Functional Exercises You Can do at Home or Out of Town

One great way to stay active and help prevent pain and injury is with functional fitness — or simple exercises that use many muscle groups at once. Functional fitness helps you stay strong and flexible as you go about your life. Simply put: It’s about preparing your body for everyday life; especially when you can't get to the gym or your are traveling.

7 simple functional fitness exercises

You may be familiar with most functional fitness exercises, which are easy to do at home and usually require little to no equipment. Some examples include:

1. Squats for your legs, stomach, and lower back.

2. Lunges for your upper legs and glutes.

3. Planks for your core, back, and shoulders.

4. Push-ups for your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core.

5. Pull-ups for your biceps, triceps, forearms, wrists, shoulders, and core.

6. Shoulder presses for your core, shoulders, and back. Tip: To help prevent injury, try sand-filled weights instead of dumbbells.

7. Stackers for your whole body. Not familiar with stackers? Here’s what to do:

• Stand with your feet a little more than shoulder’s width apart and pretend to hold a basketball straight out in front of you.

• Bend at the waist to reach and tap the outside of your left heel.

• Then reach back up and across your body to the right, as if you’re stacking a box on a shelf right above your shoulder.

• As you twist across your body, your left heel may come off the ground as you pivot your hips to the right.

If you have body parts that you want to strengthen and tone, please contact one of our trainers. We are here to help.