At TFP we believe functional training is all about making the body and mind function better for whatever your life presents you. First and foremost, functional training should mitigate the risk of injury to your body. If your “so called” functional training is injuring you and dis-enabling your body to function, well then it is not really very functional is it!? We believe true functional training needs focus on a some key elements; mobility, flexibility, strength and stability. It also means that you need to move in all planes of motion: forward, back, up, down, side to side and in rotation all with and without load. Full body primal patterns: Squat, Lunge, Hinge, Push, Pull, Twist and Walk are all fundamentals to great functional training but there is more to it than just that….

At TFP we believe a program that undulates and has enough variables to keep the mind and body active, interested and above all invested is imperative to great functional training as it represents the variables that life presents us with. It means that we value lifting, meditation, high intensity interval training and yoga or equally because they create a holistic training platform that keeps the body and mind happy. Different loads, different movements, different intensity are all explored at the functional project just like they are explored in day to day life. Kettlebells, Ropes, Barbells, bodyweight, TRX, Balloons and Pool Noodles all have their purpose! This does not mean we throw a bunch of random exercises, with random tools in a random circuit at you, nor is it just about getting your heart rate up to smash, destroy or kill you just for the sake of it. We’d rather focus on a program specific to you: Your mind, your breath, your body, your needs. Your mind is the epicentre of movement and therefore training should always be a mindful experience. Your breath plays a huge part in all forms of training to guide the body, to calm the body and to allow the body to flow and move naturally. Your body is unique and should be treated as such, regardless of whether you are training in a small group or 1 on 1. We keep our class sizes small so that we can progress and regress people according to what their bodies are capable of rather than treating everyone the same when they are not!

At TFP we believe the most important element to functional training is valuing the experience over the results. This is a complete break from an industry that is so hell bent on results, results, results. But we have some very clear reasons as to why…For starters, if you just have results in mind you will do anything to get there, you will be unnecessarily hard on yourself for so called “failures” along the way. We see this all the time, people fixating on goals that are attainable or unattainable but then crashing early because they don't like the training, they fall of the wagon with their nutrition or they get injured. If you do happen to have great will power and reach the result often we see people discontinue and go back to where they started because there is nowhere to go once the goal has been reached. However if you value the experience based training, truly understand it, love it and live in the present with it every time you train then you are guaranteed results that last a lifetime. If the experience is truly enjoyable and fun which in turn naturally produces serotonin because you legitimately are enjoying yourself, if it has clear indicators like the use of our google drive and polar heart technology which track your performance each time you train to show you your improvements, then you’ve built a foundation that is entrenched within you and your functional training is not about tomorrow, next week or next month, it is purely a part of your day that you can’t fathom to live without and you will always get the results you’re after and the results you deserve.

As the fitness industry has developed over the last 10 years, we have seen an increased awareness in the importance of Self Myofacial Release (SMR). In other words we have learned that giving ourselves a short massage is a really important thing to do. The benefits of SMR are many and if you're not doing this regularly then get started before your bodies starts to break down.

So why do we get sore and tight?

There are multiple reasons why the body gets sore and tight, but the main reasons are; an imbalance between strength and mobility training, an imbalance between moderate/high intensity training and mobility training, sitting for too long, poor flexibility, poor posture, poor nutrition, poor movement patterns, not enough water, not enough rest and too much stress.

How does SMR work?

Self myofascial release works by applying pressure or compression to the desired part of the body via the form an external tool such as a foam roller or lacrosse or trigger point ball. The comprehesion helps to break down the adhesions within that part of the body and increase blood flow to the area affected to help it recover. Furthermore by freeing up one area, we can assist the range of other areas within that fascial chain. Fascia is the complex web of connective tissue that lines our muscles. Due to this fact, we can create change within one part of the body by working another in its fascial network. For example, by applying SMR to the feet we can increase the short term length the hamstrings. Crazy huh!!? In short by consistently performing SMR you will increase your mobility and flexibility of your entire body, long term.

What are the benefits of SMR? Improves joint range of motion.

Re-hydrates the affected area.

Corrects muscle and fascial imbalances.

Relieves muscle soreness and joint stress. Improves neuromuscular efficiency. Improves muscular length.

Helps keep the body supple.

How do I do SMR work at home if I don't have a foam roller or tigger point ball?

SIMPLE!! #COCONUTOIL