Why You Are Missing Real Strength Training

Coming up on our 15th year of teaching DVRT, I get excited to start talking more and more where our functional strength training goes. Of course it is always a tough balance helping people know where to start, but also getting them to know where they can go with our unique system of functional strength training.

Why do I keep saying “functional” strength training? Is it because we are trying to replicate what we do in life? Is it that I am trying to sell you something abstract and “cool”? No way! We often forget that there is a specific way that our body is designed to function. As I have said many times, if you don’t know how something works, it really is difficult to make them better.

That is why I brought in some heavy hitters this past week in Physical Therapists Jessica Bento and Dan Swinscoe who explain that our movement is more than this or that muscle being strong. One of the concepts of functional strength training that is so foundational is planes of motion. I talked about many of those concepts HERE, but I wanted to expand really on the idea of frontal plane strength.

Why? Is it JUST to do something different? Is it more than doing a lateral lunge and side plank here and there?

Learning to be strong in lateral motion is key for the following:

➡️Higher ground reaction forces the body can create during running.

➡️Improved ability to absorb forces (greater resiliency).

➡️Becoming more efficient at movements so you can fatigue slower.

➡️Reducing risk of ITBand, plantar fasciitis , and low back pain

➡️Trains all six gluteal muscles for full strength and development of the glutei.

DVRT Master, Steve Holiner, breaks down how we start to build success in the frontal plane hip hinge progressions. 

With all the good stuff about frontal plane training, most people forget that we can both RESIST and move THROUGH the frontal plane. What Steve shows above is how we move through the frontal plane, but learning to resist it actually should be a foundation we build in our strength training. We also tend to forget that frontal plane work doesn’t work JUST for lunges and so forth. The fact is just like any good form of strength training, it can be used for ANY human movement pattern.

That means our squats, our pressing, our pulling, etc. should ALL have frontal plane components. How do we do that? We tried to simplify these ideas of DVRT strength training by focusing on load position and body position concepts. If you watch what DVRT Master, Greg Perlaki, shows below, they are all frontal plane pressing exercises. Not ONCE is Greg moving through the frontal plane, but resisting it! Being half kneeling or hovering, or using the Arc Press, this is the body learning to work frontal plane in a pressing movement.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3rjNZRnOAk/

The point is that we can take lessons we learn from a side plank, but put them in far more dynamic exercises. Below I show hinging, rowing, pushing, and squatting implementing these concepts. It is not only doable, but important to us maximizing what people can do in their strength training. Making fitness not only smarter, but more effective is so what we want people to feel with our DVRT strength training principles. Not only does your fitness library get bigger, but becomes a stronger tool in developing superior solutions.

Want to find out more about how we are changing how people see strength training? Save 30% on our functional fitness tools, workout programs, and online certifications with code “fall” HERE