Brad Shaw
Functional training has muscled its way into gyms across the country, with celebrities like Joe Wicks and Vicky Pattinson swearing by it. But what exactly is this fitness craze, and why should you swap your usual bicep curls for something that looks suspiciously like picking up your shopping bags?
According to the experts, functional training isn’t about sculpting beach-ready muscles for Instagram—it’s about preparing your body for real life.
Whether it’s squatting down to pick up a toddler, lunging for a rogue football, or just pushing open a stubborn door, this training style mimics the movements we make every day.
“Functional fitness is a style of workout that prepares your body for life, rather than a specific event or competition,” explains Steven Virtue, Fitness Experience Manager at Total Fitness. “It enhances mobility and stability throughout the body, as well as improving muscle strength.”
More Than Just Reps and Sets
Traditional gym workouts tend to isolate muscles—chest on Monday, legs on Tuesday, repeat until bored. Functional training flips that on its head. Instead of hammering one muscle group at a time, it teaches your entire body to move as a unit.
That means improved balance, better posture, and less wear and tear from overloading a single area. In other words, you’re not just looking good—you’re moving better. “Strengthening the body in this way makes daily activities easier to perform and gives people a different type of fitness goal,” says Virtue.
Movements That Matter
You don’t need a shiny gym membership or an arsenal of weights to start. Functional training thrives on simplicity and can be scaled for all fitness levels. The staples are movements we all recognise—squats, lunges, push-ups, and deadlifts.
- Squat: Feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees, push your hips back, then rise up through your heels. It’s the motion you make when collapsing into—or escaping from—the sofa.
- Lunge: Step forward, sink into your hips, keep that back knee hovering just above the ground, then drive back up. Perfect for tackling stairs when the lift’s broken.
- Push-up: The humble test of grit. Core tight, elbows bent, push the ground away from you like you’re sick of it.
- Deadlift: With or without weights, hinge at the hips, keep your back straight, lower down, and power back up. It’s basically lifting your shopping bags—without the fear of something leaking.
For the adventurous, adding dumbbells, medicine balls, or kettlebells takes things up a notch.
Why Gyms Are Catching On
The rise of boutique fitness studios and gym chains investing in functional training zones is no accident. Members want workouts that feel relevant to their lives, not just a slog on the treadmill. Total Fitness has leaned in, creating large spaces kitted out with Curved Treadmills, Synrgy360 rigs, and Wattbikes to keep things fresh.
“All our members are supported in understanding the best way to approach functional training to coincide with their own fitness goals,” says Virtue.
How to Get Started Without Breaking Yourself
Like any training trend, functional fitness isn’t about diving in headfirst and hoping for the best. A proper assessment of your movement and strength is key before loading up on reps. Identify what’s working, what’s not, and then build from there.
“By identifying your strengths and weaknesses at the start, you can then work through the mechanics, focusing on your movement pattern and working at an appropriate intensity,” advises Virtue.
In other words, don’t try to squat like an Olympian if standing up from the couch is already an Olympic event. Start where you are, progress gradually, and the benefits—strength, mobility, and the smug satisfaction of moving through life with less creaking—will follow.
Functional training isn’t just a fad. It’s a smarter, more practical way to train for the real world. And if Joe Wicks is doing it, you can bet half the country will soon be lunging in their living rooms too.
