These Exercises Will Keep You Fit For Life

Life is all about movement. We go somewhere, bend to pick up things, run to flee from danger or move hands to carry luggage.

And just like cars, body parts need to be serviced regularly to enable people to execute such movements effectively.

According to fitness experts, this goal can be achieved by performing specialised exercises that strengthen muscles used to perform routine tasks.

This approach to exercise, known as functional fitness, is slowly gaining ground in Kenya as more people struggle to look for exercises that suit their varied lifestyles.

“This is where fitness is going. It’s the new way of doing things, where you basically train your muscles to help you do everyday activities safely and efficiently,” said Edmund Mujumba, a group fitness instructor at Alpha Fit gym, a new fitness centre specialising in functional fitness workouts.

He says that these exercises cushion muscles and joints from damage or injury arising from life tasks that lead to premature ageing and disability.

“If you want to remain strong, agile and functional at different life stages, then functional exercises are a must.”

According to him, most Kenyans tend to view exercises as a means to an end, mostly for aesthetic purposes.

People often enrol in gyms with the aim of losing the pot belly, reducing weight or getting abs. And once those goals are achieved, they stop keeping fit as they no longer see the value of the exercises.

Mr Mujumba says that functional fitness attunes the mind to look at physical fitness as a journey and not a destination. It enables people to embrace exercises as a way of life and not a means to an end.

“You exercise continuously so your body keeps functioning at optimal levels. That is the basic rationale for physical activity. This improves life quality and makes you happy. And if you’re consistent, the aesthetics will follow naturally.”
Under functional fitness, there are different types of workouts which include cross-fit, cross-training and interval-training.

Unlike conventional gyms that rely heavily on machines like treadmills, he notes that functional fitness gyms focus on equipment that bank more on people’s physical strength during work-outs.

“We want to mimic real life situations as much as possible because when you go about daily life activities, it’s your body that does the work. Machines don’t propel you.”

Examples of functional fitness equipment include kettle balls, air resistance bikes, indoor rowing machines, slam balls, battle ropes, suspension trainers, plyometric boxes and Sled machines which build strength and endurance.

According to Mr Mujumba, functional fitness programmes promote workouts that teach upper and lower body muscles to work together in unison.

This is important because daily life activities such as walking, cooking, bathing, or rising up and down from a chair usually utilise multiple muscles.
And if they are not in sync, certain muscles will be overworked leading to injuries such as back pain.

Examples of exercises that engage different body muscles include swimming, squats, box jumps, dead lifts, side lunges and calf raises.

When training for functional fitness, the fitness instructor says, that people perform varied exercises at different levels of intensity.

So, instead of just jogging at a constant pace, people will be required to run at varied speeds throughout a workout session.

“You may begin with a slow run, then sprint midway and jog at some point.”

This kind of training, he notes, prepares people for the upheavals of normal life. They also make muscles more agile and able to adapt to different stress levels.

“In life, you won’t always walk at a constant pace. Sometimes you have to jog when running to the bus stop. And you may have to sprint when fleeing from danger.”

Mr Mujumba notes that in functional fitness, there is a lot of emphasis on anaerobic exercises as opposed to conventional aerobic ones that rely on oxygen.
Anaerobic exercises refer to short-lasting, high intensity physical activity where the body’s demand for oxygen exceeds the supply available.

“When this happens, the body is forced to rely on energy sources stored in the muscles hence making them stronger.”

Examples of anaerobic exercises include heavy weight lifting, rope jumping, hill climbing, interval training and all types of sprints (running or biking).

He adds that functional fitness also improves people’s body balance thus helping them to reduce their risk of falls while engaging in daily activities like running up the stairs, reaching for something overhead, or balancing the baby and groceries.

Exercises that are good at building body balance include lunges, step-ups, agility drills, one leg stands, leg swings and squat jumps.