Transference
What you do when you exercise should apply to your daily life.
For the last month my car has been in the shop, which has meant that I either bike or walk for all my errands. My exercise program during this time has been Kettlebell Swings and Suitcase Carries (which is picking up a weight with your right hand, walking with it, putting it down, then walking back with the weight in my left hand.)
The practical application of this program is my having to walk 1/2 mile to the store, fill 2 bags with groceries, and then walk 1/2 mile back to my house.
One of my former clients, who worked at Trader Joes used to come to her sessions on Wednesday and tell me that everything we did on Monday, she did at work on Tuesday.
This is why I changed the wording that I used to describe what I taught from the ambiguous, and over used term, functional fitness, to the more accurate term, practical fitness.
The gym is not the end game, your daily life is the end game.
The purpose of your training should be the same as the strength and conditioning programs that athletes use, and that is to develop the structural integrity, the mobility, and the strength to survive the demands of your sport, which for most of us is daily life.
As always I would like to encourage you to think of your training both in terms of practical application and responsibility, your responsibility to use what you develop to help those who can not engage in physical activity.
A higher purpose if you will.
For an excellent description of practical fitness I would direct you to Philippe Tillโs Natural Method Revival.
Dude, lol! I've actually been looking for a "practical workout." Thank you! ๐ท