How Functional Are You?

It has been some time since I have been to educational seminars. Lately I have been disappointed with any sort of innovation that coaches have come up with. Often it seems that old ideas are rehashed or new techniques are promoted simply as “circus tricks” rather than well established training methods.

Surprisingly enough even elite coaches have flipped flopped on ideas within short amounts of time. It should not surprise anyone that the general public suffers from a lot of confusion when there is about equal confusion among fitness professionals.

Trust me I understand evolution, in fact, it is something I have been going through lately with my own personal training. There are many components of my training that I feel very strongly in, however, there are others that I feel can make significant improvements.

One aspect is focusing on movement sophistication. Some coaches may say they do this, while others prefer to focus their time on maximal strength. Let’s look a little deeper into these two ideas.

Movement Sophistication:

Some coaches may think of this as functional or multi-planar movement, but it goes much deeper. First, one must attain proper alignment, this may sound simple and very basic. Yet, I find that very few coaches actually teach how to align the body in basic positions. This does not only begin with the focus on how one stands, but where they hold tension and relaxation in the body. This will also include issues of weight distribution and breathing patterns. Even if some coaches teach these fundamentals they do little to reinforce them during the actual movement.

Most coaches focus on training with good exercises and great equipment, but completely ignored this concept. The result of the training program is greatly compromised and the ideal results are never achieved. Why? Because the foundation of movement skill development where ignored. This can often lead to muscle imbalances, incorrect movement patterns, and inefficient movement. Not ideal for increased performance and well-being. Remember, most of us think of our favorite athletes in motion, when they are graceful and efficient typically not them lifting in the weight room.

My idea of functional movement is the ability to maintain perfect alignment during complex movements during high speeds. This is generally when you will see a break down in alignment skills. Additionally, it is crucial to determine the termination of the a drill because you are no longer able to hold these correct postures.

Most people work way beyond this point and only encourage bad habits. Again, the beginning of potential injuries and poor movement skills. In other words, becoming more injury prone along with being weaker and having poor endurance.

I was happy to learn some great ideas on proper alignment training through strength coach, Jon Hinds. Coach Hinds has been working with athletes for over 25 years, along this time he has created a great means to reinforce these concepts. Recently I was able to learn these ideas from Coach Hinds and found them very applicable in instantly producing better results and identifying improper movement habits that have been built in. To learn more I encourage you to visit his great program at

http://tinyurl.com/5upyhq



Coach Hinds has a great series of DVDs on movement skills and getting the most out of your training. Most of us have become maximal strength obsessed while ignoring most of the fundamental concepts of athletic development.

Next time we will explore the idea of adding sophistication to those movements that you master alignment with. This truly opens your athletic potential.