The term “functional fitness” is one of the most misused phrases in the fitness community over the years. It’s said to better equip a person for life, but in reality, it has resulted in a host of ridiculous training methods – such as doing one-legged squats on Bosu balls or performing a list of twists and turns.
It offered a blanket excuse to justify any form of training that could be loosely associated with real life. The problem is that it is just a term with no agreed-upon definition – until now. We’ll explore what functional fitness truly is, as defined by top sports researchers.
What Is Functional Training?
In its simplest form, functional training is a method of training that is designed to better equip individuals for real-life functions. Things like;
-
Walking upstairs
-
Carrying groceries
-
Moving a couch
-
Picking up your kid
This may seem like a good definition to explain a training style, and on some level, it is.
However, any decent trainer or researcher knows that this definition is just another way to explain the benefits of traditional strength and conditioning.
If you were to ask most people the purpose of lifting weights and exercise, you would hear a combination of these answers;
-
To build muscle
-
Increase your strength
-
Improve mobility and flexibility
-
Improve performance
-
Lose weight
Notice that all of those answers will result in improving a person’s life and increasing their function for life.
You see, in this context, "Functional fitness” is just a buzzword for what good strength and conditioning has always done: improve your ability to function and perform.
A Real Definition Of Functional Training
Most people may be surprised to hear this, but there has never really been a true definition of what “functional fitness” is, at least when compared to “bodybuilding” or “speed training.”
In the past, there have been some practitioners who have attempted this.
Functional Fitness Definition #1
In a 2017, a group came together and defined functional training as; "a set of exercises performed by a person to improve performance in daily functions."¹
This can also be defined as “activities of daily living”, or ADLs -movements and activities that are normally performed daily. This can include:
-
Walking
-
Climbing
-
Carrying objects
-
Dragging
-
Pushing
-
Reaching
In addition, the program should train multiple fitness variables, including;
-
Muscle Strength
-
Dynamic Strength
-
Mobility/flexibility
-
Balance
-
Motor coordination
-
Postural stability
-
Muscle endurance
-
Cardiorespiratory endurance
In simple terms, functional fitness should replicate or directly improve real-life functional movements. At the same time, the overall program should train multiple fitness variables.
Functional Fitness Definition #2
Most recently, in 2024, a group of top researchers came together to try and provide a more precise definition.²
After analysing all of the literature on functional fitness, these researchers discussed and came up with a singular definition;
‘Functional training is a physical interventional approach that contributes to the enhancement of human performance, according to individual goals, in sports, daily life, rehabilitation, or fitness, and takes into consideration the specificity of the task and the unique responsiveness of each individual.’
At first glance, this still appears to be a relatively broad definition. However, it does make some clear distinctions. This comes from the two terms;
-
specificity of the task and the
-
unique responsiveness of each individual
As you’ll see, these two modifiers actually have a distinct effect on the application of “functional training”.
To help clarify, they break it down into three requirements.
1. Instead of labeling an exercise routine or plan as functional or not, professionals should consider what degree of functionality is present in a specific training process; this degree of functionality should be viewed as the proximity of the training program to individual needs, characteristics, and goals while promoting training specificity and improved performance.
Does the person actually need to improve this functional quality? For instance, a tightrope walker already has highly advanced balance — doing one-legged stands isn’t going to improve “their function”.
2. Instead of classifying if a specific training program or exercise is functional according to the material, context of practice, and number of joints/muscles/planes used, professionals should consider the association between the training specificity and the individual’s goals and characteristics to assess a degree of functionality.
Does the training actually enhance a person’s ability to achieve their goals? Helping someone jump higher who doesn’t need or want to jump higher isn’t “functional” for that person.
3. Instead of presenting functionality as an improvement to a more ‘traditional’ training mode, professionals should consider and present it as one of the main features of all prescribed exercises.
No exercise is specifically “functional”. Virtually all exercises have varying degrees of functionality. This means that functionality is not new – it has been present since the first person decided to exercise.
So, What Is Functional Training?
With these definitions, we see that “functional training” is reliant on several factors;
-
The intent of the training
-
Does the person actually want or need the intended functional trait?
-
Does the person actually need to improve the intended functional trait?
-
Is the functional training specific to the intended outcome?
As we see, functional training largely depends on the needs of the person being trained.
This means that the same form of training is “functional” for some but not for others. For example, look at these comparisons;
-
An elderly woman carrying 5 pounds of kettlebells versus a Strongman carrying 250 pounds in each hand.
-
A rehab patient practicing a sit-to-stand vs. a lifter at Westside Barbell performing a 600lb box squat.
-
A previously sedentary person performing single-leg kettlebell deadlifts to improve balance vs a Cirque du Soleil performer doing backflips and landing on one leg on top of 10 stacked chairs.
Above is a good illustration of how two people could train similar movements while one person is training for function, while the other is training for performance.
Consider this - there is a strong argument that there’s no such thing as functional training for a healthy, fit individual – they already possess sufficient levels of functional characteristics. We see this in the sudden explosion of balance training with healthy individuals.
With that in mind, we believe that functional fitness is a style of training that has several characteristics. This includes;
-
Designed to improve the functionality of a certain individual
-
The improved adaptations should cause a marked increase in their quality of life and prepare them for life’s demands
-
Uses exercises that have direct crossover to the desired functional trait, including using movements that replicate life, i.e., farmer walks or sled pushes.
-
The training should be performed at an appropriate level
-
The overall training should improve all necessary fitness variables
What Isn’t Functional Training?
A large amount of “functional training” you see online is essentially a training program that utilizes “functional” as a marketing tactic. Watch out for these warning signs.
-
Excessive Complexity. If you see a trainer jumping around with a cable machine while twisting and landing on a dumbbell, that’s not functional. For most people, life does not include these complex movement patterns – life is actually pretty simple. The most complex movement many people will ever do is climbing or jumping.
-
No Direct Benefit To Improving Life Function. If a trainer can’t provide an obvious and immediate explanation of how the exercise will improve your life, it’s probably not functional.
-
A Pre-Written Program. Truth be told, we have some pre-written functional programs – but they do explain what functional is, and we feel they hit key components. With that said, a pre-written program can’t be functional for everybody, as that requires assessing a person’s needs and goals.
So, Is Functional Training Legit?
In the correct context, functional training can be legitimate. However, a lot of it comes down to intent and the person’s needs. At the same time, all proper strength and conditioning programs have aspects of “functionality” in them already as getting stronger and improving mobility is better preparing a person for life.
References
- Pereira, H. V., Teixeira, D. S., Fisher, J., Fleck, S. J., Helms, E., Ide, B. N., … Schoenfeld, B. J. (2025). International consensus on the definition of functional training: Modified e-Delphi method. Journal of Sports Sciences, 43(8), 767–775. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2025.2477393
- La Scala Teixeira CV, Evangelista AL, Novaes JS, Da Silva Grigoletto ME, Behm DG. "You're Only as Strong as Your Weakest Link": A Current Opinion about the Concepts and Characteristics of Functional Training. Front Physiol. 2017;8:643. Published 2017 Aug 30. doi:10.3389/fphys.2017.00643 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5582309/
0 Comments