Functional fitness....

I may just source a tractor tyre for my back garden....hmmm

Functional Fitness, most people have never heard of it and it may sound very odd.
Basically it is about training your body to deal with real life situations. It's linking fitness to real functions and is designed to reflect movements and functions found in everyday life....pulling a sled...chopping wood etc.

Functional fitness and functional exercise are the latest gym buzzwords. They focus on building a body capable of doing real-life activities in real-life positions, not just lifting a certain amount of weight in an idealised posture created by a gym machine.
Just for example.....yesterday you had a great session at the gym. You're bench-pressing more weight than ever before, and pulling enough weight on the seated rowing machine to try out for a top rowing team....feeling pretty chuffed with yourself....

Today, you attempt to lift a 20 kg suitcase to carry it downstairs... and pull your back *ouch*  What happened? In all likelihood, you're not paying enough attention to your functional fitness. You might be toned, tight, and ready for the beach, but is your training functional as in functional for everyday life. Are you ready to lift your baby/toddler out of their car seat or lift a box from the floor?

You're probably thinking, “What’s the point of that... I’ll never have any need to chop wood or pull a sled?”

But the great thing about functional fitness is that you use ordinary objects found around the home or the garage. You don’t need expensive equipment or a fancy gym to get fit. A sledgehammer is not only much cheaper than a cable machine, but you might actually be able to use it for other tasks as well...like smashing your old furniture up for fire-wood! I've just remember that my Mother's old dining room table is still sitting in her back garden..that could be project no.1 for me :)

Functional fitness is a simpler approach to fitness. The point is to get fit, not to spend lots of money on machines and gym memberships. Functional fitness practitioners use simple and versatile equipment like the skipping rope, kettlebells or home-made sandbags. 

Practitioners of functional fitness enjoy training outside or in a fairly basic indoor environment...clear out that garage.  Simple and functional environments are appreciated as much as simple and functional equipment.

We are fortunate to have a large (sometimes I think too bloody large) back garden..we're not overlooked..we have the bells..we have the skipping rope..we have a 13' trampoline..the fine weather is coming in..and Derms might make me a present of a tractor tyre..? I think it may be time to start with our functional fitness at no. 36..