What is "Functional Strength?"

Like “core strength,” functional strength seems like the rage these days. In reality, it has been around for a long time; but now, it’s widely recognized that functional strength training is a direct path to greater fitness and health for all ages.

A “functional” strength exercise is one that translates directly to a specific sport or daily movement – i.e., strength that you can use in your daily activities. Professional athletes and dancers have been using this principle for centuries: If you dance ballet, then you spend hours strengthening the specific muscles and movements used in ballet.

Here’s an exercise sequence that trains your quads, hip flexors, arms, shoulders and core all at once, in a way that translates to swimming and running. For triathlon training, start light and work up to medium resistance (such as weights, ball, or stretch cord).

1. Stand holding a medicine ball or weight. Step the left leg back into a reverse lunge, and lift the ball straight overhead.
2. Bring the ball down and step together.
3. Lunge again and lift the ball up and to the left. Step together.
4. Lunge and lift the ball up and to the right.

Repeat the sequence with the right leg. Do 3-5 rounds on each leg.

In the latter half of the 20^th century, weight-lifting went mainstream, with Gold’s Gym popping up everywhere. “Weight training” generally meant heavy lifting that added bulk to the body, and some guys really started puffing their chests out. Meanwhile, women donned leg warmers and did Jane Fonda-esque aerobics and leg lifts – all great exercises, but largely lacking the benefits of resistance (weighted) training.

The perfect balance for most people is somewhere in between. As triathletes, we’d ideally spend a moderate amount of time each week doing strength work that makes us stronger swimmers, runners and cyclists. Two well-planned, 45-minute workouts are plenty – no need to live in the gym! This includes stretching and flexibility, of course. (For flexibility and core activation, yoga is a great complement to triathlon.)

There’s also suspension training, which uses gravity and your body weight as resistance. With these moves, no extra weight is required – they’re already challenging and effective.

TRX is one popular suspension training system. (I use this in my home gym, and with clients.) The TRX advertisement above shows how certain exercises translate to surfing strength. Suspension training can also be highly efficient; I’ve designed triathlon-specific TRX routines that can cover the whole body in 30 minutes!