Functional Conditioning
Useful Strength for All Activities
Strength You Can Use
The concept of useful strength is the very basis of the functional conditioning approach. Useful strength can be applied to any situation whether it's sport-specific or life-generic. Useful strength doesn't lead to injury, rather it allows the body to operate consistently and healthily. After all, what is the point, or usefulness, of developing strength that can only be effectively put to use at the gym?
Mirror Muscles vs. Useful Strength
Traditional weight training seldom addresses the body’s true needs. Numerous athletes have the outward appearance of fitness; they’re lean, muscular, & apparently healthy. But how many athletic individuals do you know who complain of nagging or even debilitating back, knee, or neck pain?
The sad truth of the matter is that most resistance training routines only condition the aesthetic “mirror muscles” or those muscles that enhance one’s appearance but do little when it comes to the structural support system of muscles and connective tissue that a healthy, freely-moving body relies upon.
Is Your Strength Useful?
How useful is a well-defined back if you can’t do a single, unassisted pull-up? How about a chiseled chest that can bench press your own body weight but an abdomen that is so weak you can’t do five correct push-ups? Sure, you can crank out 200 crunches, but can you support your low back without a brace or a weight belt when you move furniture? And how sensible are inflated quads and calves when you still battle hip and knee pain after a 2-mile jog?
Stability, Stability, Stability!
If your muscles can only alter a joint’s position but fail miserably at first stabilizing that joint, your resistance training routine is falling short on a number of levels. Almost everyone has performed a simple, daily task only to experience a blinding flash of pain which affects his/her mobility for days, weeks, or even months to come. A properly conditioned individual will rarely, if ever, have to endure such unexpected and unmerited discomfort.
A TRULY Strong Core
A person's core is comprised of far more than the “six-pack”. There are deeper-lying, far more important muscles and muscle groups which are largely responsible for stabilizing the spine, pelvis, and shoulders. Properly conditioning the real core muscles builds actual core strength and enhances the ability to stabilize your joints effectively. Without this stabilization, not only is energy wasted, but a person becomes far more likely to sustain joint pain or serious injury.
Proper Core Conditioning
Properly conditioning your structural muscular system is a bit more complex and less intuitive than performing, for example, an abdominal crunch. Crunching your midsection very evidently activates the 6-pack, but how do you properly activate your multifidus, transverse abdominis, quadratus lumborum?
If you're like most people, you're not even aware these muscles exist let alone are responsible for keeping you upright and mobile. And why should you be. But, without a good understanding of a body's core musculature and its function, many core workouts are little more than glorified abdominal training, and most often the 6-pack is the only abdominal muscle exercised.
Circuit Training
By blending compound, multi-joint movements, or movements involving multiple muscle groups, with balance challenges and flexibility-enhancing movement patterns, you can condition your body to excel in almost any environment, work time or play time. Combine this approach with a circuit format, and you receive the many benefits of strength training while furthering the challenge placed upon your heart and lungs. Your cardio training is part and parcel!
So by training for 30-60 minutes, 2-3 times each week, you'll more closely realize your body's immense potential, and most importantly, you can do it pain-free and have a little fun in the process.
Cost
Circuit Training Classes
$20/class
Monthly Packages
2 classes/week: $150
3 classes/week: $200
4 classes/week: $250
5 classes/week: $300
6 classes/week: $350
(Packages apply to Cycling and Weight Training Classes)
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