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Whether you're an athlete or avid lifter looking for new challenges, there are a few relatively new functional exercises to challenge your core stability, mobility, and strength.
Many opt for standalone workouts to improve performance and reduce chances of injury. However, research has shown that these workouts should be used in combination with other training strategies, such as strength, power, speed, or sport-specific movements.
Best Functional Exercises to Improve Performance
These six best functional exercises are innovative variations of challenging lifts that you can do at home to improve your performance and movement:
1) Kettlebell Z Press
Kettlebell Z press can be immensely beneficial for athletes, especially throwers and overhead athletes.
This functional exercise works the shoulders, back muscles, and spine. When you do this exercise, use your back muscles to keep the shoulder stable while moving your arm up and down.
To perform this exercise:
- Start in a seated position with your legs fully extended and feet spread shoulder-width apart.
- Hold two kettlebells in the front rack position at shoulder height.
- You can also point your elbows up and outward to create a nest for the bell to sit in.
- Sit tall, and keep a completely flat and tall spine; don’t lean back or slouch.
2) Farmer's Walk
The farmer’s walks is a great functional exercise for athletes. It builds upper and lower body strength, burns calories, and increases endurance. It fits into most workouts or warm-ups and only requires a set of dumbbells or kettlebells to be performed.
Here's how you do this exercise:
- Stand tall, with your feet shoulder-width apart and hands by your sides.
- Place a set of dumbbells or kettlebells on the floor next to each foot, and squat down to grab one weight in each hand.
- Engaging the core muscles, pull your shoulder blades down and back, and stand up straight as you lift the weights over your head.
3) Cosssack Squat
Cossack squats can be a great tool to increase mobility and stability in the hips, knees, and ankles. It also strengthens the glutes, which is important for runners, wrestlers, and other athletes who need good posterior chain strength.
By improving hip mobility and stability, this exercise can help you move better in full-range exercises, like squats or other movements.
To do this exercise:
- Stand with your legs forming a triangle with the floor.
- Point your toes straight ahead, and shift your weight to your right leg.
- Bend your right knee, and sit back as far as you can, keeping your left leg extended.
- Keeping your heel on the floor, rotate your left foot onto its toe, bringing it up toward you.
- Push back to the starting position, and switch sides.
4) Nordic Hamstring Curl
Hamstring injuries are common in athletes who perform open-chained movements, high-velocity, and load-bearing activities, such as running, jumping, sprinting, etc.
As hamstrings play a crucial role in these movements, it's important to strengthen them with functional exercises, such as stiff-legged deadlifts, unilateral hip hinges, and hamstring curls.
How to do it?
- Kneel on a pad for comfort, and slowly lower your body, leaning forward at the knees.
- Extend your hamstring muscles, pushing yourself back up to the starting position.
- Repeat this exercise as many times as you can without using your hands for balance.
5) Bodyweight Back Squat
Bodyweight squats are a great functional exercise to strengthen the legs. It can be performed almost anywhere, with no equipment and limited space. The movement works all the major muscles of the legs.
How to do it?
- Stand with your hands on the back of your head, feet shoulder-width apart and turned slightly outward, and knees bent.
- Lower your body till your thighs are parallel to the floor, and pause before returning to the starting position.
- Repeat this movement. Be careful not to let the knees extend forward beyond the toes.
- Intensify this exercise by jumping up explosively from each squat and allowing your feet to lift off the floor.
6) Turkish Get-Up
The Turkish get-up is a functional exercise that improves strength, coordination, and shoulder stability all at once.
It's also an amazing way to develop the core muscles, which are crucial to helping you lift heavy objects and avoid injuring vulnerable shoulder joints.
Here's how you do this exercise:
- Lie on the floor; bend your knees, and roll to your right side.
- Grab a kettlebell handle with your right hand, and roll back onto your back.
- Press the kettlebell straight overhead as you extend your left leg out to the side, and extend your left arm at a similar angle on the floor.
- As you punch and drive your right hand up, lift and roll your hip to the side.
- Press into your left arm, and twist your body into a half kneeling pose while keeping the kettlebell extended overhead in your right hand.
Takeaway
The benefits of functional exercises are immense and include not only improved athleticism but an extended life-span as well.
Focusing on full range of motion is key to creating a movement pattern that can decrease the risk of injury, improve athletic performance, and make you feel more youthful.
