What does it mean to be functionally fit? - Editorial

American Fitness, March-April, 2002 by Meg Jordan

Functional fitness is the ability to perform daily activities with ease. To be functionally fit means your body can handle a wide range of physical challenges without undue strain or injury. Furthermore, it's a feeling that goes beyond the physical dimension of wellness because it produces a confidence that spills over to other areas of your life.

Functional fitness means you can count on your body. You can lift two bags of groceries and place them in the trunk of your car without slipping a disc, balance on a stepladder while getting heavy boxes off the top shelf, open a pickle jar tightened by Godzilla or struggle to open a hotel room door while lugging your laptop computer and a couple of suitcases--you get the picture.

Your ability to bend, push, pull, lift and drag is dependent on the number of muscle fibers you can contract at one time. Nothing increases strength like good old resistance training. Compared to the relatively narrow focus of conventional weight training, functional fitness is a symphony of action that requires a synchronous movement of muscles, tendons, ligaments and joint actions, guided by a host of neuromuscular messages.

The degree of functional fitness varies among individuals and can fluctuate from person to person. For example, I know a 70-year old grandmother who wants to gain renewed strength to get through her daily grind--which has stepped up beyond her tasks of 10 years ago. Now, she is caretaker of her daughter's two pre-school aged children and volunteers as a literacy mentor. After living a rather cushy lifestyle with nominal physical challenges for several decades, she now carries a load of library books back and forth to a youth center, where she delivers enough energy to spellbind a room full of teens.

Judging from the trends analysis of club participation, she is the client of the future. Seniors are interested in maintaining and improving functional capacity than any other age group. Her functional fitness prescription should address upper body strength along with a good dose of muscular endurance. She is now lifting more weight and her motor units are expected to recruit 800 fibers per nerve, up from a low 100. Do you know what can get her through her daily challenges? Do you know how to help her feel confident about counting on her body?

I'm searching for equipment and fitness programs that address functional fitness for the senior exerciser. Lately, I've been impressed by the way innovative exercise specialists and manufacturers are tackling this growing market. One of the best approaches is Star Trac's Thruster[TM], co-developed by trainer Jay Blahnick. This machine moves your body through a series of simple calisthenics and associated stretches, such as push-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges and dips.

I think it's time we dusted off the tried-and-true, never-say-die calisthenics. Calisthenics are simple, time-efficient, highly underrated exercises that provide results within a short amount of time. Also, they can be helpful for people who are tired of watching their lean muscle mass shrink every year. However, the problem with calisthenics have been they require lifting almost your full body weight and are too difficult for the deconditioned clients to perform. Plus, there are other innovative methods, designed by personal trainers to improve functional fitness. Let's hear from you--send in your stories and we'll publish a round-up of ideas in the next Professional Edge.

Love,

Mes