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Functional fitness is a type of workout that focuses on movements that mimic everyday activities. It’s all about training your body to perform better in real-life situations by improving strength, mobility, flexibility and balance.
Functional fitness includes movements such as pushing, pulling, bending, squatting, walking, lunging and core strength. Some examples of functional fitness exercises are squats, lunges, pushups, single leg deadlifts and planks.
10 functional fitness exercises
Below is list of functional fitness exercises you can add to your routine to train your body to move with more ease during daily activities.
Squat
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointed forward. Pull your shoulders back and down to keep your chest up and head looking forward. Pull your naval in toward your spine to engage your core. Bend at the hips and knees while keeping your heels and toes on the floor. Slowly sit back into a squat position. Make sure that your knees do not move past your toes and that they are as close to a 90-degree angle as possible. Pressing into your heels to straighten the legs and return to standing. Squeeze your glutes at the top, tilting your pelvis forward.
Reverse lunge
Begin standing tall with your feet hips-width apart. Step your right foot back and bend both knees to lower down into a lunge. Then, press down through the front heel to come back to center. Repeat 10 times on the right, and then switch sides and perform 10 reps by stepping back with the left foot.
Pushup
Start on all fours with your palms on the mat a little wider than shoulder-width apart. Make sure your arms are straight. Reach your legs straight behind you, tucking the toes under to come into a plank position. Bend at the elbows, lowering your body until your chest almost touches the mat. Pause in this position for a few seconds, then press down into the ground to straighten your elbows and push your body back up to the starting position. Repeat.
Plank
Start on your hands and knees on the mat. Line your shoulders up over your wrists, and make sure your wrists are parallel with the front of the mat. Walk your knees back a few inches so that they are behind the hips, but make sure that your shoulders stay over your wrists. Pull your navel in toward your spine as if there is fire on the mat and you’re trying to pull your stomach away from the fire. Tuck your toes under and lift your legs up off of the ground. Squeeze your quads and reach your heels toward the back of the room. Keep your gaze a few inches in front of your fingers to keep your head and neck elongated. If you have a mirror, check yourself out to ensure that your body is in one straight line from head to heels.
Bent over row
Start standing with your feet hip-width apart. Hinge forward at your waist so that your torso is on a diagonal and pull your abs in. Let the weights dangle down by. Then, hug your elbows in toward your sides and pull the weights up toward your chest. Tighten your upper back and the area in between your shoulder blades. Then, lower the arms down keeping the elbows hugging in toward your sides. Repeat 10 times.
Bridge
The glute bridge targets the glutes and quads similarly to the lunge. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Squeeze your glutes to lift your body toward the ceiling (forming a straight line between your neck and your knees). Lower your body down so your back is resting on the ground. Repeat 10 times.
Bicep curl
Grab a dumbbell in each hand and start with your arms hanging by your sides. Hug your elbows in toward the side of your body, and then curl the weights up toward your shoulders. Be careful not to let your arms swing. (If you need to swing your arms and use momentum to get the weight up, you are likely using too heavy of a weight.) Slowly lower the weight back down to the starting position and repeat.
Single leg deadlift
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Put your weight into your left leg and come up on to your right toe, using it as a kickstand for balance. Begin to hinge at your waist, keeping your left knee soft. Place your hands on your hips or at the center of your chest for balance. Continue to hinge forward as you slowly lift your right leg up and back until your body forms a straight line from head to toe. Ensure that your hips stay square to the ground. Pause for a second and then return to the starting position. Repeat 10 times, then switch sides.
Russian twist
Sit with your knees bent in front of you and your feet resting on the floor. (For a more advanced move, lift your feet slightly off the mat.) Keeping your torso and lower body still, begin slowly rotating side to side. Reach your hands toward the floor on the right, before moving through center and reaching them toward the floor on the left. Repeat 10 times to each side.
Overhead press
Holding a dumbbell in each hand, start with the arms in a goal-post position. The upper arms will be parallel to the floor and as high as the shoulders and your elbows will be bent at 90 degrees. Press the weights up and in front of your head slightly so that with your peripheral vision you can see the weights above you. Be careful not to reach the weights behind your head as that will strain your neck. Lower down to the starting position and repeat 10 times.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
