Fitness

THE BALANCED LIFE: Functional Fitness could be for you

Published

1 year ago

January 5, 2025

THE BALANCED LIFE: Functional Fitness could be for you

It’s January 2, you’re at one of Pelham’s great cafes discussing your New Year’s fitness resolution over a double latte and chocolate brownie with your BFF, and you confide, “Making the resolution was the easy part. I really do want to get more fit, but there are so many different programs and plans, I haven’t got a clue where to start.”

Exploring Functional Fitness may be your answer. At its most basic level—and there are levels for everyone—functional fitness is designed to prioritize exercises that allow us to stay active and healthy throughout our lives, and perform daily tasks more easily.

At age 40 this might mean playing with the kids, enjoying a pick-up hockey game or round of tennis, staying pain-free at work, or simply doing all those physical things you do with less effort.

By age 60 or 70 it may mean getting in or out of a chair graciously, reaching a high or low shelf without excessive strain, or successfully standing on one foot while changing your underwear without falling over.

Most of us are more familiar with exercises or routines designed for a singular purpose: losing weight or improving cardiovascular strength, which both require workouts designed to burn calories and increase heart rate, improving muscular definition for those sculpted beach selfies, or programs designed to improve muscle and flexibility performance related to a specific sport. These exercises isolate and train individual muscle groups rather than addressing the functionality and quality of various multi-joint, multi-muscle movements in which shoulders, hips, core muscles, knees, the spine and many other body components all interact together, such as lifting, balancing, twisting and squatting.

Functional fitness stresses compound exercising, or training, which strengthens your muscles in the same way that your body uses them for real-life, day-to-day tasks. The benefits include better balance and increased stability, a reduced risk of injury and strains, and an overall improvement in quality of life.

A study led by Giovanni Angelo Navarra, of the Sport and Exercise Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, published by the United States National Library of Medicine in September 2023, and titled Functional fitness, lifestyle and demographic predictors of perceived physical and mental health in older adults: A structural equation model (SEM), states the following, “The SEM analysis revealed that functional fitness…was a strong predictor of both perceived physical and perceived mental health in the sample of elderly participants. Physical activity level was a predictor of the perceived physical component but not of mental health, nor were socio-demographic factors or adherence to a Mediterranean diet.

“The present findings suggest that it would be strongly recommended for elderly subjects (over 60 years old in this study) to engage in functional physical activity specifically targeted to aged populations, in order to enhance their fitness abilities and enable them to improve the perception of their own health status.”

My apologies for the drawn-out accreditation details and subsequent longish quotes, but in my opinion this is a significant finding, so the ducks should all be in a row if you wish to follow up on your own.

It’s so simple, yet profound
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Functional fitness workouts that are targeted to the things we do every day in our real lives not only improve our fitness but also the self-perception of our health. It’s so simple, yet profound. If we do activities that allow us to reach and twist and bend and stand tall and balance well, we’ll feel the benefits more intuitively and believe we’re in better shape, aging better, than if we do isolated muscle group exercises, have a strong socio-demographic identity, or follow a good dietary regimen.

Simply put, doing the stuff we have to do easily and efficiently is one of the most important indicators to believing life is good.

As mentioned earlier, functional fitness exercises or training can apply to all ages. Navarra’s study was aimed at seniors, a broad-brush term that is useless for most things beyond price discounts and pension eligibility. At the more sedentary end of the senior spectrum, or for those who are beginning a fitness program, functional exercises can start with getting out of chairs, step-ups, single leg balances, and low- or high-shelf reaches.

Next step for the somewhat fit would be to add increasing resistance or weight to the same type of exercises to improve functional fitness. For example, squats and lunges could include a kettlebell weight, and balance exercises might involve stretchy bands as one progresses, increasing the functional strength component.

Many kids and younger adults focus on single-sport fitness and muscle development programs, which are great. Simon Damborg, president of the Canadian Functional Fitness Federation, would suggest that those in this group also add Crossfit or Spartan-type training approaches or events to increase their functional fitness. A Spartan Sprint is a short, 5-kilometre off-road event in which participants must overcome 20 obstacles using combinations of every muscle group in their bodies — a perfect precursor to functional fitness routines designed to meet their needs as they age.

Check out functional fitness for yourself. There are lots of videos and detailed articles on the subject, from a Participaction/YMCA beginner approach to information provided by doctors, physiotherapists and professional coaches – none of which I am.

You might find it interesting, even enlightening. Functional fitness was a huge eye-opener for this guy who cycles 100 kilometres with ease but has—make that had—to get down on one knee to find the broccoli hidden on the refrigerator’s bottom shelf.

After three decades co-owning various southern Ontario small businesses with his wife, John Swart has enjoyed 15 years in retirement volunteering, bicycling the world, and feature writing, and is an award-winning Pelham columnist writing for Niagara readers.

Fitness

Higher fitness levels linked to lower risk of depression, dementia – Harvard Health

Published

7 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

Higher fitness levels linked to lower risk of depression, dementia – Harvard Health

research review

People with high cardiorespiratory fitness were 36% less likely to experience depression and 39% less likely to develop dementia than those with low cardiorespiratory fitness. Even small improvements in fitness were linked to a lower risk. Experts believe that exercise’s ability to boost blood flow to the brain, reduce bodywide inflammation, and improve stress regulation may explain the connection.

Fitness

These 20-Minute Burpee Workouts Replaced His Entire Gym Routine – and Transformed His Physique

Published

19 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

These 20-Minute Burpee Workouts Replaced His Entire Gym Routine – and Transformed His Physique

While many swear by them, most people see burpees as a form of punishment – usually dished out drill sergeant-style by overzealous bootcamp PTs. Often the final blow in an already brutal workout, burpees are designed to test cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance and mental grit. Love them or loathe them, they deliver every time.

For Max Edwards – aka Busy Dad Training on YouTube – they became a simple but highly effective way to stay fit and lean during lockdown. Once a committed powerlifter, spending upwards of 80 minutes a day in the gym, he was forced to overhaul his approach due to fatherhood, lockdown and a schedule that no longer allowed for long, structured lifting sessions.

‘Even though I was putting in hours and hours into the gym and even though my physique was pretty good, I wasn’t becoming truly excellent at any physical discipline,’ he explained in a YouTube video.

‘I loved the intentionality of training,’ says Edwards. ‘The fact that every session has a point, every rep in every set is helping you get towards a training goal, and I loved that there was a clear way of gauging progression – feeling like I was developing competence and moving towards mastery.’

Why He Walked Away From Powerlifting

Despite that structure, Edwards began to question whether powerlifting was sustainable long-term.

‘My sessions were very taxing on my central nervous system. I was exhausted between sessions. It felt as if I needed at least nine hours of sleep each night just to function.’

He also noted that his appetite was consistently high.

But the biggest drawback was time.

‘I could not justify taking 80 minutes a day away from my family for what felt like a self-centred pursuit,’ he says.

A Simpler Approach That Stuck

‘Over the course of that year I fixed my relationship with alcohol and I developed, for the first time in my adult life, a relationship with physical training,’ says Edwards.

With limited time and no access to equipment, he turned to burpees. Just two variations, four times a week, with each session lasting 20 minutes.

‘My approach in each workout was very simple. On a six-count training day I would do as many six-counts as I possibly could within 20 minutes. On a Navy Seal training day I would do as many Navy Seal burpees as I could within 20 minutes – then in the next workout I would simply try to beat the number I had managed previously.’

This style of training is known as AMRAP – as many reps (or rounds) as possible.

The Results

Edwards initially saw the routine as nothing more than a six-month stopgap to stay in shape. But that quickly changed.

‘I remember catching sight of myself in the mirror one morning and I was utterly baffled by the man I saw looking back at me.’

He found himself in the best shape of his life. His energy levels improved, his resting heart rate dropped and his physique changed in ways that powerlifting hadn’t quite delivered.

‘It has been five years since I have set foot in a gym,’ he says. ‘That six-month training practice has become the defining training practice of my life – and for five years I have trained for no more than 80 minutes per week.’

The Burpee Workouts

1/ 6-Count Burpees

20-minute AMRAP, twice a week

How to do them:

Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart
Crouch down and place your hands on the floor (count 1)
Jump your feet back into a high plank (count 2)
Lower into the bottom of a push-up (count 3)
Push back up to plank (count 4)
Jump your feet forward to your hands (count 5)
Stand up straight (count 6)

20-minute AMRAP, twice a week

How to do them:

Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart
Crouch down and place your hands on the floor
Jump your feet back into a high plank
Perform a push-up (chest to floor)
At the top, bring your right knee to your right elbow, then return
Perform another push-up
Bring your left knee to your left elbow, then return
Perform a third push-up
Jump your feet forward
Stand or jump to finish

Kate is a fitness writer for Men’s Health UK where she contributes regular workouts, training tips and nutrition guides. She has a post graduate diploma in Sports Performance Nutrition and before joining Men’s Health she was a nutritionist, fitness writer and personal trainer with over 5k hours coaching on the gym floor. Kate has a keen interest in volunteering for animal shelters and when she isn’t lifting weights in her garden, she can be found walking her rescue dog.

Fitness

Six ways your smartwatch is lying to you, according to science

Published

1 day ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

Six ways your smartwatch is lying to you, according to science

You check your smartwatch after a run. Your fitness score has dropped. You’ve burnt hardly any calories. Your recovery score is really low. It’s telling you to take the next 72 hours off exercise.

The worst bit? The whole run felt amazing.

So why is your watch telling you the opposite?

Ultimately, it’s because smartwatches and other fitness trackers aren’t always accurate.

Smartwatches can shape how you exercise

Using wearable fitness technology, such as smartwatches, has been one of the top fitness trends for close to a decade. Millions of people around the world use them daily.

These devices shape how people think about health and exercise. For example, they provide data about how many calories you’ve burnt, how fit you are, how recovered you are after exercise, and whether you’re ready to exercise again.

But your smartwatch doesn’t measure most of these metrics directly. Instead, many common metrics are estimates. In other words, they’re not as accurate as you might think.

1. Calories burned

Calorie tracking is one of the most popular features on smartwatches. However, the accuracy leaves a lot to be desired.

Wearable devices can under- or overestimate energy expenditure (often expressed as calories burned) by more than 20 per cent. These errors also vary between activities. For example, strength training, cycling and high-intensity interval training can lead to even larger errors.

This matters because people often use these numbers to guide how much they eat.

For example, if your watch overestimates calories burned, you might think you need to eat more food than you really need, which could result in weight gain. Conversely, if your watch underestimates calories burned, it could lead you to under-eat, negatively impacting your exercise performance.

2. Step counts

Step counts are a great way to measure general physical activity, but wearables don’t capture them perfectly.

Smartwatches can under-count steps by about 10 per cent under normal exercise conditions. Activities such as pushing a pram, carrying weights, or walking with limited arm swing likely make step counts less accurate, as smartwatches rely on arm movement to register steps.

For most people, this isn’t a major problem, and step counts are still useful for tracking general activity levels. But view them as a guide, rather than a precise measure.

3. Heart rate

Smartwatches estimate your heart rate using sensors that measure changes in blood flow through the veins in your wrist.

This method is accurate at rest or low intensities, but gets less accurate as you increase exercise intensity.

Arm movement, sweat, skin tone and how tightly you wear the watch can also impact the heart rate measure it spits out. This means the accuracy can vary between people.

This can be problematic for people who use heart rate zones to guide their training, as small errors can lead to training at the wrong intensity.

4. Sleep tracking

Almost every smartwatch on the market gives you a “sleep score” and breaks your night into stages of light, deep and REM sleep.

The gold standard for measuring sleep is polysomnography. This is a lab-based test that records brain activity. But smartwatches estimate sleep using movement and heart rate.

This means they can detect when you’re asleep or awake reasonably well. But they are much less accurate at identifying sleep stages.

So even if your watch says you had “poor deep sleep”, this may not be the case.

5. Recovery scores

Most smartwatches track heart rate variability and use this, with your sleep score, to create a “readiness” or “recovery” score.

Heart rate variability reflects how your body responds to stress. In the lab it is measured using an electrocardiogram. But smartwatches estimate it using wrist-based sensors, which are much more prone to measurement errors.

This means most recovery metrics are based on two inaccurate measures (heart rate variability and sleep quality). This results in a metric that may not meaningfully reflect your recovery.

As a result, if your watch says you’re not recovered, you might skip training — even if you feel good (and are actually good to go).

6. VO₂max

Most devices estimate your VO₂max — which indicates your maximal fitness. It’s the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise.

The best way to measure VO₂max involves wearing a mask to analyse the amount of oxygen you breathe in and out, to determine how much oxygen you’re using to create energy.

But your watch cannot measure oxygen use. It estimates it based on your heart rate and movement.

But smartwatches tend to overestimate VO₂max in less active people and underestimate VO₂max in fitter ones.

This means the number on your watch may not reflect your true fitness.

What should you do?

While the data from your smartwatch is prone to errors, that doesn’t mean it is completely worthless.

These devices still offer a way to help you track general trends over time, but you should not pay attention to daily fluctuations or specific numbers.

It’s also important you pay attention to how you feel, how you perform and how you recover. This is likely to give you even more insight than what your smartwatch says.

Hunter Bennett is a lecturer in exercise science at Adelaide University. This piece first appeared on The Conversation.