Functional training exercises compete with machine-based workouts in DC gyms
12.01.10
"The day of isolated movements on machines is over," predicts Doug Jeffries, owner of Results Gym , which has four locations in Washington. Although the traditional 15-piece circuit won't vanish at any of his clubs, Jeffries and his team are removing duplicates and dedicating the newly open space to what is called functional training. The idea is to place front and center the exercises that mimic the tasks of daily life, such as squatting and grabbing something off the floor and standing on an unstable surface without falling.
Ed Ingebretsen, Results's director of training, has always steered his clients away from what he refers to as "rehab equipment" and toward the toys: medicine balls, resistance bands, kettlebells, Bosu balls, boxes, agility ladders, cones.
"Fitness isn't sitting on a machine," he says. And for every machine, he explains, there's a real-world equivalent that's a better choice. You could bang out reps on a leg-press machine, or you could do squats, which also engage the core and improve balance. You could do leg extensions and curls on machines, or you could combine the two moves into a lunge and add upper-body work with biceps curls.
Source: Washington Post
