Functional Training: Missing the Point

Jim Kielbaso MS, CSCS - Total Performance Training Center

Something that I’m getting really sick of is the over-use, over-hype, and absolute MIS-use of the term “functional” training.  These days, you see trainers literally making up exercises under the guise of being part of the “functional training movement.”  They think that anything involving multiple planes of motions, a balance component, or unilateral limb use is automatically “functional.” 

 

I’ve actually seen a trainer at a local gym make a client stand on a BOSU ball on one leg with a weight belt around her waist attached to a pulley from behind.  She was in a position similar to a 1-leg RDL.  Her right hand was holding a pulley handle from in front of her, and her left hand was holding a dumbbell doing a rowing motion.  It was incredible to me that this client was paying $75 per hour for this.  I wish I had a picture of it because it almost sounds like I’m making it up, which is exactly what the trainer was doing.  I’m thinking about carrying a camera around more often just to document some of the funny crap I see at different gyms. 

 

You’ve also, no doubt, noticed all of the training programs centered around some sort of balance activity, or “proprioceptively enriched environment.”  I’ve got to be honest here…I use unstable surfaces for some exercises, but the term “proprioceptively enriched environment” actually makes me laugh.  There seems to be a need for some coaches to make themselves sound smart, and this is just another example.  I’m OK with the term “unstable surface,” but “proprioceptively enriched environment” is way over the top.  I guess if you turned it into an acronym is would be PEE, which I’m cool with. 

 

The problem with PEE’s is that there is absolutely no scientific evidence that suggests it is going to benefit an athlete that is not injured.  Almost every study out on PEE’s (can you feel the smile on my face every time I write PEE?) is done on injured athletes rehabilitating an injury.  I agree wholeheartedly that PEE’s are useful tools, especially for enhanced lower leg muscular activation, and certainly in rehab settings.  The problem is that people take it way too far. 

 

What began as squats on a padded mat has turned into standing on physio-balls, which is downright negligent if you ask me.  The claim that standing on a PEE activates the core musculature more than another surface is simply not backed up by the literature.  In fact, the NSCA Journal of S & C has published multiple articles recently demonstrating that there are actually reduced force production capabilities in the prime movers when standing on a PEE.  One of the studies had college soccer players doing work on PEE’s and by the end of the program, the non-PEE group had significantly greater results.

 

Some coaches use the argument that this will help athletes stabilize themselves in competition.  These same coaches say things like “the bench press is not functional because you’re never lying on your back pushing a bar up during a competition.”  OK, I can agree with that statement, but when are you ever standing on a giant ball during any sport?  Unless you’re the trainer for the Cirque De Soleil, there is no reason to put athletes at risk just to perform a “trick” like this.  I’ve actually heard of two stories where people got severely injured trying to do this.  That’s just not OK. 

 

Many of the exercises I see out there are nothing more than tricks.  You certainly have to practice a trick to get better at it, but it’s not necessarily going to help in any other area of your life.  If standing on a ball was going to make you a better athlete, then all great athletes would be good at standing on stability balls.  That, however, is not the case. 

 

Several years ago, the late, great Mel Siff explained at a conference that the righting patterns of the nervous system (that is, the firing patterns that take place when you’re off balance to help you regain your balance) are incredibly different when righting yourself on the ground vs. righting yourself on a ball, wobble board, or other PEE.  He explained that training on a PEE might activate additional musculature, but it would not be used in the same way as it will be on the ground.  He went on to say that there will be no transfer of skill from one balance drill to another because they use completely different neurological pathways to right the body. 

 

While visiting with strength coach Tim Wakeham at Michigan State a couple of years ago, I noticed that he was having some of his athletes perform squats while standing on Dyna-Disks.  When I asked why he had them doing this, I was expecting an answer that referenced several pieces of literature.  You see, Wakeham is easily one of the most well-researched strength coaches in the country.  He reads every piece of literature available, and he’s able to remember all of it when he creates programs for his athletes.  If anyone was going to have a good scientific answer, it was going to be him, so I was ready to be thoroughly educated. 

 

Instead, his answer was “it might help recruit the lower leg muscular a little bit more.”  It might?  Did that mean maybe? 

 

Yep, it meant maybe.  As I prodded him further, he explained that he felt there was no harm in the exercise, and it might have a nice benefit.  He also explained that it helps keep the athletes engaged because it’s something different and it forces them to stay focused.  That’s it.  No research citing improved proprioception.  No made-up answers about the magic of PEE.  I loved it.  Now, that made sense.  Brilliant. 

 

The problem is that many coaches and trainers don’t research this stuff enough to even know what they’re getting or not getting out of an exercise.  They just chalk it up to functional training, and everything is OK.  You can pretty much do whatever you want and just call it functional.

 

When Gary Gray began talking about functional training years ago, it wasn’t just about randomly making stuff up.  Sure, Gary makes stuff up all the time.  The difference between what Gary does and what many others do is that Gary actually has a reason for making up exercises.  He understands what a person needs to improve function.  He has a thorough understand of the human anatomy. 

 

His whole theory of functional training stems from learning how the body works together as a complete chain.  He talks about how everything affects everything.  So, when one muscle isn’t working properly, it can throw off the whole chain.  He is a master at figuring out what isn’t working properly, then attacking that area with an exercise to improve its strength.  That’s functional training.  Figuring out what isn’t working, and creating an exercise to help it work (or function) more effectively.  Again, brilliant.

 

But, the first step in the process is to figure out what is not working.  Many trainers skip that very important step, and just start making stuff up because it looks cool or because someone else was doing it.  They figure they can just do exercises in the name of function without really having a true understanding of how the body truly functions. 

 

An exercise is really only functional if it helps a person function better.  That obviously leaves things wide open for interpretation, but it kind of assumes that the exercise is specifically targeting a weakness in an effort to improve movement function.

 

For example, a female athlete with a pronounced valgus moment at the knee may need glute medius work to help stabilize the femur.  In that case, just about anything designed to target the glute med could be considered “functional.”  Or take a male lacrosse player who needs to add some a lot of strength and size in his upper body because he’s getting dominated on the field.  In that case, the bench press might actually be considered functional because it’s helping add some general upper body strength that is greatly needed.  It’s targeting his weak link.

 

So, if you’re trying out for the circus and you have to learn how to stand on a big ball, then standing on stability balls would be very functional.  Go for it.  But, if you need to improve your stabilization on the basketball court, standing on a ball may not be so functional.  If you sprained your ankle and you need to engage the lower leg musculature, doing squats on inflatable disks may be very functional.  But, if you’re trying to improve your maximal leg strength, it looks like it may not be so functional.  If you turn your feet out while you run because you lack transverse plane movement at the ankle, then an ankle mobility exercise would be functional.  It all just depends on the needs of each person. 

 

There are obviously many different versions and takes on functional training.  Try to think things through logically with scientific research as a way to support ideas or provide evidence for an opinion.  I encourage you to review the scientific literature (not just people’s opinions) and come up with your own conclusions.  In the meantime, you know you’ll always be on the right track to improving function when you choose exercises that are safe and target a weak link that may be affecting a person’s ability to function optimally.