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The Benefits of Functional Fitness Explained

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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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Exercises to Try to Keep Fit

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exercise

You might wonder how much and what exercises you, your kids or even your parents need to stay healthy?

Essentially, everyone would benefit from doing two kinds of exercise a week. Aerobic exercise and strength training. 

For those aged 5 – 65, we should aim for 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week. Undergoing a variety of activities over the week will help develop and maintain a healthy heart, muscles, bones and mind.

Ideally, we should be reducing the amount of time we spend sitting down. We do this in long periods despite overwhelming scientific evidence pointing to a downward spiral in our health. 

If we aimed to spread our activity out throughout the day, we would achieve 150 over the week. The activity itself, as a rule of thumb, should leave us breathing faster and feeling warmer.

What is moderate activity?

An activity that is moderately intensive will make your heart rate and temperature rise and your breath faster.

If you’re still able to talk, but not sing, this is the sweet spot.

We’ve come up with some suggestions to help you get this activity into your week, without needing a gym membership.

You’ll start seeing the health benefits, have some fun and even see a lift in your mood. Plus, it doesn’t have to cost the earth.

Once you start getting your 150 minutes a week, you’ll start to love how you feel. We recommend pairing any activity with a smartwatch or fitness tracker so you know you’re on target.

We hope you find something here that’s enjoyable and therefore you can work it into your routine as part of a healthy lifestyle

Let’s begin.

Walking

Did you know walking is one of the best types of exercise? It’s available to almost everyone. Also, it’s cheap because you don’t really need much other than some comfortable shoes!

It’s easier than you might think to increase how much you walk. You can get friends and family involved by walking with them or even joining a walking group.

Walking triggers your cardiovascular system. Meaning, your lungs and heart start working hard to provide you with good circulation. Your muscle endurance improves, too, especially in your legs and hips.

Smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 5 or more the budget-friendly Fitbit Versa 2 will send you reminders not just to get up and walk. They also have GPS, allowing you to map where you’ve been, count your steps, know the distance you walked as well as count how many calories you burned! 

Working out at home

You can burn some calories, lose some pounds and boost your mood using just ten minutes a day to exercise at home. Sound good?

There is no end to the number of workouts you can access from your smart TV, smartphone, laptop, desktop or tablet. Simply go to YouTube and try searching for any of the following workouts, starting your search with “ten minute” that you can do in the comfort of your living room, garage, garden or home gym, if you have one:

  • Cardio 
  • Toning workout
  • Bums and tums
  • Hips and thighs
  • Upper arms or upper body
  • HIIT 

There’s nothing stopping you from doing more than one of these workouts if you want to to 20 minutes, half an hour or up to an hour of exercise. You’ll be getting a great full body workout this way. 

The Coros Apex would be a fantastic workout buddy for this. It has all the features of a premium smartwatch at a fraction of the price. Additionally, it has a great 35 hour battery life so you can focus on recording your workout and not worry if it’ll need charging.

Jogging or running

Going for a run is demanding on the body, more so than walking. If you’re new, you must take your time to build your speed and endurance and therefore your duration of runs. If you like the idea of starting up but you’ve been fairly sedentary for a while, you’ll find running programmes like C25K really helpful.

The NHS scheme was designed to help total novice runners to run 5k within 9 weeks. You might find investing in a fitness tracker can help you exponentially We wrote about the best running watches in an article, here, which will help your decision making on what to buy

Cycling

Cycling is a great cardio exercise that gets your lower body working hard. If you want to devise a regular cycling routine for yourself, ensure your bike is the correct size and your handlebars and saddle are also correctly positioned to support your height. 

Cycling isn’t necessarily a solo activity. For example, you could get the family together on a Sunday morning for an hour’s ride and enjoy seeing your local area. There will also likely be some local cycling groups you could join. Most of these cater to people of every ability so you don’t have to be intimidated by pro cyclists going at a speed you can’t keep up with.

We recommend you head to our article that tells you everything you need to know about buying a cycling-specific smartwatch, after which you’ll be ready to read our review of the best beginner and semi-pro cycling watches.

Swimming

After walking and running, swimming is the third most popular sport, for the people of the UK, at least. Most swimming pools offer beginner lessons if you’re not totally confident or just want to improve.

Swimming is a wonderful full-body workout. It’s widely used by people whose goal is to lose weight and tone up.

Putting in just a few laps will work most of your muscle groups as well as being a great aerobic exercise.

If you have a regular swimming session and put in a consistent pace, you might start to notice a few pounds dropping off.

Again, you don’t have to do this solo. There will be groups you can join to suit your ability, classes for more novel workouts that require a bit of splashing around or you can bring your kids and watch them have a whale of a time whilst you patrol the lengths.

We’ve taken the liberty of writing a buyer’s guide for swimming watches and then helped you on the journey even further by reviewing the best swimming watches for 2020, check it out here.

Summary

There are five ways to get you thinking about how you can increase your exercise to stay fit. Every one of them can be enjoyable, and you don’t have to go at it alone. Find a workout buddy and make it a social event. Grab a fitness tracker that will work with you to help you achieve your goals and you’ll be there in no time.

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The Benefits of Staying Fit

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Here is the article you’ve been waiting for. It contains the miracle answer to staying fit and living a long life!

The solution will halve your risk of developing a major illness like Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke.

Best of all, it’s free. You don’t have to pay a penny for this solution. It works instantly, too. You don’t even need to see a doctor to get your hands on it and yet it’s totally legal.

What is this miracle life-extending solution? Exercise.

We’ve always been able to exercise in some way. So why do we neglect it? Or not do enough? It has such a damaging effect on our health if we don’t.

There is no magic cure. Regardless of your age, there is a wealth of scientific fact supporting the notion that staying active leads to a happier, healthier life.

Those who regularly exercise reduce their risk of suffering from chronic illness like those we’ve mentioned. 

More research indicates that mental wellness improves with regular activity, too. Mood, sleep quality, self-esteem and more serious conditions like depression, anxiety, Alzheimer’s and dementia can be better managed. 

What are the benefits of staying fit?

The evidence is overwhelming. It’s painfully obvious that we should exercise regularly. Therefore, it’s simple; if you want a life of happiness and health, get exercising and stick with it even into your wrinkly years.

Medical data backs up the fact that those who are regularly active experience:

  • > 50% less risk of Type II Diabetes and colon cancer
  • > 35% less risk of heart disease and stroke
  • > 20% less risk of breast cancer
  • Up to a whopping 85% less risk of osteoarthritis
  • > 68% less risk of a fractured hip
  • A third less chance of having a severe fall
  • > 30% less risk of depression and dementia
  • > 30% less risk of early death 

How to stay fit

To get fit and stay there, you should be active every single day. Aim to complete 150 minutes of exercise in the period of one week. This can be done in immeasurable ways.

Most people enjoy a brisk walk. Maybe you have a bike? If you live within 5 miles of where you work, ditch the car and get your feet moving. If you’re keen on monitoring your activity and making sure you get the time and distance in, we recommend looking at our article on the Nike+ sportwatch which will be the perfect companion for you, with activity monitoring and a handy GPS feature.

The rule of thumb is that for any activity you do, you should be doing it fast enough that it raises your heart rate and you need to breathe a little harder. This is called moderate intensity. If you’re at this level, you can still comfortably talk, but you wouldn’t be able to sing. 

You can step it up to the next level, which is known as vigorous intensity. There is overwhelming evidence pointing to vigorous intensity benefiting your body significantly more than moderate intensity. Your breathing should become harder and faster. Your heart rate should go up more. To test it, you shouldn’t be able to say a full sentence aloud without struggling.

If you need some help to know if you’re at the right level, a Garmin fitness watch is your best friend. Check out our comparison of Garmin to Fitbit here to learn about the ability to monitor your heart rate zones.

Amazfit GTS

Physical activity is redundant 

Getting in enough exercise is a modern-day problem. Technology is largely to blame because it makes our lives so convenient. We drive our cars to work where we sit in front of screens for most of the day, we go home and machines wash our clothes and then we sit in front of another screen to be entertained.

Tech is taking out the physical labour of everyday tasks. We don’t even need to leave the house to fetch our food, which means we don’t have to walk, pack and put it away. Life is physically less demanding than it was for our elders.

This means we’re using less energy. The average adult spends 7 hours a day sat on their bottom. Those in the 65+ bracket spend around 10 hours of every day lying down.

The good news is, not all tech is bad for us. In fact, plenty of devices are created to combat this sedentary lifestyle we’re accustomed to. Your watch can be your personal trainer who lives on your wrist.

A lot of fitness trackers and smartwatches come with built-in fitness coach apps that motivate you to reach your goals. We’ve written about some of them in our review of the best smartwatches for 2020, and you can access that here.

Sitting down works against your fitness

You should be mindful of how much time you spend sitting down throughout the day. Making a proactive effort to be more active will naturally reduce the number of hours spent in a chair. 

Watching TV, being on a computer, driving or even catching up with your friends and family all mean sitting down. Here’s where those health risks start creeping in.

All ages benefit from moving often. Even limiting the total time a baby spends sat in a buggy can contribute to healthy development. We can all benefit from saying no to sedentary behaviour.

How to get active and enjoy the benefits of staying fit

The 150 minutes a week target might sound daunting, but there are a lot of ways you can incorporate exercise into your existing routine. You don’t need a gym membership, equipment, money, or even additional hours in the day. 

Head to our article about how to utilise being at home where we give you some ideas you’ve probably not considered, including a workout you can do on the sofa!

If you’re someone who spends a lot of time in the office and you think you couldn’t possibly fit in a workout, you’re wrong. Here we give you a number of ways you can easily get active during your day, even when you have a diary full of meetings.

Fitness at Work

We haven’t forgotten the parents. We know kids love to watch videos on your tablet or smartphone, but we’ve come up with a few novel ways to get your little ones excited about exercise, without them realising it. Read our article on fitness for kids, here.

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Fitness tips for beginners

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Fitness for Beginners

If you’ve decided it’s time to get fit and are looking for some information about fitness for beginners, we’ve come up with some essential dos and don’ts for fitness for beginners. These should help ease you into your new lifestyle of being healthy and active. You’re less likely to scare yourself off if you approach it right from the star.

Make a plan

You should start with a plan toward a goal. You inevitably will go off course if you don’t actually set one. This means you can track your progress on the way, which means celebrating milestones!

This could mean running a 5k in 30 – 40 minutes, being able to deadlift your bodyweight, or sustaining a plank for 60 seconds or more. If you don’t set a goal, how will you know you’re getting close?

Here’ a fitness tracker will be your best friend. If you have multiple goals, good for you! Try a multisport watch. If you have one focus, say, running or swimming, then there are dedicated devices that will aid your journey better than going it alone.

Common fails

If you head to a new gym, you’ll be offered an induction. It’s usually a whistlestop tour and you won’t be given all the information about the various machines that you need. This is so the gym can tell you they warned you, should you later do yourself an injury. The reality is you need time to learn about everything. This is the first don’t…

Don’t use a machine you’re unfamiliar with

Gyms constantly create new machines. Some of them are pretty weird compared to conventional machines like the treadmill, elliptical and rowing machine. As keen as you are to reveal your new 6 pack, if you’re not 100% sure how to use a particular machine at the gym, learn first. Do you know what position to be in and what form is needed? What muscle is it working? What variations of move can you use it for? Most gym machines only target one muscle, so you need to get it right.

Fitness for beginners

Do use a machine that will help you reach your goal

If your goals are to tone your back and shoulders, why would you use an ab machine? You should absolutely use various machines for a full-body workout. However, you should prioritise those machines and movements based on what you’re hoping to achieve on your road to fitness.

 For fitness beginners, you should talk to a personal trainer about what you want. They’ll offer expert advice. You can easily find other fitness fanatics that won’t ask you for a huge payment, too. 

Attend classes

Going to a fitness class has multiple benefits. You’ll be in a social environment with people of a similar ability to you, which will boost your confidence. You’ll also be introducing yourself to a new form of exercise, which can be empowering. Plus all the physical and mental benefits of the exercise itself. You might find something you love and it’ll soon be part of your routine.

Some gym memberships offer classes thrown in, others you may have to pay an additional fee for. There are so many different types from yoga to dance styles, boxing to HIIT and they’ll all be offered at progressive levels you can move up as you improve.

Don’t over-do it

When you’re in the mist of trying these new things, you will be brimming with enthusiasm. Don’t mistake this for an ability to do it all. It’s a good rule of thumb to walk away from a gym session or class with a feeling that you could’ve or wanted to do just a little bit more… It means you’ll be hungry to go back, but you haven’t over-exerted yourself in that particular session.

Don’t walk before you can run. Literally. The gym or a new form of activity should be a fun progression. There is no end to it so there is no need to progress to heavier weights or a faster setting on the treadmill before you’re ready. Push yourself, but learn what the right level of intensity is for you. It’s really important to listen to your body and avoid any injuries that could put you off ever going back.

Do your homework

The best thing you can learn is that you don’t have to train one muscle at a time. In fact, in functional fitness training, the very concept is working smaller muscle groups around the major ones. This improves your strength and reduces the risk of injury by utilising the supporting muscles at the same time.

Once you have a plan, you can look at the specifics to achieve your goal. It’s worth looking into the best form for the movements you want to try, for example, squats benchpress and deadlifts. Look into what the averages are for your height and weight so you get an idea of what kind of weight you should be aiming for. Which leads us into the next don’t…

Don’t skip strength training

Adults should be aiming for a total of 150 minutes of exercise per week, which can be broken down into 30 minute cardio sessions and 2 strength training sessions.

A common fear of novice gym-goers is that if they weight train, they’ll get too bulky. Honestly, if it were that easy, don’t you think we’d all be posing on the beach in skimpy swimwear? Bodybuilders take years to build their physiques; no one has ever accidentally built too much muscle.

Weight training will not only sculpt your body in a good way, but it helps your bones and joints to stay healthy too. It’s great for maintaining a healthy metabolism and it does wonders for mental health with data supporting a reduction in levels of anxiety.

Fitness for beginners

Never give up

You might be instantly successful. If you are, you’re lucky. Progress takes time, especially when you’re a beginner and you have learning to do before you can even begin to improve. You must fight the feeling of being defeated and accept that you will get better with patience and persistence.

There will be times when you feel frustrated because what you see in the mirror or how you feel doesn’t reflect the level of work you’ve been putting in. That doesn’t mean it’s not working. It actually means you should keep going because those physical and visual results are close. Using a fitness tracker to monitor everything will allow you to look at your data and see how well you’ve been performing or where you might need to make some adjustments.

Being mindful will also help you accept and even appreciate the now. You could add a few minutes of proactive mindful meditation to the end of a workout to boost your mood and appreciation of the amazing things your body can do. Accept this is a journey and that you’re at the start, but things will improve over time.

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How to fit cardio into your day

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Cardio

We know exercise, including cardio, contributes significantly to your physical and mental wellness. More than simply getting a hit of endorphins, the long-term benefits include a healthy, happy and longer life. We talked about the benefits of staying fit here. 

Essentially, exercise has a wealth of benefits. It’s possible to fit it into your day, even when you think there’s no chance.

Our generation sits a lot. In fact, too much. The average person spends 7 hours a day sat down, and the average 65 year old spends an incredible 10 hours each day lying down. Being more active is undeniably linked to a reduction in our risk of heart disease, type II diabetes, some cancers as well as mental health conditions like depression, anxiety and Alzheimer’s. The evidence tells us that we will live longer if we exercise more. 

With this in mind, you might wonder how much you should be doing? Those in the know say 150 minutes a week, which is 30 minutes a day of moderate cardio and two sessions of strength training is the sweet spot.

No one is going to tell you how to break that down. You can do half an hour in one go, or 3 sets of ten minutes. There are so many ways you can sneak cardio into your day and we’re going to give you some ideas.

At work

Take the stairs

If you can get a coffee or use the bathroom, printer or meeting rooms on another floor in your office, why not take the stairs? You can push yourself even more by taking them two at a time. You could burn ad additional 300 calories a week just by taking the stairs either one or two at a time during the week. If you get a little breathless, this is known as moderate intensity and is great for you.

exercising

Take meetings outside

Do you really need a meeting room? Unless you need a screen for visuals, it’s likely you and your colleague can walk and talk. A 15 minute walk can burn just shy of 100 calories. However, sitting down for this time would only burn 28.

Being in this novel situation will also stimulate your creativity. You might be surprised at how much you get done. If you need to take notes, how about using the voice note function on your smartwatch? The Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch both have downloadable apps which will let you do this.

Avoid sitting

Every time your phone rings, why not stand up to take the call? Can you walk around on your smartphone? Can you buy a standing desk? There is a range of options from cheap and cheerful monitor mounts to more serious desks. If you can’t change your furniture, you can set a reminder to get up and go for a quick stroll every half an hour.

Maintain hydration

How does this help get cardio in? Well, for one you’ll be walking back and forth from your source of water. Secondly, you’ll be needing more trips to the bathroom, which means more steps! If you add in our first suggestion of taking the stairs and use a bathroom on another floor, you’ll be well on your way to attaining your 30 minutes a day. You’ll also get the benefits of the additional water in take. It’s win-win-win. If you wear a Fitbit Versa, you can use the app to record everything from your stair climbs, distance travelled, calories burned, steps taken and even water intake.

On your days off

Cut some shapes

Before you think about opening that beer or packet of crisps in front of a film, consider having a dance about. 30 minutes works out to be around 8 songs and 150 calories burned. Make a playlist that will get you moving. Don’t worry about being a good dancer, there’s no requirement for that here, just have a good time and let it all go. It’ll boost your mood, too! 

Make it a date

If you’re on the dating scene, you can easily get cardio in. Get your mind out of the gutter, we mean ditch those calorific dinners for a hike, walk in the park or stroll around your neighbourhood. You can get to know one another as you walk and talk. 

You could try something more athletic like a tennis match, which would earn you 200 calories in your 30 minute slot. If you’re hardcore, an hour of spin burns around 700 calories. If you’re both gym buddies, why not spot each other? There are so many options to up your dating game and sneak in some cardio.

If you like the idea of a hike, you could utilise one of the five best altimeter smartwatches that we recommend in this article, here.

Make a game of it

Exergames are a thing. Think Wii Fit or Xbox Fitness. These clever things force us to use cardio techniques to play the game. It sure beats sitting down. Be mindful of what activity you do, though. A 30 minute session of yoga on the Wii doesn’t burn as many calories as you might like. To stay in the know of your calorie burn, we recommend a simple fitness tracker like the Miss Vapor X, which we’ve reviewed for you.

Out and about

out and about

Change up periods of inactivity

Here’s a novel idea you might not have considered. Are you stuck at an airport waiting on a delayed flight? Airports tend to be huge. Go for a walk! You’ll easily use up 30 minutes just exploring the stores. With the Diesel On Full Guard 2.5, you don’t have to worry about missing your flight. Use the microphone and Google Assistant to set yourself a reminder for when to head back to your gate.

Save your fuel

Save money on fuel by walking or cycling to where you need to be. Driving can be stressful whereas walking can really clear your head. Another win-win situation. Walking for 30 minutes can burn around 150 – 200 calories and will take you into that moderate-intensity range which is great for your heart.

Chores are an opportunity for cardio 

Time for a clean

If you think you don’t have time to fit in 30 minutes of cardio a day because you have too many chores, did you consider your chores could count for those 30 minutes?

30 minutes of deep clean housework will burn up to 100 calories. If you’ve got jobs to do outside, this counts too. Gardening and doing things like raking leaves can burn just over 100 calories in the same time. Plus, you get the benefits that come with being outside. You can time and monitor your calorie burn during this period using apps like MyFitnessPal, which sync brilliantly with fitness trackers like the Fitbit Flex.

Don’t park so close

If your chores include errands then don’t park as close to the store. Park at the back and walk the additional distance. 

Don’t be so efficient

If you’re out shopping, don’t plan a route around the store that gets you only to the items you need in the fastest possible way. There’s nothing wrong with doing several laps around the store. This will knock your step count up and you might not forget something you needed if you pass it two or three times!

Carrying the basket can burn up to 50 calories in just five minutes. If you have a smartwatch with NFC compatibility, like the 4th Gen Fossil Explorist, you can use it to see how many steps you’ve taken during your trip and then pay for your items when you’re done!

Summary

We hope you’ve learned that you don’t need an expensive gym membership or even necessarily more hours int he day to fit cardio into your day! Simple changes can really add up to achieve that goal of 150 minutes a week. Pair this with the features of a handy smartwatch or fitness tracker and you’re destined for success.

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