Functional training is “reactive” teaching muscles to “fire” in a pattern, with primary “moving” muscles and secondary “stabilizing” muscles working in sequence to execute movement. This integration engages strong, stable “core” muscles aiding in balance. The result? Your body attains equilibrium between strength and flexibility, between agonist and antagonist muscles, increasing functionality while reducing risk of injury.

The bottom line: you can either have a bulky, unfunctional body that is injury prone or a lean, functional one that is resilient. It also never hurts that functional training workouts are shorter, more effective, and more interesting than all those monotonous curls, leg curls, bench presses, etc.

Related posts:

1. The 4 Principles of Functional Training – Principle #3 Balance vs Bulk
2. The 4 Principles of Functional Training- Principle #4 Multi- vs. Limited Movement
3. The 4 Principles of Functional Training: Principle #1 – Isolation vs. Integration

Integration vs. Isolation -

Strength training on machines works muscles in isolation-although it’s rare that your muscles would be required to work in isolation in any other situation. Functional training, on the other hand, removes the support provided by machines, requiring the body to work multiple muscle groups in integration, as the body is intended to move, resulting in more balanced muscle tone.

Related posts:

1. Exercise Myth #1 – Fitness Machines Are Better than Functional Training
2. The 4 Principles of Functional Training – Principle #2 Reaction vs. Injury
3. The 4 Principles of Functional Training- Principle #4 Multi- vs. Limited Movement

1. They promote maintenance and improvement in Active Daily Living tasks
2. They promote spinal health and longevity
3. They mimic motor patterns that translate into daily tasks, recreational sports, and work activities.

Traditionally, when people exercise, they are working on “cosmetic fitness” – exercising to look good and working on surface muscles or those that we see. The problem with this is that it doesn’t help you in daily tasks. How often do you hear that someone hurt themselves reaching to the back seat of their car, turning quickly, or bending down quickly to pick up something? These are daily living tasks; therefore, it makes sense to train the muscles doing similar movements. You aren’t lying down most of the day doing crunches, yet your abdominal muscles are constantly working to stabilize your spine. So why not train them in a way that makes sense (i.e. standing, sitting, twisting)? That’s what core and functional training are about, and there are several methods you can use.

Related posts:

1. The 4 Principles of Functional Training – Principle #2 Reaction vs. Injury
2. Functional Training
3. The 4 Principles of Functional Training: Principle #1 – Isolation vs. Integration

• If people are not active in sports or physical education (in other words doing something that challenges their stability and ability of muscles to react), they start to lose balance at the age of 15 or 16.
• After the age of 70, nearly 85% of people die from complications due to breaking their hip.

If those aren’t reason enough to incorporate core and functional training into your exercise program, perhaps learning more will convince you.

What is Functional Training?

Functional training is defined as “activity that trains movement” and includes: balance training, stabilization training, core training, and dynamic movement training. The result of functional training is agility – improved reactionary forces where your body has the ability to compensate for changes in your center of gravity and can move quickly and efficiently. In other words, if you’re falling or suddenly caught off guard, your body is trained to react quickly, meaning you are less prone to injury. Exercises promoting core strength and stability improve or maintain posture and alignment as well as challenging balance and equilibrium.

Core training is different than just training your abdominals. Although the abdominals are an important part of your core musculature, true core training is a more integrated approach; it combines strength, balance, agility, and flexibility of the muscles that control the entire trunk and spine. Regular conditioning of the core muscles is essential to prevent injuries, correct posture, and making you more efficient with all that you do.

Functional training is about QUALITY of the movement, not quantity!

Related posts:

1. Exercise Myth #1 – Fitness Machines Are Better than Functional Training
2. The 4 Principles of Functional Training – Principle #2 Reaction vs. Injury
3. The 4 Principles of Functional Training- Principle #4 Multi- vs. Limited Movement

Eventually, I ran across an article by an interesting Russian fellow named Pavel Tsatouline. I remember being challenged in my thinking to the very principles that I had been using for years in my training. Could he be telling the truth? But everyone seemed to be training the same way I was….surely, we all couldn’t be using the wrong approach. Is there really a better way to train that would incorporate strength, conditioning, and mobility all in one package?

Seven years ago, I began lugging in this strange contraption to various gyms in Raleigh getting the strangest looks and comments from people like ‘you’re going to hurt yourself with that thing.’  

What is a ‘kettlebell’?

‘A cannon ball with a handle’  is the often used description of the now popular Russian Kettlebell. They certainly are not so strange anym0re, as they are seemingly popping up in every gym in America. The kettlebell goes way back, it first appeared in a Russian dictionary in 1704 (Cherkikh, 1994). So popular were kettlebells in Tsarist Russia that any strongman or weightlifter was referred to as a girevik, or ‘a kettlebell man’. They are now considered by many professional trainers and coaches to be the ultimate tool for extreme all-round fitness. “Not a single sport develops our muscular strength and bodies as well as kettlebell athletics,” reported Russian magazine Hercules in 1913.

What makes a Russian Kettlebell so special? Some may say it is the kettlebell design that inherently makes it better than other free weight and machine training, but I say it is also the quality of the teacher and the training system that is equally as important and beneficial to the kettlebell trainees success.

 Join me in my next blog as I discuss ’the whos’ and ‘the whys’ of Russian Kettlebell training.

Related posts:

1. Exercise Myth #2 – It’s Best to Train to Failure
2. Functional Training
3. The 4 Principles of Functional Training – Principle #2 Reaction vs. Injury

Barry Bragg, personal trainer and president of Raleigh fitness and wellness center, Transformation, LLC will host a two-day, continuing education workshop for Triangle-area fitness professionals. The workshop will be held March 21-22 at Transformation’s North Raleigh location.

“It’s essential that personal trainers continually educate themselves to set themselves apart from their competition,” says Bragg. “The goal for the workshop is to arm local fitness professionals with cutting-edge knowledge, skills, and tools to further their careers and help their clients achieve their best results.”

Day one will consist of a nutrition training workshop by the Transformation team from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by a specially prepared organic dinner. During the training workshop, participants will be introduced to unique nutrition ideas such as:

• Teaching clients to eat according to their body type and metabolism
• How to properly assess a client’s lifestyle and nutritional status
• How to read a label for chemicals and additives that cause fat-gain
• Which foods will help burn body fat quickly
• Which supplements can be safely introduced to maximize results

On day two, the Transformation team will conduct a technical workshop from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Professionals will learn new training tips including:

• Teaching and technical skills to help clients achieve their goals
• Functional Exercises for maximum impact in minimum time
• Knowledge and skills of training for clients at all levels
• How to design and implement successful boot camp workouts that will keep clients energized
• Cutting-edge kettlebell training techniques

Pricing for the workshop is $300 for a single day or $500 for both. For more information or to register, go to PT3.

Related posts:

1. What is a Russian Kettlebell?
2. Functional Training
3. Personal Training

With food and energy costs on the rise and job losses mounting, many families are finding trips to the grocery store a bit more painful. With such a turbulent economy, any way to save a little is helpful. By making some minor changes, families can still eat nutritiously and cut expenses.

1. Plan out your meals.

Most people eat based solely on convenience. This carries a higher price tag and poorer nutrition. Simply buying more fresh foods and planning meals for the week will save a bundle and provide the nutrients needed to live healthier.

2. Substitute healthier protein sources.

Meat purchases are often significantly more expensive than good protein alternatives like beans, eggs, nuts and seeds. The protein found in eggs most closely matches that of human tissue, so the body uses it efficiently. Any type of bean – pinto, red, kidney or black – is an inexpensive, nutritional choice that can be added to soups, salads, stir-fries, rice or pasta dishes. Nuts and seeds are a healthy snack the entire family can enjoy.

3. Minimize the purchase of prepared foods.

Replace meals such as instant oatmeal and boxed rice meals with less-processed grains including brown rice, wild rice, barley and old-fashioned oatmeal. Most of these can be bought in bulk, improving savings.

4. Eat seasonally.

Choosing seasonal fruits and vegetables can help consumers stretch their budgets while maintaining good nutrition. Apples and oranges are at their peak in the winter. Buy them by the bag and save even more.

5. Drink healthier.

Cutting out the morning trip to Starbucks, or sodas and bottled fruit juices, will not only save money, but will lower sugar and sugar substitute levels. Try clean water flavored with a squeeze of lemon or lime. Herbal teas with a touch of honey or Stevia are another good option.

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1. Eat Whole Foods in Their Natural State
2. Jack LaLanne’s Take on Healthy Diet & Exercise
3. USDA Free Range Chicken & Eggs

Should I rest
between exercise sets?

We’ve all seen it at the gym – the big, muscular man that spends 30 seconds grunting, groaning and moaning to bench press a weight that we only dream about lifting. Then we watch him sit around for five minutes before starting another exercise. So in order to obtain large muscles and maintain fitness, we should do the same. Right?

Wrong!

Get the Most Out of Your Workout

One of the biggest excuses among Americans is that they just don’t have time to work out. Do you only have thirty minutes? The best way to achieve maximum results in a small amount of time is to reduce or eliminate rest between exercises. Choose an exercise that works one muscle group and then move to another exercise that doesn’t use that muscle group to allow recovery. For example, if you’re doing an upper body workout after you finish doing a chest press, move on to pull-ups or another exercise that doesn’t specifically target the chest.

For those of you looking to lose weight or excess fat, eliminating rest between exercises also has the added benefit of keeping the heart rate up which means you’re burning more calories and losing weight faster!

If you want a great workout to try, Barry Seneri has come up with one that’ll get you well on your way. Check it out below:

Stepping Outside the Box – “Flab Busting” Workout 1 with Kettlebells –

Immediate Download PDF

Barry Seneri explains how to “rethink” your workout for best results. Completely illustrated and laid out step by step, here are five simple, yet functional body exercises combined for a complete body workout. If you’re tired of the same old boring gym routine – this is a quick and effective way to spice things up. By practicing this routine, you’ll soon see how engaging all of your muscle groups will maximize fat burning for the desired lean body result. The demonstration works best with a set of kettlebells, but it can also be done effectively at home with dumbbells. 10 pages.

Price: Only $9.95

Related posts:

1. Exercise Myth #1 – Fitness Machines Are Better than Functional Training
2. Training Myth # 3 – Moderate Exercise Is Best for Weight Loss & Fitness Results
3. Exercise Myth #2 – It’s Best to Train to Failure

What is a Healthy Mindset?

Here are a few points for understanding what a healthy mindset is and how it plays a role in our success for long term lifestyle changes and personal growth:

1. Understand that it is unreasonable to expect perfection. We are imperfect people in imperfect bodies living in an imperfect world. When we expect perfection and things don’t go just right, we typically sabotage our progress and give up! Always remember that with our shortcomings comes room to learn and grow. By keeping our focus and being persistent in striving towards our goals, the growth we achieve will mold us into the people that God intends for us to be.
2. Don’t compare yourself to others! The LORD made us who we are and has us where we are for a reason. Every story has a beginning and an ending, but it’s the in-between that defines that story. It’s important to remember that every one of us is at a different place in our story. Some are further along and some are have a long way to go. If we play the comparison game, it becomes too easy to get discouraged. I recall the quote – “Be patient, God’s not finished with me yet!” This is good advice for each of us to keep in mind as we strive to complete our journey in life. And if we do our best and work diligently, then our lives will be even better than we could ever imagine. This brings to mind a biblical quote from 2 Chronicles, which states: “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, your work will be rewarded.”
3. And last, but not least, learn to be content in all that you are. Growth doesn’t always move in a straight line, but usually zigzags. There will be peaks and valleys. The important thing is to have contentment no matter the circumstance. Whether in the ups or downs, learning contentment brings peace to our spirit and will keep us moving in the right direction. In John 14:27, Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

By staying true to these simple steps, I believe we can have success in making positive changes to our lives this year and in the years to come!

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1. Setting Healthy Goals for the New Year
2. To Have a Healthy Mindset, Stop Focusing on the Problem
3. Vitamins & Minerals, a Healthy Body & a Healthy Mind

Interval Training

Short bursts of intense intervals will give you the desired results in less time. It is important to choose exercises that get the heart rate up and make you feel slightly uncomfortable for a short period of time to achieve maximum weight loss and muscle tone.

Barry Seneri
practicing interval training on the treadmill

Kick Up the Training Intensity

The idea is NOT to go to the gym and run on a treadmill as fast as you can for as long as you can. Rather, you should choose some cardiovascular-based exercises or mix in some running intervals to get your heart rate into the uncomfortable zone every few exercises. If you are able to carry on a normal conversation throughout your entire workout, you need to add some intensity! Aim for exercises that use large muscle groups and more than one muscle group to burn even more calories in a shorter amount of time. All of the added sweat and heavy breathing from kicking up the intensity will get you the results you’ve been searching for.

Intense Interval Cardio Training

Interval Cardio Training is style of cardiovascular exercise in which the intensity varies for the duration of the session. ‘Intensity’ is defined by the individual’s perceived level of exertion. You can think of your intensity as a number that coincides with your effort on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the hardest. The scale can go something like this:

1- Extremely Easy - the amount of energy it takes to get up from a chair

5- Moderate Effort - activity that you can do for 30+ minutes

7- Challenging - you can do the activity, but it is difficult to sustain

8- Difficult - the activity demands some focus, and it’s getting hard to hang in

9- Very Difficult - the activity takes all of your focus, and you pray it’s over soon

10- Nearly Impossible (But Not Quite!)- you’re thinking of a happy place, which is just about anywhere compared to where you currently are…you can’t possibly push any harder

Simple. Right? You can apply this ‘perceived level of exertion’ to any activity. Take a look at the following sample workouts:

Warm up at YOUR Level 5 Intensity for 3 to 5 minutes before all of these workouts.

1. Go to Level 9 for 1 minute, then back down to Level 5 for 1 minute.
   Repeat 3 to 5 Times.
2. Start at Level 6 for 1 minute. Go to Level 7 for 1 minute. Go to Level 8 for 1 minute. Then, go to Level 9 for 1 minute.
   Repeat 3 to 5 Times.
3. Start at Level 7 for 30 seconds. Go to Level 9 for 30 seconds. Go to Level 10 for 30 seconds. Walk for 1 minute. Repeat 3 to 5 Times.

Related posts:

1. Exercise Myth #1 – Fitness Machines Are Better than Functional Training
2. Training Myth # 4 – It’s Best to Rest Between Exercises
3. Exercise Myth #2 – It’s Best to Train to Failure