2013-09-30
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to try to defend the fitness industry from itself. We are full of odd, inaccurate terms such as “toning”, “firming”, “muscle memory”, etc. However, we are almost as equally as guilty in turning really important concepts into buzz words. Concepts like “core training” and “functional training” have become common place, but that doesn’t automatically make them the infamous “buzz words”. The greater issue with these types of concepts is a MISUNDERSTANDING of what they actually mean.
Both “core training” and “functional training” are really important concepts to appreciate and understand how they work in your fitness program. I could write quite a bit on both subjects, but I really wanted to focus on “functional training” because it continues to be such an interesting topic and I often hear it used without much clarification.
In order to really appreciate functional training you have to realize that it really gained steam as fitness was largely being dominated by big gyms with extravagant machine circuits. Heck, I remember my very first job in the fitness industry around 18 or 19 was showing members of a commercial gym how to set-up the machine circuits.
Functional training came about because coaches from the sports world saw how machine training was not having the carry over to both performance and everyday life like we thought. The idea of machines being “safer” was actually what was making them the exact opposite. Machines made our bodies dumber because our bodies didn’t have to learn how to coordinate movement, how to stabilize, how to integrate.
That is why I often tell young coaches that functional training is not a buzz word whatsoever. It isn’t an exact methodology either though, it is a PHILOSOPHY of training. What do I mean?
If I refer to sprint training, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, heck, even Crossfit, you expect to see certain exercises, certain programming, etc. However, functional training can mean a lot of different methods, but it is chasing the same goal. Renown physical therapist, Gray Cook, says functional training is about carryover and hard to argue. Yet, I do think it is a bit vague still.
In DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training I found functional training to be another way of talking about connection. Learning how to connect the body to itself. Huh?
I remember I fell in love with the idea of “sandbag training” at first because it FORCED your body to learn how to coordinate movement and muscles. If you didn’t know how to connect one part of the body to another, you simply couldn’t perform the exercise.
However, even I found “sandbag training” to be a bit limited in this aspect. Outside of the implement being unstable, was there that much more we could use sandbags to continue this concept of making connections?
I like to believe a large part of DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training is about making those connections. The way we move from stable to unstable exercises is constantly trying to challenge the way our body connects. The question still exists, why should you care?
While most of the industry still talk about muscles, we are finding trying to better and better connect the body is a far more effective and efficient means in moving towards our fitness goals.
This just isn’t theory, but happening time and time again in real life.
How is it we can use a drill like DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training Kneeling Around the Worlds to improve hamstring flexibility better than stretching? Connections!
How is it we are able to see the calories burned and the heart rate higher in DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training workouts greater than any other fitness program? Connections!
How are we able to see people with great challenges like neurological issues improve to such a great degree with DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training? Connections!
You see whether your goal is increasing your flexibility, strength, power, or even fat loss, learning how to connect your body to itself is how you accomplish these goals. That is why I truly believe DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training provides something totally unique because of all the different means in which we can try to enhance these connections.
You don’t have to take my word for it, you can hear it from a DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training user himself!
“In my personal experience as someone who struggles with motor control issues, suspension training and DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training (with modifications to various exercises) are the safest and most effective forms of strength training out there for people like this. “-Sean R.
That is why I want you to watch our DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training videos a bit differently than you may have in the past. Don’t just see the cool DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training drills, or the ones that seem a bit different. Try to really see how we are progressing movement to create these connections and to identify when we are missing these connections as well!
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