Three Ways to Sell Functional Training

Functional training isn’t just about flipping tires or climbing ropes, and it goes far beyond high-intensity weighted squats, pull-ups and kettlebell swings.

For most people, that doesn’t sound fun or, for that matter, safe.

Reaching a wide range of clients using functional training requires a complete understanding of what it really means. Better defined as results-oriented training, functional training is a program that helps clients perform activities of daily life better. 

For the professional athlete, functional training may mean a high-intensity workout like the one described above. But it doesn’t have to. Programs can be tailored to help people get off the couch easier, run or walk without joint pain, or lift their kids without strain.

The trick is getting buy-in from your client, designing the right program to fit his or her needs and progressing at a rate that best suits his or her abilities and goals.

Offer functional training with these three results-oriented packages and you’ll satisfy all of those needs:

• Get a Better Butt for Your Jeans: Just because you’re selling the ultimate butt-sculpting workout, that doesn’t mean you spend 60 minutes every session doing stability ball knee tucks. Improve core strength and build muscle in the lower body with functional movements like standing medicine ball trunk rotations, stability ball Russian twists, standing cable rotations and compound exercises that boost balance while working multiple muscle groups. The result will be a stronger core, which includes that firmer gluteus maximus everyone wants.

• Stronger and Sculpted Arms: The same theory for butt packages applies to packages that tout stronger and sculpted arms. Boost muscle in the upper body with exercises like stability ball shoulder mobilizations that will give your clients the results they want, while helping them restore much-needed stability so they can lift easier. Other exercise ideas to consider incorporating include bodyweight dips, pull-ups (modified if necessary) or standing dumbbell overhead triceps extensions.

• Get Summer-ready: With the exception of performance athletes, most clients list weight loss as a personal goal. Total-body functional movements like forward lunges with arm drivers or dumbbell front squats can help them drop pounds and improve strength and tone in multiple muscle groups. Barbell bent-over rows or walking lunges with twists are also great options.

Learn more about functional training and how it applies to different clients by signing up for our ACE Functional Training and Assessment Workshop, June 16, 2012, in five cities across the U.S. You’ll learn training techniques that help clients improve posture, movement efficiency and overall muscular performance in the one-day, 8.5-hour workshop. For more information, visit ACEfitness.org/FTWorkshop.