A functional fitness routine can support everyday activities

Generally, we all know that we need to keep certain internal systems functioning well as we age – all those tubes and strands and odd-shaped blobs we see in that poster on the doctor’s wall (which probably displays a little more than we really want to know about our insides). 

If we eat and drink in healthy patterns, sleep well, take the right medications or supplements and get checked out regularly (or quickly when something crops up), that’s about all we can do. We can then leave the insides to the experts and their equipment that, sometimes uncomfortably, checks out all that stuff.

But there seems to be a never-ending barrage of suggestions about how we keep the outside healthy – the structure that holds us together and helps us move. There might be some clarity in “functional fitness,” an approach that focuses on how we simply maintain basic operations.

This isn’t to say that seniors shouldn’t run in marathons, sweat through long afternoons on the pickleball court or participate in weight-lifting competitions, but there are some important fundamentals to maintain day-to-day fitness and longevity.

“Functional fitness is essentially training your body to handle real-life situations rather than just looking good in a mirror,” said Adam Baker, a certified personal training and nutrition coach at Midway Motion & Fitness in Rehoboth. “Rather than isolating individual muscles, functional fitness focuses on integrated movement patterns, or how muscles, joints and the nervous system work together to produce strength, stability, balance and mobility.”

Baker said it can create neuromuscular efficiency, which means your brain talks to your muscles quickly and accurately to prevent falls, for instance. “It can preserve or improve capacities to do all things possible and even regain a thing or two you may not have thought you could,” he said.

The National Academy of Sports Medicine, which certifies professional trainers like Baker, defines functional fitness simply as “a type of training that focuses on movements that help you function better in your everyday life.” 

This type of exercise also is specific to you – your abilities and needs. So, while one person might just want to lift a grocery bag, open a jar or slide a dining chair, others want to climb a ladder or kneel to yank a weed. 

To start, you might do a self-assessment, thinking about which activities you need and which ones are challenging. You can also consider things you want to do that might not be typical – like stepping over the leash of an overactive pooch or satisfying a passion for ballroom dancing. 

NASM also recommends you have a regular schedule involving exercise at least two days a week, and ideally four. A trainer can help with an evaluation, suggestions about exercises and appointments for regular guidance.

Following are four exercises Baker recommends to get you started.

Sit-to-stand: Mimics the critical skill of getting out of a chair. How: Stand in front of a sturdy chair. Cross arms over your chest. Sit down slowly and with control. Tap the seat and drive through your heels to stand up. Benefit: Strengthens quadriceps and glutes while training the brain to shift weight correctly.

Farmer's carry: Mimics carrying groceries or luggage. How: Hold a weight (dumbbell, kettlebell or even a heavy water bottle) in each hand. Stand tall with your shoulders back and walk in a straight line for 30-50 feet. Benefit: “This is deceptive; it looks like an arm exercise, but it is a dynamic core exercise, forcing your stabilizer muscles to fire so you don't tip over while moving. It improves gait and grip strength, which are strongly correlated to longevity,” Baker said.

Glute bridge: “We sit too much, which tightens our hip flexors and weakens our glutes,” said Baker. How: Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat. Squeeze your glutes to lift your hips toward the ceiling until you form a straight line from knees to shoulders. Pause, then lower. Benefit: Opens up the front of the hips for mobility while strengthening legs for stability and benefiting lower back. 

Bird dog: Improves balance and spinal health. How: On hands and knees, extend an opposite arm and leg simultaneously for a few seconds, then switch (left arm-right leg, then right arm-left leg). Benefit: Excellent for coordination and teaching the spine to remain stable while the extremities move, helping prevent back injuries during daily movement. 

Baker also recommends exercises that promote core control, such as planks (holding in the top position of a standard push-up) or standing on a single leg. Others recommend seated knee lifts or standing side-leg raises.

Experts also recommend climbing stairs for exercise or stepping up on a step and back down repeatedly, alternating feet. Also beneficial are lunges (squatting with one leg in front like a runner starting a race), but with support as needed from a chair, going only as low as is comfortable.