Functional training

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Functional training is an everyday-relevant and cross-sport form of training. It includes complex sequences of movements that stress several joints and muscle groups at the same time. It has found its way into various fields of activity.

Definition of terms

“Movements that only use a single muscle in isolation can be described as non-functional. Functional forms of movement always integrate several muscles and muscle groups at the same time. ”( Gambetta and Gray 2002 : Michael Boyle: Functional Training. P. 11). Basically, movements are trained instead of individual muscles. This is in contrast to traditional strength training , in which a large part of the exercises are often performed on equipment in order to isolate the muscles or muscle groups to be targeted. If you look at the movements of people in everyday (sports) life, it is noticeable that almost no movement is restricted to just one joint. Thus, against the background of functional training, it would be inexpedient to target only one specific muscle group when an entire muscle chain consisting of a large number of muscles is involved. The well-known American physiotherapist Gary Gray also takes this into account, who revolutionized the way of thinking about functional training with his view of muscle function during movement. Even advocates of core training , as an essential part of functional training, assume that only stable core muscles can effectively transfer force to the extremities and thus the entire activated muscle chain. In the textbook "Trainer for functional training", functional training based on Boyle (2002) and DR. WASTL (2014) is defined as follows: "Functional training aims at a process of change in the psyche or body through systematic, planned and regular repetition in order to be able to provide a certain sporting or everyday performance that is dependent on or is closely related to individual or several influencing factors. It is controlled with the help of various methods and relies on the use of several muscles and muscle groups so that it can be used across sports, across different levels and gender-specifically. "DÖHNERT, A. (2014)

history

The origins of functional training can be found in the rehabilitation of injuries and illnesses. Physiotherapists were able to attend advanced training courses on active and holistic functional movement therapy from Susanne Klein-Vogelbach (Switzerland) as early as the 1980s . In addition, functional training has been used successfully in top-class sport for a long time in the USA . Mark Verstegen was one of the first to develop a new training concept called core training on this subject in 1996 . Even Vern Gambetta and Gary Gray were with their numerous publications on this topic paving the way for the success of functional training.

Training principles

“Functional training programs intentionally put the athlete in an unstable position. The athlete must react and restore stability with targeted movements. ”( Gambetta and Gray 2002 : Michael Boyle: functional training, p. 13). It mainly consists of exercises in which the athlete works with his own body weight as resistance. The exercise itself, unstable or unstable surfaces or an external stimulus (e.g. trainer) creates an unstable equilibrium situation in which the athlete has to stabilize or balance himself. However, this unstable situation must be applied in a progressive manner. This means that the exercises gradually become more complex and difficult. The prerequisite for this is knowledge of the current level of performance of the person exercising, because it makes a difference whether a patient experiences functional training after an injury or an athlete in the high-performance phase. Since balance should be trained very specifically to ensure transfer effects in everyday life or the sport, it requires an exact analysis of the movements and thus the muscle loops that should be primarily trained. Functional training does not only aim to increase performance, but also to be holistic. The exercise selection should therefore strength , explosive strength , balance , stability, flexibility and stamina improve. In addition, it is important to ensure that there is an appropriate balance between impact and traction, as well as between knee and hip-dominant hip extension, e.g. the strength of the front and rear thigh muscles.

Athlete doing functional training

Training equipment

There are many training utensils that can set a new stimulus through their nature or their use. A distinction is made between unstable and unstable pads for balance training of the lower extremity and various small devices that enable training of the upper extremity under instability. Some examples are:

- tube - Theraband
- Unstable and unstable documents - Propriomed
- Kettlebell (Kettlebell) - dumbbell
- Posturomed - Torsiomed
- Head of coordination - sandbag (sandbag, sandpad)
- exercise ball - Cable pull
- sling trainer (Slingtrainer) - Sandpad
- barbell (barbell) - Smashbell (sand-filled kettlebell)

ground

The instability of the floor or the underlay is not only interesting as a training incentive. Since, especially in functional training, you work a lot while standing, in support positions and with jumps, cushioning is also extremely important. A suitable floor should give the trainee support as well as cushion weight. The Aktion Gesunderback eV (AGR) writes: “During functional training, so-called passively occurring force peaks occur again and again. Only a good surface can optimally compensate for this burden on the body. This is especially true for beginners or those returning to sports whose muscles are not yet well developed. "

Goals and practical areas of application

Used correctly, people of all ages and levels can benefit from functional training. It has now found its way into many training areas. The objectives are to increase, maintain and regain performance, increase core stability, improve balance, flexibility, stabilization in general as well as joints, coordination and economization of movements. However, functional training was originally used in patient rehabilitation. Functional training gained the greatest importance in Germany through the cooperation between Jürgen Klinsmann and the American fitness trainer Mark Verstegen to prepare the German national soccer team for the 2006 World Cup. Functional training can make an important contribution to injury prevention in competitive sports by developing specific strength and balance that is necessary to be protected as well as possible from injuries in extreme stressful situations. In recent years, functional training has been in the fitness industry gained in importance and now also moving into the width held and recreational sports. Another important field of activity is personal training. Many training concepts in this area are fundamentally based on the principles of functional training. There are over 300 different exercises that are performed in functional training. Beginners are advised to have a competent person show them the exact sequence of movements, as incorrect posture could cause more damage, especially in the lower back area.

controversy

In recent years, more and more new approaches have been developed to make the training of athletes more functional and thus to protect them from excessive and improper stress. In the course of this, the discussion arose as to how functional training should be defined at all. The pioneers of functional training took the position that such training should always be done standing up and that several areas to be trained must address at the same time. However, other followers of this form of training began to do exercises with their athletes that appeared to be apparently nonfunctional. The discrepancy arose due to the different demands on the athletes, which are defined by the sport they practice. Stabilizing exercises look different from those that are primarily intended to improve mobility . Thus, functionality depends entirely on the respective training goal. The view that every functional exercise must be “ground-based” (a closed system) is long out of date. Studies have shown beyond doubt that many stabilizing muscle groups (deep abdominal muscles , hip abductors , hip rotators and shoulder blade stabilizers ) require simple movements with a small execution amplitude in order to be addressed appropriately and as closely as possible to everyday life. This led to the consensus that although a large part of the exercises in functional training are done standing and involve several muscle groups, important stabilizing muscle groups can also be trained in isolation.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Monika Stoecklin: Functional Training (FT): - History, characteristics, possibilities and limits. 2013 ( online , PDF).
  2. ↑ a b c d Michael Boyle: Functional Training. 2010.
  3. ↑ http://www.agr-ev.de/de/geprueft-und-empfohlen/produkte/605-bodenbelaege-fuer-functional-training
  4. ↑ Michael Boyle: Functional Training. 2010, p. 14ff.