Advances in Functional Training: Training Techniques for Coaches, Personal Trainers and Athletes [Paperback]

If you're reading this review, you likely know what functional training is and probably know far more than I do about it. But for those who may not know, let me clarify.

At it's most basic, functional training is a classification of exercise which involves training the body for the activities performed in daily life.

So my interest in it is to make the second half of my life full of quality. I know that as we age we lose a tremendous amount of muscle, strength and power. To be able to lift large sacks of groceries and throw 50 pounds of dog food on your shoulder and take it to the basement without pain or effort, is functional to me. I'm not training for the NFL.

So, to a large extent, this book isn't written to me. In fact, the real audience for this book are coaches, personal trainers and athletes.

The author tells us, "Coaches need to move forward in their programming and use exercises that make sense and will actually reduce the potential of injury." That's the basis of the ideas in this book. Exercises that make sense and reduce the potential of injury.

ACE (American Council on Exercise) says, "At the extreme, some individuals believe that by mimicking the explosive, ballistic activities of high-level competitive athletes, they are training in a functional manner. All too often, however, such training programs greatly exceed the physiological capabilities of the average exerciser, which ultimately increases the possibility that an injury might occur. Most would agree that there is nothing functional about sustaining an injury due to improper training."

So the author, using many sources and resources, teaches the safe way to train for function. You won't find crunches or exercises that can be dangerous at most and ineffective at the least.

"The real key," says the author, "is for the athlete to possess a good ratio of pulling to pushing strength. This is best estimated by comparing an athlete's maximum number of pull-ups to his maximum bench press weight."

This is similar to the way yoga uses poses and counter-poses. In other words, if the front is not worked equal to the back, problems will crop up and injury can result. And when you work one area of the body, you need to do an equal amount of work to the opposite area of that muscle or muscle group.

The author tells us that pain in the knees is usually not a problem in the knees but the ankle or the hip. I found this valuable information as I always assumed that if you did knee exercises you would cure your knee problems. The truth is, according to the book, you only mask the symptoms. So, you have to exercise the area where the real problem exists if you want to cure the problem.

I was surprised to learn the author doesn't favor leg extensions in a functional training program. He recommends the slideboard leg curl variation, which is a classic yoga pose called the bridge. At least, it's similar.

Functional training trumps training for form or beauty --- unless that's what you're after. In truth, you won't look like Arnold Schwartznegger used to look unless you take steroids or have the right body type. And washboard abs are a dream for most people --- a dream that can't come true. You might have a flat stomach in your twenties. But that gives way to a more natural belly as you age. That doesn't mean it has to be a fat belly without a strong core, however. That's where functional training is so powerful.

According to the author, "The reality is, hypertrophy for most non-anabolic-using clients is very hard to come by. And one unfortunate problem with hypertrophy training is our concept of how to train for hypertrophy has also been heavily influenced by steroid users.

Hypertrophy may in fact be a function of diet and body type and really have very little to do with training style."

You'll learn a lot in this book. And, while it's written for the professional trainer and athlete, don't let that turn you off if you want to learn about training for function. I learned a lot from it and I'm not trainer or athlete. But I can put what I learned to use today. And so can you.

The book has a short section on terminology used in functional training. It has some suggested resources and an index. All that makes the book a high-quality product.

But, beyond that, there is not one typo, misspelling or grammar error. I say that because good editing is the exception today --- not the rule. Whenever I find a book that is error-free and edited perfectly, I have to mention it, just as I always mention horrible editing.

I highly recommend this well-written book to every coach, trainer and athlete and even to those like myself who train for the main event --- everyday living.

- Susanna K. Hutcheson

As an avid exerciser, I have found some excellent programs (e.g. Mark Verstegen's "Core Performance"The Core Performance: The Revolutionary Workout Program to Transform Your Body & Your Life), but eventually muscular adaptation and psychological boredom demand mixing up one's routine. Beyond searching for the "next best" workout, I have been eager to expand my knowledge about the underlying rationale for various workout programs, so that I could continually vary a routine of my own design. I am not a weekend warrior, and my days of varsity athletics are long behind--but I do have some old injuries (an ACL given up to the game of lacrosse) and am committed to being active well into my later years. So from this perspective, functional training is intensely interesting me.

I have no advanced training in athletic training, kinesiology, or any related fields, but this book is so rich in insights, that I feel much more well equipped to evaluate and craft a complete exercise program than the typical personal trainer at the local gym. And when I mean complete I am referring to thinking about joint mobility, joint stability, static flexibility, dynamic flexibility, injury prevention, balancing pushing and pulling exercises across multiple pains of motion (and doing the same with knee dominant versus hip dominant exercises), emphasizing unilateral exercises, rehabilitating a painful knee with a focus on eccentric movements and hip stabilizers, the role of core strength, developing power through appropriate use of Olympic Style lifts, the pitfalls of an over-emphasis on steady-state cadio endurance work & the benefits of intense intervals, and using foam rollers to enhance recovery and decrease muscle density. Phew!

The limitations: This is not written with the interested layman like myself in mind. The author presumes a degree of knowledge of his reader consistent with the target audience. For me this meant brief explanations of certain movements/exercises and a dearth of helpful images. There also seem to be some inconsistencies based on text that I suspect is left over from his previous publication Functional Training for Sports (I still can't quite figure out where Mr. Boyle stands on dead-lifts, for example). That said, this is an amazing resource for anyone interested in deepening their knowledge of athletic training or just plain old effective exercise.

I don't like flavor - of - the - day fitness books, with pretty models demonstrating the latest fitness fad. I like solid, practical information that I can actually use, that helps me train, improve, and stay healthy and injury free. This is my kind of book.

In my opinion, Mike Boyle's background sets him apart from the pack. As a physical therapist, he has a strong academic background and is an actual health care provider. He's a prolific writer with original ideas and a cogent, consistent approach. He's worked with athletes at all levels in a variety of sports, for a long time.

Functional training - this idea has been so talked-about, used and misused, that it is in danger of losing its original meaning. Boyle is "old school" functional training: training methods that are aimed at developing the body in the ways that it is naturally designed to work, the way that it functions best on the track, in the field, and on the job. Not pointless stunts in the gym, done with rubber balls, bongo boards, etc.

This book is really dense with information. Personally I am irritated when I buy a fitness related book and find it is mostly pictures of someone in under-armor demonstrating exercises, with very little information on why to do the exercises, and how to put a program together. This book is the opposite: detailed, well thought out information on everything from the rotator cuff to the forty yard dash times to Olympic lifting to periodization to ... you get the point. For example, in one chapter he discusses treadmills with some very surprising information about a type of treadmill that is less well known but for most people far superior to most of the treadmills on the market. This information helped one of my customers select treadmills for their training studio, and his clients LOVE them.

His earlier work, Functional Training for Sports, was (and is) a great book and a solid introduction to some of Boyle's core concepts; this new book includes that information and expands on it dramatically, and includes many, many topics not discussed in the original book. It is not just an update or revised edition, it is a far more complete work. Whatever you do, you will learn a lot that you can use in your training, or your client's or team's training.

Performing at a high level and having a long career: that is what every athlete wants; and I think Mike Boyle has achieved this as a writer. I'm giving it five stars.

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