I was taking an Open Practical Forum the other day and a discussion came up about why we need to use exercises in a programme that are functional to everyday life. So here is my question: is there any point in doing exercises which are not functional?

Let’s look at a couple…. How is a bench press functional? When are you ever lying on your back pushing something up into the air? The bench press uses your chest, deltoids and arms. Because your back is fixed against a bench it is very hard to protract and retract (move) your scapular during the movement. As a result no back muscles can  be used. If you were ever to push something in real life with 2 arms directly in front, you would also use a number of back muscles and the rotator cuff (these muscles stabilise the shoulder joint) to stabilise the shoulder blade and shoulder during the movement. Since the majority of people sit at a computer all day and end up with “winged” shoulder blades and hunched shoulders shouldn’t we be encouraging exercises where our back muscles can be active?. Isn’t a push up more sensible?, obviously you are hardly ever in that position either, but you are at least using those stabilising muscles at the same time as you push ,which in the end is much more functional. To add to that, we don’t normally push things with 2 hands in the sagital plane (in front of us). The only thing I can think of pushing is a door, and I tend to do this with one hand and the rest of my body could be anywhere depending on what I have in my other hand. This brings into the equation even more back and shoulder muscles

Another example came up when discussing the pro’s and con’s of the Swiss Ball and Smith Squat. With both these exercises  the line of force  (where the load is acting on you) is behind the base of support (your feet) and therefore a lot of the load is being taken by the Swiss Ball. Also you are never in that position in real life, If you were you would fall over! Again, not a functional movement. What might be a more sensible option?

I am not saying only ever do squats or push-ups. For people who are rehabbing I can understand breaking down the movements as there are going to be weaker areas. However, for the general population, and maybe even more so athletes, what is the point of exercises that are not functional? Surely we can think of new exercises which are more useful? Feel free to suggest any you have found.