Functional Movements

These are movements based on real-world situational biomechanics. They usually involve multi-planar, multi-joint movements which place demand on the body's core musculature and innervation. Functional movements take place in multi-planes of motion with the use of multiple joints. It is the ability to move our body without extra effort and pain-free. These movements require the firing of multiple muscle groups in various positions, ranges of motion and varying intensity to achieve a common goal. For example, bending down and reaching over to pick-up your child and rotating through your core to put him/her in the car seat. If we do it in the wrong way, you then experience pain and our muscles or joints are locked to it while we keep our body moving. Eventually you cannot bear the pain anymore and worst case would be surgery. We need to learn how to be bio-mechanically efficient with everything we do whether if its for sports, general fitness or daily activities to avoid injuries and to make sure we are in good health.

People think that our body automatically work however, it doesnt. Our muscles start developing since we were babies, there are dominant muscles and there are also weaker ones. If your body is stagnant or no physical activity your muscles are weaker and it make you prone to injuries because you were not able to train your muscles and never fully utilize optimal form or support to train functional movement systems to make sure your body is healthy.

Our body is built to move and each movement requires muscles, body parts and your brain to work together to achieve your goal. They have to work properly in a certain order to avoid poor quality movement and injury. Functional training can be utilized after an injury or in preparation for an activity to mimic those actions and break them down into more basic components in order to achieve your “functional goal.” What is functional? If you know what dysfunction means, then function is the opposite of it. Dysfunction is movement competency below a standard accepted level, therefore, function is above the standard acceptable level of movement.

There are exercises that can help you improve your functional movement and body awareness. We need to be aware of our good and bad movement habits so it will be easy to improve them. Pilates for example is very helpful in training your body to improve your functional movement and overall health. Good posture and doing the right exercise are a big help. When doing your exercise make sure you consult your physio. People with previous injury needs extra care to avoid future injuries. Post-injury exercises and treatment are needed to cope faster and better to let you function like before so always consult a professional.

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