Starting from the assumption that every athletic gesture and sport in general should always create and research positive and lasting effects in the daily life of each of us, through new and unique high-performance and rewarding work schemes, we have tried to develop a program training aimed at improving the multiple capacities and qualities of the organism. By stimulating the body to react positively to all those inputs that affect reactivity, performance, strength, endurance, musculoskeletal conditioning and motor coordination, it has been forced again to operate and cooperate in complete synergy and in a global way with himself.
The strategies adopted have in fact made it possible to create a model of work without limits of application, ideal for muscular and cardiac conditioning, very effective for improving the psycho-physical well-being of all those who practice it. Thanks to the use of an innovative teaching method - also enhanced by one's own imagination and by many specific tools introduced on the market by some specialized companies in the sector ( figure a ) - functional training took shape, which sanctioned the body as the be a single great entity, restoring full functionality to the kinetic chains during the course of each daily movement.
With functional training we operate by means of principles that range:
- from awareness and constant control of posture, joints and all bone segments during each movement, in search of maximum muscle synergy,
-from the involvement of the body on all planes of movement in space then; the frontal, sagittal, transverse, stimulation of proprioceptive receptors during all body destabilization exercises created with reduced or unstable support bases .
Among the fundamental characteristics of this specific physical activity there is the research, protection and enhancement by every means of the strengthening of the abdominal belt and paravertebral muscles ( figure b ), which take on great importance in the functional path, participating in improving global physical efficiency during training.
The abdominal muscles are arranged in fact as a four-sided corset also identified as " Core", which covers the front of the torso, from the sternum and ribs to the pubic bone, and extends around the pelvic girdle.
Specifically we can identify:
- The abdominal rectum: a long and flat muscle located on the front of the abdomen, from the sternum to the pubis, on the sides of an imaginary midline; it has the task of flexing the spine like when bending over or bending forward; it also protects and supports the organs contained in the abdomen.
- The external oblique: a muscle instead with oblique fibers that goes from the inferior part of the thoracic cage to the iliac crests. Its job is to flex the trunk to the side and rotate it as in twists.
- The internal oblique: a muscle that is in the same position as the external oblique but has the fibers directed in the opposite direction. Overall, these muscles work synergistically, working together in identical actions.
- The transversus of the abdomen: a muscle that is found under the two muscles previously listed; it has its fibers arranged transversely, participates in the assistance of the oblique abdominal muscles and contains the viscera.
- the square of the loins: composed of two muscles that are located on the sides of the spine and that go from the last rib to the iliac crests, on the front, it helps all the other muscles to perform their functions.
Conspicuously improving the muscular tonicity of the corset, it will improve the stability of the " Core ", which being stronger and tonic will help to increase the sensitivity, awareness and connection between the extremities of the body (bust, pelvis, legs), decreasing and reducing the unnecessary loss of strength and daily energy.
The functional system par excellence - in any context it will be practiced inside a modern structure particularly equipped ( figure c ), or simply in any outdoor location "( figure d ) - it must contain all those possible actions that allow a excellent management of kinetic chains and good physical conditioning to train the body to carry out all that daily life requires.
By inserting therefore dynamic, safe, short, intense exercises and small circuits with variable intensities, the training sessions can be organized for multiple objectives and must be designed according to multi-articular and multi-directional movements, by means of actions alternated by speed, resistance and pliometry, agility and sprint, inserting exercises of destabilization, balance and motor coordination ( figures and - f ).
For a sportsman looking for new performances, new functional adaptations or simply to get back in shape in a short time, this could be the best physical activity to open the mind again to training methods and teaching from the new concept of fitness, leading to great personal satisfaction and results never hoped for before, even in other competitive sports. Due to its specific characteristics and its effectiveness, functional training will have no application limit ( always remembering that there is no perfect program and that every exercise or training method must always be adapted and customized to each individual ) and can be reviewed, modified, resized and corrected, whenever it is desired, with the aim of truly becoming an irreplaceable " training " workout and useful for improving the physicality and the demands of all those competitive and amateur sports disciplines that require continuous adaptation to stimuli new and performance.
To plan a functional training, it will be necessary to evaluate the level of athletic preparation of the subject, which can be divided into:
- beginner,
- intermediate,
- advanced,
and the variables, which will be:
- the type of work (time or repetitions)
- working time (not more than 20 - 30 actual minutes total)
- recovery time
- the speed of execution
- load progression
- the choice of exercises
- the combination of exercises
- the planes of movement ( frontal - sagittal - transverse ).
Always bearing in mind that the main objective will remain the specific request of the client, in practice the search for improvement of all those structural deficiencies highlighted by the subject during each individual training must not be missing. " Even a highly trained athlete who will work to improve his specific discipline with advanced methods and exercises, may have some shortcomings that will force him to have to train (depending on an increase in psycho-physical conditioning), with beginner level exercises or intermediate " . The final result, to be satisfactory, will have to produce multiple improvements, which will have to be reflected in everyday life, helping individuals to better distribute their energies, giving a different shape to all activities, making them more active, dynamic, tireless and snappy whenever necessary.
