Functional Training Shouldn't Mean "Light Weight": 5 Exercises to Go Heavy On

For me the term functional exercise is a bit of an oxymoron. Every exercise you do should have some translation to what you are doing day to day or you shouldn’t be doing it. For some the term functional may invoke images of lots of body weight work, light lifting, maybe some crawling around on the ground. While some of this may be necessary, once you have mastered the basics you should be cleared to do what your body was made for and that includes performing work and moving heavy stuff!

Here are 5 exercises that you should be loading up on a regular basis to build a strong body.

1. Dead lift: This one is elementary and should be on the top of everyone's list. If someone tells you that you shouldn’t be dead lifting, find out why immediately and then fix that problem.The dead lift taxes almost every muscle in the body and will be the movement that you will be able to move the most amount of weight on.

2. Walking Lunges: More dynamic than a traditional squat since you will be moving, which challenges your stability, you will also have to decelerate your body weight moving forward to put you in a good lunging position which challenges your muscles in ways stationary squats cannot.  By holding dumbbells down at your side you’ll begin to load this exercise and keep your center of gravity low. I like you use the reference of two 5 gallon buckets of water which will weigh around 35 pounds as a starting point when proper mechanic are in place. Take 10 steps down and back.

3. Farmers Walk or Heavy Dumbbell Hold: After you pick that heavy stuff up most of the time you will have to move it from point A to point B. A farmers walk will load the the trunk, arms, legs and train the grip. When a challenging weight or distance is applied the heart rate will jump and is a great substitute for your typical cardio. Get the benefit of training an unbreakable grip with some heavy dumbbell holds at the end of a training session. Grab a set and see how long you can hold on.

4. Overhead Press: Superior to the bench press in terms of function since it loads the entire body, You’ll find you yourself pushing weight overhead more often on a day to day basis than laying on your back pressing something up. An adult male should be able to press his body weight for 1 rep overhead. If you can’t do this your two options are get stronger or get lighter.

5. Dumbbell Rows: I would suggest doing these one arm at a time and without the benefit of having a bench or some other piece of equipment helping to support your body weight. Split your stance ,go heavy, stay as strict as possible but use a little body english to help with the last few if needed.

Group these movements together for a great workout:

5 Sets

Farmers Walk: 100’

Dead lift: x5

Overhead Press: x5

Walking lunges:10 steps each leg

Dumbbell Rows: x5