Best Functional Strength-Training Workout Experts Swear By

Training specific body parts has a place in every lifter’s regimen. Hell, some of the top bodybuilders in the world attribute split and isolation training as the key to their success. But if pro bodybuilding isn’t in your future, you’ll probably want to train in a way that helps you in everyday life—carrying groceries, picking up your kids, and taking long walks with your dog. Functional strength training can help you in the real world, not just within the confines of a bodybuilding stage. 

While most strength coaches hate the term “functional exercises” because every exercise has a function, this type of training can help improve your ability to perform everyday tasks or sports skills, build overall strength and balance, and augment your resistance to injury. Plus, it’s perfect if you’re in a time crunch because it utilizes exercises that work multiple body parts, not just one muscle group. 

This functional training workout plan is perfect for getting in and out of the gym in under 45 minutes. It prioritizes the most important functional movement patterns (squats, lunges, deadlifts, and presses, to name a few), while ramping up the heart rate and torching fat. 

Related: 10 Exercises to Make the Best Upper-Body Workout of All Time

What Is Functional Strength Training?

Functional strength training is a type of exercise that utilizes movements that can help you perform better in everyday life. While the bro split has its use (it can be great for building muscle) it isn’t always the best option for those of us who have busy schedules or individuals who are training more for functionality and less for a massive chest and six-pack abs. Functional exercises like deadlifts can translate into your day-to-day—from moving furniture to picking up your kids and carrying groceries into the house. 

Best Functional Strength Training Workout

Circuit 1: Vertical Push/Pull

Equipment Needed: Three sets of dumbbells.

1. Dumbbell Deadlift

How to Do It

1. To start, stand with your feet hip-width apart and place a pair of dumbbells on the floor in front of you on either side of your feet.
2. Reach down and grab the dumbbells with a neutral grip as you drop your hips.
3. Keeping a flat black, extend your hips to stand up, and pull the dumbbells up along your body until lock-out, as your hips drive through and your shoulders move back.
4. While pulling, keep your eyes on the ground a few feet in front of you.
5. Carefully lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
6. That’s 1 rep.
7. Perform 3 sets of 10 reps, resting 1 minute between sets. 

2. Dumbbell Goblet Squat

How to Do It

1. Hold a dumbbell by one of the ends with both hands under your chin, to start. 
2. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointed out at about 30 degrees. 
3. Take a deep breath and bend your hips back and lower into the squat, pushing your knees out and keeping your lower back in its natural arch. 
4. Squeeze your glutes as you come back up. 
5. Perform 3 sets of 10 reps, resting 1 minute between sets. 

3. Dumbbell Push Press

How to Do It

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder level and stand with feet shoulder-width apart, to start. 
2. Dip your knees quickly and use the momentum to explosively press the weights overhead. 
3. That’s 1 rep. 
4. Perform 3 sets of 10 reps, resting 1 minute between sets. 

Circuit 2: Horizontal Push/Pull  

Equipment Needed: Step platform, Dumbbells, Smith Machine (or empty squat cage)

1. Dumbbell Deficit Reverse Lunge

How to Do It

1. Grasp a dumbbell in your right hand and stand on a step or block that raises you a few inches above the floor.
2. Step back with your right foot and lower your body until your left thigh is parallel to the floor and your rear knee nearly touches the floor.
3. Keep your torso upright. Step forward to return to the starting position. 
4. That’s 1 rep.
5. Perform 3 sets of 20 strides per leg, resting 1 minute between sets. 

Pro Tip

Make sure the trailing leg touches the ground.

2. Inverted Rows 

How to Do It

1. Go to a Smith machine or squat rack and place the bar at waist level, to start.
2. Sit on the floor and position your hands as if you were going to do a bench press (your palms should face the ceiling).
3. Now, straighten your body so you’re hanging from the bar with your feet shoulder-width apart and your heels pressing into the floor.
4. Pull yourself up so your chest touches the bar, then slowly lower yourself back down, keeping your body straight and rigid.
5. Perform 3 sets of 10 reps, resting 1 minute between each set. 

3. Kettlebell Turkish Getup

How to Do It 

1. Lying on your back, grab the weight with your left hand, and lift and lock your arm, to start.
2. Bend your left knee, and keep your right leg straight out on the ground.
3. Then, pushing off your left foot, roll onto your right hip and come up onto your right elbow.
4. Push up onto your right hand, and bring your back off the ground.
5. Next, thread your right leg back into a kneeling position.
6. Your arm should still be locked out.
7. From this kneeling position, take a deep breath, tighten your core, and lunge forward to a standing position.
8. Reverse the process to come back down to the starting position.
9. Complete 3 sets of 3 reps per arm, resting 15 seconds between each set. 

Pro Tip

Use weight that equals 75 percent of your push press weight for one of the dumbbells.

Related: The 7 Best Exercises to Build Brute Strength

Circuit 3: Core Strength

Equipment Needed: Pullup bar, empty barbell, and four five pound plates.

1. Plank Drag

How to Do It

1. Start in a high plank, balanced on your palms and balls of your feet, with the weight set to the left side of your body, just behind your palms. 
2. Reach your right hand across your body to grasp the lip of the weight, then drag it until it’s under your right palm. 
3. Return your right palm to the floor, grab the weight with the left hand, and pull left for 1 rep.
4. Perform 3 sets of 3 reps, resting 15 seconds between each set. 

2. Hanging Leg Raises

How to Do It

1. Hang from a pullup bar and flex at the hips, to start.
2. Raise your legs until they’re perpendicular to your torso and then lower them back down to the hanging position.
3. That’s 1 rep. 
4. Perform 3 sets of 10 reps, resting 15 seconds between sets. 

Pro Tip

If keeping your legs straight out is too difficult, bend them at a 90-degree angle. 

3. Standing Russian Twist 

How to Do It

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, to start. With your arms slightly bent, hold a weight plate in both hands directly in front of your body just under your chest. 
2. Turn to one side, pause for a brief moment, and turn to the other side. 
3. Complete 3 sets of 10 reps (per side), resting 15 seconds between sets. 

Circuit 4: 3-Minute Metabolic Bodyweight Finisher 

Equipment Needed: Pullup bar, floor space

1. Pullup/Pushup Descending Ladder

How to Do It

1. Perform 8 pullups, and immediately drop down and do 8 pushups. 
2. Without resting, jump up for 7 pullups, and 7 pushups. 
3. Continue this descending fashion, until finishing off with 1 pullup and 1 pushup.

Related: 50 Best Leg Exercises for 2024

Source
Las Vegas News Magazine