Functional movement training is by its very definition training that has practical, usable and usually direct application to a specific task. This type of training is being utilized by every sport and athletic endeavor imaginable right now and is only growing in popularity. The reasons for this are obvious enough, whatever you want to get better at functional training will target it directly. Yet I notice in most of my clients and even in a lot of my fellow trainers and coaches, a lack of understanding about the depth and breadth the subject actually has. So real briefly I wanted to cover some of the types of functional training available and the specific uses of each.
- Natural Human Movement Training- This kind of training is something of a foundation. A foundation in the sense that everyone has a human body and everyone benefits from a greater understanding of how that body is designed to move. I have yet to meet the average Jane, Joe or high level athlete that doesn't benefit from this type of training. It can open up whole new worlds and venues of movement exploration by providing a safe and functional basis of movement to build off of. A great example of this type of training is MOVNAT. A system developed by Erwin La Corre, designed bring healthy human movement back to the forefront of training.
- Sport Specific Functional Training- Training of this variety is always geared towards a very specific athletic attainment. Programs can be designed specifically to increase the functional use of vertical jumping ability in basketball or the speed of Olympic sprinters. The main requirement here is that the training doesn't create muscular development or movement patterns that run contrary to the main athletic goals. For instance long distance running does little for the sprinter other than waste his bodies resources, but unilateral strength and speed training will likely cut time off his 100 meter dash. In my personal experience most of my sport specific training has been in the martial arts, creating lots of balance, body control, and explosive strength without growing much body mass.
- Expressive Movement Training- This type of training isn't discussed as much as the two above, but it's effectiveness can't be denied. Expressive movement begins to cross the boundaries between physical training, emotional awareness, and mental presence. It requires a great deal of development in the areas of "inner awareness". This portion of the training is often called somatic training. The soma being the sum total of the body and its various sensations and experiences. In expressive movement training one is taught to get in touch with their own body to the degree that movements spring forth naturally from inner need and desire. For instance in one of my first experiences with this type of training I began to create rhythmic, pulsating, wave like motions of the spine. Not because I was told to, or because the program designed it, but because my body was asking for it and I had tuned in to a degree that it was incredibly obvious. The result was the healing of chronic back issue that had been plaguing me for years, an issue that no trainer, physical therapist, or doctor had had any success in fixing. This type of training will result in benefits that far out weigh mere physical performance, though I will save that for another time.
- Instinctive Movement Training- Instinctive training is basically skills training, but taken to the next level. For great examples of instinctive movement we can turn to the animal world. When a squirrel wants to get from one tree to another it does so in the most efficient way it knows how based on its abilities and the environment and circumstances. But don't take this to mean that the squirrel thinks about what its doing, at least not in the way we understand thought. These deductions are done often in an instant, the knowledge simply being inherent and the movement springing forth from the inner "knowing" as much as from the instantaneous out deductions based on the input from the senses. Humans have this same capacity, although its not usually active. It can be seen in top athletes from all areas of sport, and is particularly useful to athletes who's safety requires extremely fast reaction speeds as well as flawless technique. Good examples of this being combat athletes or free runners. These athletes are routinely presented with scenarios that would cause a great deal of stress (and therefor a likely breakdown in technique) and a great decrease in reaction time if they were to be thought about. Instinctive action can then be described as a uniting of mind and body in the present moment, a type of mental embodiment that the ancient Samurai would call zen. The training involves building instinctive skills with an emphasis on embodiment. The result when done properly is a presence and skill level that appears to the average observer as nearly superhuman.
If you have any questions or comments about the above training methods put a comment down below or reach me through the contact page.
