What Is Functional Fitness and Why Is It Key for Healthy Aging?

Functional fitness is becoming a popular term in health and wellness, and for good reason.

It’s an approach to exercise that focuses on training your body for the movements you perform in everyday life.

As we age, maintaining the ability to perform daily tasks becomes crucial, and functional fitness offers a direct path to achieving that goal.

Charlotte Stier, a physical therapist with the Good Samaritan Society, explains that functional fitness is about exercises that directly translate into your daily activities, whether that's putting dishes away in a high cabinet, lifting a grandchild, or simply getting up from a chair.

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How Is Functional Fitness Different from a Traditional Workout?

A traditional gym workout often isolates specific muscle groups, like doing bicep curls or leg extensions.

Functional fitness, on the other hand, typically incorporates whole-body movements that mimic real-life actions.

"Functional fitness, you’re looking at what movements do we need to incorporate to make squatting down to use the restroom per se," Stier explains.

Instead of just strengthening the quads, you practice the entire squatting motion, working on form, strength, speed, and coordination all at once.

This doesn't replace traditional strength training but can be integrated with it to create a more holistic routine.

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Why Is It So Beneficial for Seniors?

As people get older, their fitness goals often shift. "Seniors typically don’t care about how much weight they can lift," says Stier.

"They care about, can they lift their grandchildren up into the air? Can they put dishes away into their high cabinet?"

Functional fitness addresses these practical goals directly. For example, to help someone lift their grandchild, a physical therapist might train them in a "thruster" motion—squatting down to pick something up and then lifting it overhead.

This specific movement directly prepares the body for the desired activity. Another common issue for older adults is balance, which can decline due to changes in vision, the inner ear (vestibular system), and nerve function. Functional fitness helps improve balance and stability, reducing the risk of falls.

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Key Functional Fitness Movements

While exercises are always tailored to an individual's goals, some movements are universally beneficial.

• The Squat: This is one of the most important functional movements, as we do it constantly when sitting and standing.
  
  
• Overhead Lifting: This helps maintain shoulder health and strength, which is vital for tasks like reaching for items on high shelves.
  
  
• Combined Movements: A "thruster" (a squat combined with an overhead press) is a favorite of Stier’s because it combines lower-body strength with upper-body movement, mimicking many real-world activities.
  
  

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Can You Do Functional Fitness on Your Own?

While it might be tempting to look up exercises online, Stier advises working with an expert, like a physical therapist or a qualified personal trainer.

"It’s very hard to see where your specific weaknesses are," she says. An expert can teach you how to perform movements safely and correctly, reducing the risk of injury.

They can also provide modifications based on your abilities, ensuring that anyone can participate regardless of physical limitations.

Ultimately, functional fitness is an accessible and highly effective way for people of all ages to improve their quality of life. As Stier puts it, "It really is important, especially as you age, because you might not have the capabilities that you did when you were younger."

Source: sanfordhealth

The opinions shared in the GymNation blog articles are solely those of the respective authors and may not represent the perspectives of GymNation or any member of the GymNation team.