What is Functional Movement?

Transcript

hey guys what's going on in this video I'm gonna talk about just what is functional movement my experience with it and why I believe that if you're a runner you'd be seriously crazy to run one more step without it but before we get started don't forget to like this video and hit the bell for notifications so okay what is functional movement there are a variety of definitions out there but I'm gonna give you mine its movement with a purpose and that purpose is totally defined by you what is it that you want to do with your body do you want to run ride hike climb swim for me functional movement helps me to move better so that I can run a farther faster and stronger its movement practice that helps you to explore your range of motion from head to toe and in 360 degrees in my world by my definition that means a practice that includes traditional strength training yoga and functional range conditioning okay so why is functional movement important well first and foremost it helps your body to move better in 360 degrees and this is a concept a bit you'll hear me come back to time and time again it helps to build strength and stability around the joints and it keeps them well lubricated and moving smoothly functional movement is also really important because it helps us to get the right length tension relationship in the muscles when this relationship is out of balance our muscles feel tight or sore or like we just can't get everything out of them that we want or need one last important thing it gives the body a respite from your training so if you're running or riding or climbing or hiking all the time and doing nothing else you might want to think about incorporating some functional movement [Applause] so one of the most important elements of functional movement is that it helps you to build up a picture of how your body moves and how you move from side to side like does your right side move as fluidly as your left or is your right side on lockdown and so naturally we can use functional movement to help us understand where our strengths are where our weaknesses are and where we should really be spending more time all right with all of that said why is it an important part of your training plan well for me after years of running without functional movement I can honestly say that running with it is hands-down way better functional movement is a crucial part of your training plan because it helps you to build strength stability mobility flexibility range of motion and it builds in a little bit of rest rest that you probably should have in there but for whatever reason it's either not there in the first place or you skip it you might have heard me tell this story before but when I came to running home about ten or eleven years ago I already had really bad right sciatic pain in my hip it was so bad that I literally couldn't bend over to pick things up off the floor let alone put on my socks in my shoes to head out for a run and I tried to power through with the old rice protocol and some stretching but I knew that that was not going to be a long-term solution to this very severe problem it took me a number of years a myriad of doctor's appointments and a lot of experimentation before I finally discovered functional movement and the right balance of functional movement and running in my training plan the right balance that worked for me okay so when should you start a functional movement practice my answer is now second only to yesterday it is seriously never too late to start you're also never too old too tight or too inexperienced to do functional movement and those are by far the top three objections that I hear all the time how to start start with the basics if you haven't already dive down into the notes below and download my free pre run dynamic warmup it's a short movement practice that's perfect for somebody who's new to functional movement and there's literally no better time to start incorporating functional movement then right before you head out for a run okay guys that's it that's my definition of a functional movement a little bit about me and how I incorporate it into my training plan and why I believe that you'd be silly to run one more step without it as always if you like this video give it a thumbs up below and be sure to