The Secret to Staying Fit After 35 (Functional Fitness Explained)
Functional strength isn’t just about being able to deadlift a barbell or squat a mountain—it’s about making your body better at what it was built to do. Whether that’s picking up your kids without throwing out your back, crushing it on the golf course, or just surviving the grind of daily life as an executive, functional fitness is the ultimate ROI on your time in the gym. Let’s break it down.
What is Functional Strength? (And Why Should You Care?)
Functional strength is about training your body for real-world performance. Forget curls for the girls or “chest day Monday.” This is about compound, dynamic movements that mimic everyday actions—squatting to pick something up, twisting to grab a bag, pushing a heavy door open. It’s practical, it’s powerful, and it’s how you build a bulletproof body through functional fitness.
The Science Backing It Up
A 2018 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that functional fitness training improves strength, balance, and mobility more effectively than traditional resistance training. The participants showed better performance in tasks like lifting and stair climbing—you know, real-life stuff.
Why Functional Strength is a Game-Changer for Executives Over 35
If you’re an executive, chances are you spend a lot of time in three places: at a desk, in meetings, or on airplanes. None of these are great for your body. And once you’re past 35, things start to break down if you don’t maintain them. Functional fitness is the fix.
Real-Life Examples here at Pillars
Clients of ours came to us complaining about constant pain and low energy. They're busy executives, flying all over the world, juggling meetings, deadlines, and family life. Six months into a functional fitness program, pain disappears. They never thought that picking up their kids without flinching and feeling more energised—even after 12-hour workdays would be possible. It wasn’t magic. It was functional strength.
Key Benefits:
Pain-Free Living: Strengthen your core, improve posture, and eliminate those nagging aches.
Energy Boost: Better movement patterns = less wasted energy = more left in the tank for what matters.
Resilience: Your body becomes more durable, so you’re less likely to get injured.
The Core Principles of Functional Training
1. Train Movement, Not Muscles
Think less about isolating biceps or pecs and more about movement patterns: squat, hinge, push, pull, rotate. Life doesn’t happen in isolated motions, so your training shouldn’t either. This is the essence of functional fitness.
2. Core First, Always
Your core is your body’s powerhouse. A weak core means a weak everything else. Train it with dynamic, functional movements like planks, rotations, and anti-rotation exercises.
3. Multi-Planar is Mandatory
Most gym-goers train in one plane of motion: up and down. But life happens in multiple directions. Add lateral lunges, rotational lifts, and diagonal pulls to your workouts to fully embrace functional fitness training.
4. Customize to Your Needs
Everyone’s functional training will look different. If you’re an executive who spends 10 hours a day sitting, your program should prioritize hip mobility and posture correction. A personalized approach to functional fitness is key.
The Best Functional Strength Exercises for Everyday Life
These are some of our go-to exercises for building strength that actually helps you in the real world:
1. Goblet Squat
Why It Works: Strengthens your legs, improves posture, and reinforces proper movement patterns.
How to Do It: Hold a kettlebell or dumbbell at chest level. Squat down, keeping your chest upright and knees tracking over your toes. Push through your heels to return to standing. Goblet squats are a staple of functional fitness workouts.
2. Deadlift
Why It Works: This king of all lifts targets your posterior chain—the muscles you use to bend, lift, and carry.
How to Do It: Hinge at the hips to grab a barbell. Keep your back straight, engage your core, and drive through your heels to lift the weight. A cornerstone of any effective functional fitness program.
3. Farmer’s Carry
Why It Works: Builds grip strength, core stability, and total-body endurance.
How to Do It: Grab a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand. Stand tall and walk a set distance, keeping your core braced. This exercise epitomizes functional fitness.
4. Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
Why It Works: Challenges your balance and strengthens your hamstrings and glutes.
How to Do It: Stand on one leg, hinge at the hips, and lower a weight toward the ground. Keep your back straight and engage your core. Perfect for improving unilateral strength within a functional fitness routine.
5. Rotational Woodchopper
Why It Works: Mimics real-world twisting motions and strengthens your core.
How to Do It: Use a cable machine or medicine ball. Rotate your torso to simulate a chopping motion, keeping your core tight. A must-have for rotational strength in functional fitness workouts.
How to Build Your Functional Strength Routine
Step 1: Start with Mobility
Before you load up the weights, make sure your joints can move properly. Dynamic stretches like hip openers, arm circles, and leg swings should be your warm-up staples. Mobility is a critical component of functional fitness.
Step 2: Master the Basics
You can’t build a skyscraper on a weak foundation. Focus on bodyweight versions of key movements (squats, planks, etc.) before progressing to weighted exercises. This approach ensures a solid start to functional fitness training.
Step 3: Add Progressive Overload
Gradually increase the resistance, volume, or intensity of your workouts to keep challenging your body and building strength.
Step 4: Train 2-3 Times Per Week
Consistency beats intensity. Focus on 2-3 well-designed functional fitness workouts a week.
Step 5: Track Progress
Functional strength is about results you can feel. Are you moving better? Feeling less pain? Lifting heavier? Keep track of these improvements as part of your functional fitness journey.
The ROI of Functional Strength
Functional fitness isn’t just about looking good (though that’s a nice bonus). It’s about being the kind of person who can handle whatever life throws at them. You’re not just building strength—you’re building confidence, energy, and resilience.
Final Thought
Your body is your most valuable asset. Treat it like one. If you’re ready to invest in functional fitness and take control of your fitness, let’s work together. Book a consultation today, and I’ll help you build a body that works as hard as you do.
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