Movement-based training focuses on functional movements that improve overall strength, flexibility, and agility. It trains the body in its natural movement patterns compared to isolated machine exercises. Some benefits of movement-based training include increased muscle activation, weight loss, and improved functional strength for everyday tasks. It can be done using tools like ViPR tubes, suspension trainers, kettlebells, and group classes focusing on squats, lunges, pushes, pulls and twists.

1. Are you training your body or just your muscles?
We look into the latest trend in fitness:
movement-based training
functional

2. [+]
The trends
H e a v y w e i g h t l i f t i n g a n d f i x e d m a c h i n e
t r a i n i n g a r e b e c o m i n g t h i n g s o f t h e p a s t

3. The fitness industry is in a constant state
of flux, always on the lookout for the next
best thing. In the late 70’s, it was the era of
barbells and dumbbells. Body builders who
later became larger-than-life superstars
like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester
Stallone were the pioneers of the era. Come
the 80’s, the fitness industry, in an attempt to
appeal to the fairer sex, spurred the growth
of aerobics while ushering in a decade of at-
home workouts – Jane Fonda, leg warmers,
headbands anyone? In the 90’s, machines
invaded the market with high-tech isolation
exercise machines gaining huge popularity.
The whole industry took an entirely new
turn in the early 2000’s when it was found
that working out muscles in isolation wasn’t
effective for everyday fitness. Fitness science
pointed toward more effective forms of
exercise such as high intensity interval
training and functional training like Crossfit
and Boot Camps. Now the latest trend to hit
the industry is known as movement based
training (also called dynamic movement
and functional movement), with celebrities
such as Hugh Jackman and Sylvester Stallone
incorporating it into their routines. “The
reason we do all that movement is because
Hugh’s in his early 40s now and he needs
to be agile and be able to move and react
quickly on set.” Says Michael Ryan, Jackman’s
personal trainer. “A lot of his time, he’s on
wires and he’s asking his body to do things
that some twenty year olds would struggle
to do, but because of the way he trains he
exceeds at them.”
The trends
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4. What is movement-based training?
U s i n g f u n c t i o n a l m o v e m e n t s t o i m p r o v e
o v e r a l l s t r e n g t h , f l e x i b i l i t y a n d a g i l i t y
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5. What is movement-based training?
Movement-based training uses the body’s
natural movement patterns to improve
functional strength, aerobic and anaerobic
capability. It’s about training the body in
a way that’s complementary to its design.
While exercise in isolation helps build those
all-for-show, beach body muscles, it’s been
proven that movement-based training is far
more effective at improving overall fitness
and strength. The other key component
to movement-based training is that it
challenges you in the three planes of motion
leading to a more balanced workout. Most
traditional exercise programs focus on only
one plane, the sagittal plane (front to back),
while the other planes are sorely neglected:
the frontal plane (side to side) and transverse
(rotation) planes.
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6. The benefits
G a i n i n c r e a s e d f u n c t i o n a l s t r e n g t h a n d
m o b i l i t y i n t h e g y m t o u s e i n e v e r y d ay l i f e
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7. Thought to be at least 50% more effective
than fixed machine training, while
providing the perfect blend of aerobic
and anaerobic exercise, the benefits of
movement-based training are numerous.
Not only is this form of training
scientifically proven to help increase
muscle activation and accelerate weight
loss, it also enhances performance in
life in general. As all exercises are fully
functional, a person’s day-to-day strength,
flexibility and agility inevitably improve.
So, be it walking the dog, carrying a toddler
or simply unloading heavy groceries,
movement-based training will make these
daily tasks feel easier than ever.
The benefits
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8. How to do it
T h e r e a r e c o u n t l e s s w a y s t o i n t r o d u c e
m o v e m e n t - b a s e d t r a i n i n g i n t o y o u r r o u t i n e
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9. How to do it
Here are some tools that can help you
incorporate movement-based training into
your fitness lifestyle:
ViPR are durable portable tubes that are
used to mimic loaded movement. They were
inspired by the heavy loads that farmers
carry in day-to-day life, resulting in what
many refer to as ‘farm strength’. You can
buy a ViPR tube for home use or use them at
gyms like Fitness First.
Suspensiontraining uses a system of ropes
and webbing called a “suspension trainer”
to allow the user to work against their
own body weight while doing movement
based exercises. The most popular brands
being TRX and Rip60, with many gyms now
providing group classes on how to use them.
Kettlebells are a cast-iron or steel weight
(resembling a cannonball with a handle)
used to perform ballistic exercises. It’s a
big component in Crossfit and Strength
& Conditioning gyms. You can purchase
Kettlebells for home use or get some kettlebell
training in at most commercial gyms.
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10. Group-up
You often get the best results while training with others
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11. If classes or group training are more your
thing, Fitness First offers Freestyle™ Group
Training that is based on their Dynamic
Movement Training (which is similar to
Movement based training). Classes are 30
minutes long and programming is based
around the primal movement pattern
philosophy of squat, lunge, bend, push, pull
and twist movements – 3 dimensional multi-
plane exercises. Their classes are:
HIIT: Exercises that work at high intensity
and pace. Maximise your output and elevate
the heart.
Power: Exercises that focus on fast-pace
movements with heavy resistance. Works the
whole body and enhances athletic performance.
Strength: Exercises that focuses on strength-
based loads. Builds total body functional
strength, muscular endurance, and promotes
lean muscle mass with strength-based loads.
So the next time you’re at the gym, ask
yourself are you training your body or are you
just training your muscles?
Group-up
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