The top 3 functional movements you need to master

You might be thinking Da Rulk gives you crawling, switches and gorillas just to torture you. But there is a lot more behind the exercises and combinations he dishes out than meets the eye. We should all be putting his moves into practice.

“Raw Functional Training - RFT® - is a curriculum I designed that utilizes body weightmovements for dynamic mobility and functional strength and conditioning,” Da Rulk says. “With regards to my training, everyone will be challenged. It's going to push your dynamic mobility, your functional strength conditioning. But everyone has a hard time with it when they first start. It's the sequencing of the movement patterns that is the key,”

Da Rulk has a unique approach to exercise. He focuses on the body’s foundational movement patterns and then sequences these movements together to enhance core stability, joint mobility and overall functional strength and conditioning for all fitness levels.

Once deconstructed, a complex movement is stripped back to basics, worked on and then strategically progressed for fitness gains.

If we take a step back for a moment and look at the natural progression of movement from the day we are born, our bodies ‘learn’ movements in an order that allows us to progress to the next.

For example, a baby needs to build up core strength to be able to sit up. Once sitting, rotational and reaching movements are mastered and shoulder, core, hip and leg strength propel them into crawling. Leg, lower back and core strength develop further to pull up to stand, squat and finally being able to walk.

Have you ever seen a toddler squatting down to play with toys? It’s a perfect squat! A lot of Da Rulk’s exercises mimic the very core moves we have all progressed through and are the springboards for so many more moves.

Let’s look at a couple of the big man’s exercises and consider why we should be doing them…

1. Crawls – forward, backward, sideways

Crawls are a fundamental movement. As we said, babies learn to crawl as a base to other all other moves. Da Rulk’s crawls help to build shoulder strength and shoulder mobility under body weight load. They also work the core muscles to gain functional strength and rely on an increased hip mobility to be able to complete them effectively.

2. Switches

Switches are a dynamic body weight movement. They improve agility and speed of movement through increasing rotational strength, working the core and opening up mobility in the hips. Their squatted start position also relies on and increases quad and glute (legs and butt) strength.

3. Sit Thrus

Sit thrus work on flexibility through the lumbar and thoracic spine while also improving hip mobility and developing core and shoulder strength. They are a great full body movement that anyone can complete, picking a pace in line with individual fitness levels.

So many of us struggle with agility, mobility and flexibility – hello sitting at desks, in cars or public transport and on the sofa for 70% of the day – and it can stop us from completing the most basic movements and exercise correctly. But most importantly, it can also stop us from performing everyday tasks to the best of our ability.

By including - and mastering - functional training, you can set strong foundations not just to take your fitness and movement goals so much further, but also to improve the quality of everyday life.