What Is Functional Exercise (and Why Should You Care?)

Functional exercise sounds like one of those buzzwords that gets thrown around in fitness circles—but it’s actually just a fancy way of saying "training for real life." Think less about six-pack selfies and more about carrying your groceries without wincing or picking up your kid without throwing your back out.

At its core (pun fully intended), functional training focuses on movements that mimic everyday activities. Squatting, hinging, pushing, pulling, carrying, rotating—these are things your body does every day, whether you're at the gym or just trying to get your socks on without falling over. Functional exercise strengthens those movement patterns so you can move better, hurt less, and live a more capable life.

Instead of isolating muscles like a bodybuilder, functional training works multiple muscle groups at once. You’re not just training biceps—you’re training your whole body to work as a team. This builds strength, balance, coordination, and stability in ways machines and isolated exercises just can’t.

Bonus: it also makes you more injury-resistant. When your body learns how to brace, move, and stabilize under load, you’re much less likely to tweak your back during a game of backyard tag or while wrestling a suitcase into an overhead bin.

Some of my favorite functional exercises include single leg squats, single leg deadlifts,  carries, lunges, and bodyweight rows—all done with free weights, of course. And yes, there’s a healthy dose of core work too (planks, anyone?).

So if you’re tired of feeling stiff, fragile, or like your workouts don’t really translate to your everyday life, give functional exercise a try. You might not walk away with a trophy—but you’ll walk taller, move easier, and feel like a total boss doing it.