Functional Strength For Everyday Movement

Functional strength is vital for seniors in Calgary, Canada. It benefits people of all ages. It improves the strength you need to do the movements you use for everyday tasks. It helps prevent injury when doing something as simple as tying your shoes or picking up a bag of groceries. Without functional strength, you can throw out your back by tripping, catching yourself, but not falling. The quick twist of the body might be enough to trigger a painful injury. Building strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance helps you avoid those issues and allows seniors to live independently longer.

Core strength is one key to functional fitness.

A strong core improves balance and helps prevent falls. It also builds the muscles of the back and abdomen, so bending over, picking up lighter weights, or making an awkward movement, like tripping but not falling, won’t pull a muscle or cause lingering pain. Strong back and abdominal muscles help you balance to prevent falls. They work together to improve your posture. That gives you more energy. Your posture and balance require less energy used for struggling to remain standing with each step.

See how strong your muscles are.

Take a test to see if you have the muscle strength in your legs to be functionally fit. Sit in a straight-back chair without rollers that’s secure. Place one foot on the floor and point the other straight ahead. If you’re functionally fit, you get out of a chair by pushing up with the foot on the floor and without using the other leg or your hands. A strong lower body helps you get up and sit down with ease. That makes toileting, rising from a sitting position, and getting out of bed easier. Building lower body strength is vital.

Functional fitness exercises help multiple muscle groups work in synergy.

Improving functional movements boosts movement efficiency. That benefits everyone, from seniors to children. It’s as vital to the most out of shape as it is to the athlete, who it helps function better in competition. Like any exercise, exercises that boost functional fitness also burn extra calories to boost weight loss, improve aerobic conditioning, and build lean muscle mass.

• One definition of functional training is those exercises you perform with your feet in contact with the ground that doesn’t include a machine. Others describe it as working the muscles to get up off the floor, put something on a shelf, or carry a heavy object.
• Besides increasing strength, functional fitness aids balance, endurance, and flexibility. You may already do many of these exercises, such as the squat, plank, wall squat, or lunge.
• If you don’t get to the gym, work on functional fitness throughout the day. Do short sessions of walking lunges, squats, or single-legged, backward-leg lifts.
• Doing functional strength workouts can also help you lose weight. Always check with your healthcare professional before starting any fitness program, especially if you have a health condition.

For more information, contact us today at Get RIPPED! by Jari Love