Zack George, Body Power ProTeam Member and professional CrossFit athlete, talks us through his three favourite functional fitness exercises, and where you’ll see the benefits in your everyday life.  

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Functional training is so beneficial in that it focuses on workouts and exercises that prepare your body for real-life activities—things like carrying your shopping, picking up heavy items or holding your own bodyweight. I’m going to list my top three functional movements that are so effective at working multiple muscle groups and have extreme benefits to our day-to-day lives.

Deadlift

The deadlift is one of the best compound movements available, and is replicated so often in everyday life when you think about how many times you lift things off the floor, like picking up children, or moving furniture around the house.

For those who aren’t familiar with the deadlift, it’s the motion of picking up an object from the floor and standing up tall with it, and is most commonly performed with a barbell and weight plates. Stand next to the barbell, keeping it nice and close to the shins, back nice and straight, chest up and core tight. Then, lift the barbell from the floor, keeping it close to your body all the way up to a standing position.

The deadlift engages your quads, hamstrings, glutes, core, shoulders, grip—pretty much every muscle will be working throughout the movement. Having a good deadlift with correct form will help build a bulletproof body that’s well-prepared for lifting anything in everyday life.

Zack George-Deadlift

Farmer’s Carry

Exercise number two on my list would be a farmer’s carry—this is where you hold two objects of the same weight either side of your body and walk a certain distance. You can use anything like dumbbells, kettlebells or a barbell with weight plates (check out these dedicated farmer’s carry bars), either moving up in weight or carrying them across further distances as you progress.

The farmer’s carry is great for improving your grip strength—ideal for bringing all of the Christmas shopping in to the house—and builds a stronger core too, which can help boost your flexibility and balance while reducing the risk of back pain.

Bodyweight Squat

Exercise number three on my list would be the bodyweight squat. This is like the deadlift in a sense, as it uses multiple muscle groups at the same time. The squat is great for your quads, hamstrings, glutes and core, and gets your knees used to letting you get low to the ground, which is something you’ll find yourself doing often to pick up heavy items.

As the name suggests, you don’t need any equipment to perform bodyweight squats. Even without any added resistance, they help to build a solid foundation that will benefit you every day.

By performing these functional movements at least once or twice a week—with correct form and under the right load—I’m sure you’ll notice the benefits in your everyday life and reap the rewards of a stronger body.

Guest post by Zack George, professional CrossFit athlete and Body Power ProTeam member. Follow Zack on Instagram here!