The human body is a highly complex, intricately integrated mechanical system. Its essential parts are muscle, bone, connective tissue, nerves and more. No one element works in isolation.

Functional training starts with that fact and then develops around another, equally important set of facts. Our bodies become attuned to the demands we place upon them, no matter whether we are totally sedentary or extreme athletes. Likewise, they adapt to the specific demands of our activities. So, competitive swimmers develop massive upper body strength and immense lung capacity while distance runners become lean and wiry and middleweight boxers develop lightning hand speed and cat-like agility.

Each is functionally trained, That is, each has trained his or her entire physical system to meet the most extreme demands of their activity.

Consider, for example, how a pitcher or golfer might train functionally. Both require a blend of powerful arm and shoulder strength and exquisite coordination. Endless dumbell reps might build strength in isolated arm muscles, but would not give much of a boost to the pitcher’s fastball or add yardage to a tee shot. Functional training, on the other hand, would build strength via resistance training that replicates the golfer’s swing or the pitcher’s motion on a cable system. That would strengthen arm muscles while tuning each athlete’s shoulders, back, abdominal and leg muscles, connective tissue and skeletal system while reinforcing the coordinated motion a pitch or swing. In brief, a complete, demanding and realistic work out.

Perhaps more simply, think of the difference between a bench press and a pushup. In a bench press, you work chest muscles, the front of the shoulders and the triceps from a prone bench position. You do the same in a in a pushup while your entire physical system works to attain balance and stability – that is, to hold itself still while doing the exercise.

All that movement starts, at the core – in the stomach, or the abdominal muscles – your abs. It is the integration of all of the muscles of the midsection that enable us to hold still at the center, and then transfer movement to the other parts of the body. With a pushup, you are working the muscle around the shoulder while the upper body, hips, and legs are working hard to stay still and in control as you move. It is functional because your body has “learned” to do more than push weight around and learned it in the way the body naturally works.

That’s functional training as defined by ACCUA advanced fitness training.