Functional Training and Beyond: Building the Ultimate Superfunctional Body and Mind (Building Muscle and Performance)

224 Pages·2020·8.2 MB·english

by  iSnicki

Croker2016
Croker2016
PRAISE FOR FUNCTIONAL
TRAINING AND BEYOND
“Adam has an extraordinary and unquenchable thirst for
knowledge that draws the reader in and opens up a whole
new world of functional fitness. He doesn’t just think outside
the box; he breaks the box right down, giving anyone and
everyone an inspiring and motivating view on health and
fitness for the mind and body. This is a must-read book.
Adam has an unbelievable depth of knowledge stemming
from a very genuine passion and fascination in his subject. If
anyone needs to find something to motivate them to get fit
and find a different way of looking at health and fitness, look
no further!”
—Alex Gregory, English rower and a two-time Olympic
Gold medalist
“Adam on The Bioneer is one of the most intellectual and
informative people I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching.
Each video leaves you blessed with new knowledge quite
helpful for everyday life. He’s a great creator and I respect his
work.”
—Jordan “JaxBlade” Downs
“Adam is the new breed of educator and has loaded
Functional Training and Beyond with a ton of information
not contained in any one text—not even mine. Adam covers
definitions, physiological processes, cognitive and neural
mechanisms of movement, different training perspectives,
and ties all in with historical accounts and applications. I
recommend this book to all personal trainers, training geeks,
and people who just want to learn about different training
methods and philosophies.”
—JC Santana, author of Functional Training
Adam Sinicki

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© Copyright 2020 Adam Sinicki
Cover and Interior Layout Design: Jermaine Lau
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Functional Training and Beyond: Building the Ultimate Superfunctional Body
and Mind
ISBN: (p) 9911411110710111450484954
BISAC: SPO047000, SPORTS & RECREATION / Training
LCCN: Requested from the Library of Congress
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of
the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.
Table of Contents
Introduction 
Welcome to Functional Training and Beyond 
Chapter 1 
Why We Need to Go Beyond Regular Training 
Chapter 2 
What Is SuperFunctional Training? 
Chapter 3 
The Science of Movement and Strength 
Chapter 4 
The Current State of Training 
Chapter 5 
The Forgotten History and Techniques of Physical
Culture 
Chapter 6 
Kettlebells:
A Secret Weapon for Functional Power 
Chapter 7 
Unusual Tools for Unusual Strength 
Chapter 8 
Mastering Your Body 
Chapter 9
(Re)Learning to Move 
Chapter 10 
The Evolution of Movement 
Chapter 11 
The Mind-Body Connection 
Chapter 12 
Enhancing Plasticity for Skills and Intelligence 
Chapter 13 
Self-Mastery and Physical Intelligence 
Chapter 14 
Ultimate States of Human Performance 
Chapter 15 
Energy: The Ultimate Force Multiplier 
Chapter 16 
Integration: Becoming SuperFunctional 
Chapter 17 
What Will You Become? 

Acknowledgements 
About the Author
INTRODUCTION 
Welcome to Functional Training and
Beyond 
To a lot of people, “fitness” simply means getting really
strong, or perhaps being able to run long distances. Others
equate fitness with yoga, losing weight, or looking good.
Some people just want to be able to move freely and
without pain.
Whatever the case, when someone makes the
determination to “get fit,” they often start by choosing a
training program and attempting to stick to it for a given
duration. Invariably, this training program will revolve around
a specific set of goals and will thus follow a predictable
structure.
🏅If they want to build big muscles, they might try a
bodybuilding “bro split.”
🏅If they want to lose weight, they might start doing cardio
or high intensity interval training (HIIT).
🏅If they want to get stronger, they might try weightlifting.
🏅If the aim is to improve mobility and pain-free
movement, they might try yoga.
🏅If they want to get fit and have fun doing it, they might
choose football or dance.
After a few months, as the person starts to see changes, they
declare this experiment a success: they are now fit! And as
they grow more and more with their chosen sport or
program, investing time in their chosen hobby and
becoming a part of the community, they might well adopt a
tribal mindset. They might covet their particular form of
training at the expense of all others. This is the one true way
to get fit.
“The big three lifts are all you need!”
“CrossFit is a way of life!”
“Mixed martial arts (MMA) is real martial arts.
Wing Chun is fake!”
In this book, I’m going to argue for a different approach.
Limiting yourself to a single form of training is unnecessarily
restrictive. Every system of training has something to offer.
Likewise, there’s no single style of training that can possibly
cover the entire gamut of what constitutes “fitness.”
There are arguments as to what is a more “functional”
approach to training. Maybe it’s calisthenics, maybe it’s
weightlifting. Maybe it’s using the cable machine and
medicine balls. But I believe that true functionality comes
from versatility and variety. It comes from being able to
thrive in any situation.
This demands a multidisciplinary approach.
If the aim of your training is to feel and perform better, why
would you pick just one narrow aspect of your performance
and focus purely on that? A person might dedicate years of
training to being able to lift a few kilograms more in a
particular movement pattern, despite being extremely weak
in others.
This makes sense if you’re a professional competitive
weightlifter. But if you’re simply training for self-betterment,
it isn’t the best strategy. There comes a point of diminishing
returns: 5 kg more won’t benefit you all that much outside of
the gym. Especially when there are so many other aspects of
fitness you may have overlooked.
Unfortunately, this has become the norm. Ask a personal
trainer to write a general fitness program for a beginner and
they will often prescribe a series of static lifts, with perhaps a
little running on the side. It doesn’t occur to most people
that they can train every aspect of themselves. Or that these
select few movement patterns do a poor job of emulating
the variety of movement challenges we face in daily life.
This is even truer for athletic coaches. Relying on just three
powerlifting moves to build every type of runner is an
extremely limited approach, as we will see.