5 reasons women need Da Rulk’s Raw Functional Training

I get it. My muscles, my ‘workout face,’ the fact that my Raw Functional Training puts even Chris Hemsworth through his paces: If you’re a woman, you might take one look and think this kind of training isn’t for you.

But that’s where you’re wrong. These moves benefit everyone. Functional exercises enhance the way we perform everyday activities by mimicking their movement patterns. For example, a squat is a functional exercise because it mimics the movement of sitting down and standing up.

Whatever your fitness goal, here are five reasons you need to make Raw Functional Training part of your life.

1. It’s the perfect workout (trust me)

If you’ve been steering clear of Raw Functional Training, you’re missing out on one of the best high-intensity workouts possible. Just because I’m a big guy doesn’t mean my workouts will force you to bulk up – you have to really try to get these muscles! With a mix of strength and cardio, you can improve fitness and promote overall body conditioning and weight loss. Plus, because my workouts are mostly no-equipment and use bodyweight, you can do them anywhere at any time.

2. Everyday lifting gets easy

Women need to be strong! Creating lean muscle mass is not just about toning physique: it gives you the everyday independence to get things done yourself – faster, better and more easily.

Whether you’re moving house or just grabbing groceries, you’re lifting. That engages your arms, core, back, even your quads and hips when you’re leaning down. If you’re just hitting pure cardio for weight loss, you aren’t building the strength you need here.

If you’ve got kids, chances are they’re going to need to be picked up from time to time. Sure, sandbag moves build the arm strength I need for toddler carrying, but there’s also the increased hip mobility and quad strength I get from Hostages, which help me lift him into his car seat, and those Ballistic Pulses make carrying him on my back a breeze.

3. You can go from klutz to coordinated

Unlike exercises purely for fat burning or muscle toning, functional exercises work supporting muscle groups as well as the main muscle groups. This increases the range of motion throughout the body. Generally, the more joints, movements and speed you’re putting into an action, the more coordination you need to pull it off.

It’s practice for every day. Think I just do Switches for fun? OK, I think they’re fun, but also when my toddler starts throwing baby food at me I’m pretty grateful I’m coordinated enough to dodge it.

You need these skills any time you’re trying to move with ease and control, like reaching for things and or getting up and down off the ground to play with kids. Even reacting to sudden situations like loose stones on a hiking trail or an uneven sidewalk in heels, mobility and muscle coordination make the difference between staying upright or falling flat on your face.