Hey, Nice Rack!

So everyone is throwing around the word functional as a way to describe their fitness program. We don’t necessarily know what that means, but immediately we want it. HAVE TO HAVE IT!

I mean, if it’s part of an infomercial ad how could you not? Some trainers will tell you that all you need to make your exercise functional is to use free weights, but does simply saying NO to Nautilus, then GO and tell a trainer you TRUST really get you functional fitness? What is it? Better yet, why is it such a craze?

It could be as simple as the latest pop icon stumbled upon this adjective and the world turned upside down to offer it to the awaiting zombies. Or perhaps someone realized that conventional exercise doesn’t always carry over to regular life and found themselves jacked muscularly, yet broken. Whatever the reason functional is here, and man is it everywhere!A quick definition of functional is something designed for or capable of a particular use. Sounds simple, right? We can apply this to the farm boy who is shoveling, bailing hay, and lifting unbalanced objects day in and day out working a farm. His body is prepared for the job and he is exerting himself physically. Functional. In fact the word itself is derived from the Latin functionem meaning performance, execution. (epiphany bulb lights up here)

Performance, Execution

“An athlete cannot compartmentalize training and
expect the brain to put it all together in competition.”

~ Gray Cook
Athletic Body In Balance

Generally an athlete has different training sessions focusing on a particular skill necessary for performance (remember: functionem = performance, execution).
There can be sprint training, skills training, stretching, and so on depending on the sport. Each one is broken down and fine tuned, compartmentalized. Yet how is the athlete’s brain expected to execute these skills during competition with fluidity when the only input it had ever received was as separate actions?

Inconceivable! ( a la Princess Bride) The same can be said for non-athletic folks who are doing their crunches, bicep curls, military presses, tricep extensions, etc. then having a separate cardio and stretching session. Inconceivable! Where do you in regular life move in isolated muscle groups? If you are performing these with free weights, well isn’t a pig painted like a cow still just a pig? How can us city slickers bring the farm boy workout in to the gym so our brains can perform, execute? The answer: kettlebell training, my friend.

Enter the Kettlebell In All It’s Brilliance and Glory

This man made source of joy and pain completes the connection in your brain from training to execution. Functionem. Here is how: As a massage therapist I would see client after client with low back pain, most with one Quadratus Lumborum muscle (agh more Latin!) tighter than the other.This muscle runs from the bottom rib, attaches to the lumbar vertebrae and inserts on the crest of the hip all with the purpose of hiking the hip up.

Mothers especially have tight QL’s from the numerous days or years spent holding their child in one arm supported by the hip. This causes uneven hip length, altered force distribution with walking and running resulting in wear and tear on the joint. All of these have you coming to see me in some serious pain. This is not what you want to do. Instead you want to have your abs, or trunk, take on the load. You can gain this through the kettlebell rack position. The rack position encourages a stable shoulder by engaging the lats (latissimus dorsi for you Latin lovers!) at the same time requires the transverse abdominus which attaches to the front of the lower spine making it a key core stabilizer. It isn’t anything fancy but essential for teaching your body how to properly carry loads. To get to the kettlebell rack position
CLICK HERE: https://youtu.be/jWVd_AEZl9Y
to see a video on the kettlebell clean.

(It is important to note with the rack position your arm does not rest on your side)

And what would the purpose be if not to show the functionality? You see anytime you carry something whether it be groceries, a child, boxes, or weights preparing your body to perform, execute this properly saves you from unnecessary wear on the joints or muscular imbalance that could result in trigger points eventually affecting the spine.
CLICK HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu3iXnbQXbM
for a cute example.