Why do so many gyms focus on functional training during Personal Training sessions?

I was around when the functional movement began more than a dozen years ago. The basic idea is to perform repetitions of exercises that mimic movements the human body performs either day to day as in "activities of daily living" (aka "ADL") such as squats which we perform every time we get in or out of a chair, up to more complex movements such as doing a one-arm balance row on one leg which mimics actions like reaching out to pick something up off the floor that may have rolled almost out of reach, or someone who has a big dog that often pulls their owner, throwing them off balance.
Functional exercises also help improve balance and agility. If you have a client that is a recreational athlete, it will greatly improve their performance to mimic the sports motions from various angles with resistance. Using the ViPR for core chops has significantly improved one of my student's tennis game. Jump squats help improve the performance of beach volleyball and basketball players. If it improves the functionality (or performance) of your clients' or students' movements, then it is functional training. And as mentioned above, helps prevent injury as the body is more prepared for the unexpected (that's why balance exercises are so popular).
In basic terms, as a physical therapist once told me a long time ago (phys. therapy is where this whole movement began, incidentally), while I was rehabbing from knee tendonitis, "don't waste your time on seated leg extensions, that's not functional, your body never does that movement in real life, except in a gym on a machine..." In other words, there are exercises that just work the muscles from an aesthetic perspective, like dumbbell presses on a bench, then there are exercises that serve a purpose and may come in handy someday, like push ups. Both work your chest, but one is functional and the other is not.

There is no one stop shopping in the fitness world. I believe in mixing it up, yes functional training has its place along with all of the other amazing creative ways to workout.
If a trainer is true to his or her client, the program design will fit the needs of the client.

Establishing a strong base and foundation along with being specific will help you decide what modality will best work for your client.


Also, there is no one size fits all training, it's called "personal" for a reason!

By functional training do you mean the use of bodyweight and small equipment training? If this is the case I believe the reason it is so popular is because most people with a gym membership are not educated on beginner, foundation exercises. The small equipment and body exercises used in functional training strategically target specific muscle groups to improve strength, flexibility, and endurance to prepare for more efficient cardiovascular and resistance training. This prevents injury and invigorates the nervous system so the body works as one unit for more effective results. I believe functional training can be beneficial in any program, but some may require it more than others depending on their goals, genetics, skill level etc.

Celso, the term functional training is being thrown around just like the term core training is. Functional Training is not going to be all non weight exercises, using cable machines can be considered functional training as well. It will come down to the client and finding the best way to meet their needs in terms of training, rehab, prevention, etc.

/Disagree.

Personally I wouldn't stress functional training. I stress whatever I believe would best benefit the client. For most people strait cardio/ weight bearing is the best way to go. Only when with athletes do I think functional training is the best.

Functional training is exercising to help the client perform his or her daily activities or movements to help them perform better. Whether it is to help a young athlete jump higher, help person in rehabilitate from a recent injury, or a to help senior citizen increase balance, this type of training my vary widely according to your clients specific needs. The majority of functional training is focused on improving balance, core, and total body mobility and awareness to make movement easier and more efficient.

I agree personal should be the main point of training. Weight bearing exercise should not be neglected. CardiO work should not be neglected either. Changing it up is also important but the time tested methods are cardio and weight bearing exercises. I undersand that functional training is better for older and arthritis patients or rehab patients. Also for other special populations functional training is more appopriate. Movements involving more then one muscle groups such military press, bench press, squats and other movements are more productive.

Functional movements improve everyday life for many of my clients, from those recovering from hip and knee replacement to collegiate athletes and everyone in between. I've also seen powerlifters, pre- and post-natal populations, and the average everyday working stiff benefit from such exercises. When I first began using functional training in my own workouts ten or so years ago, I found that my squat, bench, dead lifts etc. improved in terms of range of motion as well as strength. I've never looked back.

As several others have said, 'functional training' is a very broad term, but I'll assume you're refering to exercises using little or no weights. I include those exercises using unorthodox equipment like ropes, bands, med balls & yoga balls in the 'functional' category as well. I agree that cardiovascular fitness and weight bearing exercises as well as flexibility training are the foundation of any great workout program, but they don't necessarily prepare us for real life. Most clients that I've trained post-injury were hurt during lateral, diagonal, or rotational movements (which are difficult to replicate using traditional weight room training). By teaching them to maintain their body alignment through some of these less popular planes of motion, many can prevent re-injury. I've also heard of functional training refered to as "Prehab". That is, by incorporating movements like these the risk of injury is reduced, as is the "Rehab" that said injury would require.

A client's goals are important. If they want maximum strength and hypertrophy, I'm going to have them lifting weights at a level that's challenging for them. However, we live in tri-planar motion, so even a person who wants to get bigger and stronger can benefit from tri-planar training.

Personally, I've gotten away from "functional" training because it's so over-used and generalized. I like to use the term "triplanar" training to indicate that I'm challenging each joint in all of the planes that it stabilizes and moves. Multi-joint, multi-directional. Not as challenging from a "heavy lifting" sense, but very rich in a proprioceptive sense.

For me it depends on the client's level, have they done nothing but sit in a chair for the last three years? I would probably choose funtional/stability movements. I choose my exercises based on what's best for the clients at their level, not what's "trending".

It comes down to what the client's goals are, his fitness level, medical issues, does he/she have previous injuries, availability of equipment at the location where the training takes place, etc. These are the factors I look for when I design a program for a client and not what the newest trend is out there. Functional training is great, but it's not always the best or only type of training the client needs.

Best,
Harris