always-on. 

With the displays on you’re able to swipe and see all the features on offer from the Style. This is where you remember you’re dealing with Garmin and they’re exceptional at what they do. The Style offers the typical Garmin tracking suite. Usual data like calories burned, the number of floors you’ve climbed, steps taken and your heart rate. Smart features such as notification delivery can be connected for Android and iPhone users. 

Anyone who’s had a Garmin before might be pleased to see you still get Auto Goal; a feature that learns about your activity and sets a goal to challenge you. 

You can monitor your sleep, body battery, stress level, water consumption and VO2 Max. Metrics that you don’t get as standard anywhere else and make being part of the Garmin ecosystem worthwhile.

The Style has a party trick, too! The watch hands move in a way that indicates your status within given heart rate zones or battery level. This isn’t something you will rely on, but it’s certainly a cool touch. It’s an interaction between the AMOLED and traditional elements on the face.

Screen

The AMOLED feature can be stunning on other Garmin models. On the Style, well that might be a subjective matter. The displays also do impact the battery a fair amount. Saying that, you get 4 days between charges and that’s assuming you work out every day and use fitness tracking and smart features.

Sensors

The Style has a heart rate monitor, accelerometer, barometric altimeter and Pulse Ox sensor. A shame is the lack of built-in GPS, but you can resolve this easily by letting it use your smartphone GPS location. You simply need to keep your phone close and keep the Garmin Connect app open. This gives you access to distance, speed and route tracking data. 

If you’re into running, walking, swimming or biking, just make sure you have a means of keeping your phone close to your body.

Certainly, it’s worth it if you do. The Style does a wonderful job of tracking. It’ll even give your cadence an accurate estimate. If you’re a weight lifter it’ll monitor reps and swimmers can enjoy not having to mentally keep repeating how many laps they’ve done. Just a few examples, but essentially the sport modes are there. If you’re not too worried about granular information, you can rely on fairly accurate heart rate zones.

Verdict

The Vivomove Style is a really subtle device that looks great. It’s so sleek it doesn’t even have any buttons getting in the way. The Garmin Connect app is really comprehensive so it’s wholly advised to keep your smartphone closeby so you get the most out of more in-depth metrics offered there. 

Will it last?

Garmin watches are known for their ruggedness. There’s no reason the Vivomove Style would be any different so expect to have this for a goof 3-4 years. 

Is there an alternative?

Check out the Fossil Hybrid. This is the closest comparable device. It has a similar ability to the Style, but not as many features. No touchscreen or bespoke AMOLED data fields.

Garmin Instinct Solar Review

Garmin Instinct Solar

Introducing the Garmin Instinct Solar… This review is so hot off the press you’ll struggle to find better information online yet.

Background

Garmin debuted their Instinct sportswatch two years ago and it was an instant success. Some were skeptical about the value proposition and if you look online, reviews didn’t immediately pop up after it’s release. The logic behind this being that Garmin already made a wildly popular backcountry watch range, why did they have to go and make something that wasn’t as functional as those?

If we’re brutally honest, it was also a little ugly. With a market flooded with sleek sport watches with minimalistic aesthetics, the chunky look stepped aside. Or so we thought. The Instinct came along and showed the new kids that the dads have still got it. The main reason for the popularity being that it doesn’t drain your bank account to get hold of one and when you do, you’ll struggle to get lost ever again.

Skip to today and we see the debut of the successor. Introducing, the Instinct Solar. This version sees the introduction of Power Glass on the face, which means it recharges itself using rays from the sun. Making this loved brand’s adored watches even better, for longer.

Design

This isn’t a skinny watch. Measuring in with a 1.75 inch face by 0.25 inches in depth, it demands real estate on your wrist. Surprisingly, it’s comfortable, despite this. It’s incredibly robust and durable to boot. Offering 100m of water-resistance, there’s peace of mind in knocking it and not worrying about shattering or scratching it.

The display is basic. Black and white pixels mostly, offering 128 x 128. You can customise the face with a few different styles and pick which metrics you’d like displayed. On board is 16GB storage too, so you can really make use of the GPS function by keeping your maps right there on your wrist.

It has the usual features like an alarm, timer, stopwatch and even tells you when to expect the sunrise and sunset.

It has a sturdy bezel carrying instructions for the 5 buttons. It’ll let you know which button you need for GPS and which to press for the main menu. Altogether, there’s a retro vibe to the look and the instructions are very helpful. Typically when you get a multi-button system it takes you a while to remember which button does what.

It comes in a number of different materials and colours. The Instinct has a silicone strap. It’s a chunky watch, coming in at 45mm x 45mm x 15.3 mm. If you have a smaller wrist, consider how this might sit. 

Performance

This watch is designed for backcountry trips. The kind where you don’t really need an all-encompassing map with intricate detail on your wrist. Those will eat your battery. If you’re intending to walk or hike a good few miles and you want to find your way back, you can take advantage of the Track Me feature, which is useful even in the dark. The GPS recordings against online maps for comparison show that the Instinct is pretty good when it comes to accuracy.

Garmin have released both a tactical and surf version, too. They come with some specific features for each and we’ll talk about them here.

The Instinct Solar has a lot of unique features. One cool thing is the multisport tracking function. You can be hiking one moment and taking the opportunity to dive into a crystal clear lake for a swim the next and the Instinct will keep up with you. 

New features you’ll find also include the option to measure your blood oxygen level as you sleep, using the pulse oximeter. Body Battery is another cool one. It’s a Garmin developed metric that will tell you the energy level of your own body using an algorithm that considers your stress level, activity, heart rate variations, sleep quality and amount.

Users find the Body Battery to be useful. It helps people understand where to improve things. If you have a specific goal, you’ll find this feature incredibly helpful. You can use it to make improvements to any sleep issues, your physical and mental health.

Solar Power

Being able to use the sun for charging is a revolution. We all know how frustrating it can be to have to take our watch off every day to plug it in to charge it. It’s naturally best when the Power Glass is facing direct sunlight and if you have the time to leave it in the sun for a short period of time, it’ll give it a little boost. Just don’t’ forget where you’ve put it. This can give you an additional 50% battery life.

On one ‘charge’ (to 100%), you can enjoy over a full week of continuous features like backlighting, smart notifications and maps. 

There’s a battery saving mode. Garmin say this is the key to never having to stop and recharge the Instinct. This mode, consequently, turns off most features. You can tailor it to suit what features you want to keep on, like maps, for example. 

The Pulse Oxi measure is continuous in the background, but if you keep an eye on it using the Connect app then it will tell you when your battery starts running low. If you time this with a period of leaving it in the sun, you should be fine! 

Speaking of the app, it’s really worthwhile to utilise it for the additional metrics it can track, like hydration levels and menstrual cycles.

Verdict

Garmin watches are pin-point accurate. There’s a model to cater for pretty much all kinds of needs. If you’re after a casual everyday watch or something to monitor your marathon performance, they’ve got one to suit.

The Instinct is a useful GPS enabled backcountry watch that will charge in the sun, leaving you able to focus on the adventure as it happens.

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The Benefits of Functional Fitness Explained

Functional fitness

Introduction

Functional training is a bit of a fitness trend at the moment. However, it’s popular for a reason. It’s certainly worth considering if you’re on a mission to improve your health and fitness in the long-term. But, what is it? Is it an effective form of exercise? Are there different ways to do it? You might’ve asked yourself these questions and we’re here to help you in this article.

What is Functional Fitness?

Functional training is focused on strength, for the most part. It features compound moves that utilise more than one muscle group within one movement. For example, when you work your biceps by doing bicep curls, you focus on just that one muscle. You’ll certainly build some strength and endurance that way, assuming you’re using the appropriate weights and number of repetitions, but it’s still an isolated movement. In fact, if you look around a gym, you’ll soon realise the machines tend to focus on one muscle each. Functional fitness argues that this isn’t a) efficient or b) how the body should function. 

Free weights and bodyweight exercises prioritise and improve stability, coordination and strength. This has the overarching aim of improving functionality in how you go about your day-to-day life as well as your athleticism.

Is functional fitness important?

Like other types of exercise, functional fitness is wonderful for your health. You’ll gain strength, mobility and power that extends what you can do in a gym.

What are the benefits of functional fitness?

Everyday activities get easier

If you improve your overall body functionality by increasing the strength of your muscles and endurance, you’ll develop better stability. This will translate into everyday activities and you’ll find they’re a lot easier to complete than before.

Compared to the outcomes of other types of exercise, this benefit outweighs a lot of conventional workouts. Its goal is to make things you would naturally do in your everyday routine easier. You’ll be less tired as a result, which will have a further positive impact on your mental health as you feel better equipped to manage your day.

Low Impact

Functional fitness doesn’t require any high impact on your body. As a result, it’s also accessible for all people of all abilities and fitness levels. There’s a starting point for everyone. There are different sessions you can try from novice to expert; it’s just about knowing your fitness style. It can be tricky at first to figure out your fitness needs and what movements you should work on, but once you do, your muscles and joints will thank you! They’ll repay you by lasting a lot longer as you get older!

You’ll increase your balance, posture flexibility and coordination

The range of motion needed in functional fitness is large. You should be start and end in a position that stretches your muscles. A key goal of a movement is to feel resistance. Boosting your functional strength results in better flexibility and thus better coordination. This is when you’ll see it paying off in your daily activities.

The exercises require you to utilise multiple muscles to improve your overall strength. Again, this leads into better posture. Something we could all use, especially if your job means you’re sat in a chair at a desk all day, potentially slouching. You achieve this because functional training needs you to use the smaller muscle groups that support the larger ones. This also benefits you by reducing your risk of over-training. 

Reduction of joint paint

If you suffer from back, neck or any other joint pain then functional fitness is only going to serve you well. It’s known for being the perfect middleman between a personal trainer and physiotherapist. Because it’s designed to improve your overall body function, back, neck, knee or other joint pain can be reduced significantly. Imagine how you’ll feel if you could walk longer distances without your ‘bad knee’ playing up? The pain of daily tasks that were once hindered can be greatly alleviated.

Reduce your risk of injuries

Practicing functional fitness over conventional training methods reduces your risk of injuries because it puts far less stress on your body. Essentially, it’s mimicking natural everyday movements. This has been evident in runners who reported far less pain having followed a functional fitness routine alongside their other training. Again, this is because of the effort put on the smaller muscle groups to support the larger ones.

You’ll build muscle

You might wonder if this is possible, considering it’s low impact. The concept of working multiple muscle groups means you’re training several areas simultaneously. Your results will be improved strength and muscle gain.

Summary

Hopefully, you’re energised and empowered to get your teeth into your first functional fitness training session. You don’t need any equipment to get started, and there are plenty of novice workouts online to get you going. You’ll be able to create your own bespoke sessions once you know exactly what it is your body needs. 

It’s advisable to have a fitness tracker to monitor your progress. For functional fitness fans, we think a multisport watch is a great companion, The likes of the Forerunner 945 is a perfect device, in particular. We reviewed it against the Garmin Fenix 6, and you can read that article here.

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