As its name indicates, the type of functional training is a methodology that allows you to work different parts of the body to develop or improve the functionality and performance of a specific area, a muscle or to achieve a certain movement for a sport or physical activity. The exercises designed for this training are in accordance with achieving a goal in a practical and useful way and, in addition, they are suitable to be adapted to different ages.
It is a type of training that involves the whole body: lower body, core and upper body, facilitating balance, stability, strength and the sense that informs the body of the position of the muscles in the athlete.
It is important to note that in order to achieve a good execution of these exercises, it is essential that they are supervised by certified coaches or athletes who can, according to their knowledge, correct and recommend the indicated routines for the objectives to be achieved in the short, medium or long term.
There are different types of benefits that characterize this physical activity and that make it popular today and preferred over other workouts. Here are some of these many benefits:
- Functional training is developed in a very complete way, as it is ideal for strengthening the muscles, as well as for eliminating excess fat deposits.
- Supports health
- Improves mobility.
- You can burn fat with functional training, so combined with a diet to lose weight, you can lose weight.
- It can be practiced by men and women of any age, as long as it is designed in a personalized way to take care of the requirements that each person demands.
- It can be practiced in open places, closed places, in small or spacious places. It is also perfect to be practiced at home.
- You can exercise without the need to go to a gym or use workout equipment or materials.
To have an optimal result in terms of strengthening or defining the body, it is recommended to work all the muscles of the body, but on different days to allow that on those rest days in which the same muscle is not worked, directly, it can oxygenate and recover. For example: Monday, full body; Tuesday, biceps and triceps; Wednesday, quadriceps and hamstrings; Thursday, back and shoulders; and, Friday, buttocks and hips. This is a simple example to offer an idea, but each trainer knows the specific requirements you need to carry out your training.
Based on this idea, we share with you a practical and simple routine that you can execute from home and without the use of exercise equipment.
It must be remembered that before and after carrying out any routine it is vitally important to stretch the muscles of the body to avoid injuries.
Body part to work: focused on legs and cardio
Duration: between 35 and 45 minutes
Circuit of 7 exercises / 4 sets / 20 each
At the end of the 7 exercises, rest for 1 minute and repeat the circuit until you do the 4 sets.
Explanation of the circuit:
1) Squats
The squat is a movement that starts standing, facing forward and with your back straight, while your feet are shoulder-width apart.
2) Lunge
With lunges you will work several muscle groups; from the quadriceps to the glutes to the hamstrings.
Also, although to a lesser extent, you will exercise your abdominal muscle, necessary to maintain balance in a complex exercise, but which is a basic of fitness.
3) Knee raises
To properly execute knee raises, we must place our feet hip-width apart and with our arms close to the body, being able to separate the forearms significantly from the torso.
We will raise the left knee towards the chest, exhaling and contracting the abdominals; and at the same time, we will bend our elbows and bring our fists in front of our shoulders. We will return, again, to the starting position and repeat with the right leg to complete 1 repetition.
4) Walking lunge
This version involves a slightly different movement to move forward. In the first phase of the Lunge Walk, you focus on your glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps on the leg that steps forward. At this point, the muscles of the back leg are not fully engaged, but, instead, stability and balance are used
5) Sumo Squat
In sumo squats, the position of the legs is different, since the feet instead of being shoulder-width apart, will point forward as in the traditional squat, the posture should be wide and with the toes open at an angle.
6) Mountain climber
The way to execute the exercise will be simple, since we will stand with our hands resting on the floor, so that our arms are stretched. It must be kept in mind that during the exercise this will be an important point of support, because only the arms will serve to hold us, they will not act in the exercise, because it will be the legs that will do it. In this posture we will try to keep the head in front, the back straight.
7) Burpee
It is a classic cardiovascular exercise. It is used to measure cardiovascular endurance, in addition to involving different muscle groups, so it is a very complete exercise. It also has the great advantage that it does not need any material at all: the floor is enough.
We hope that the following routine has been helpful and that, from now on, you can put functional training into practice from home to have a more active and healthy life.
