What do you do if your functional training clients have different fitness goals?

2 Choose their focus

Functional training can be tailored to each client's goals and interests. Depending on the assessment results, desired outcomes, and motivation level, you can choose a focus for each individual. You can also vary the focus from session to session or week to week to keep them engaged and challenged. Common focuses include stability and mobility, strength and endurance, and power and speed. Stability and mobility exercises such as planks, bridges, lunges, and rotations can help improve joint range of motion, muscle flexibility, core strength, alignment, and balance. Strength and endurance exercises such as squats, deadlifts, push-ups, and rows can increase muscle mass, force production, and fatigue resistance. Power and speed exercises such as jumps, sprints, throws, and slams can boost explosive strength, acceleration, and reaction time for high-intensity or dynamic movements.

3 Select their equipment

Functional training can be done with various equipment or no equipment at all. The choice of equipment depends on your clients' availability, accessibility, preference, and skill level. You can use equipment to add resistance, challenge, or variety to your clients' functional training program. For example, bodyweight exercises such as burpees, mountain climbers, pull-ups, and dips are a simple and convenient way to do functional training. Additionally, dumbbells are versatile tools that can target different muscle groups and increase the range of motion. Kettlebells are round-shaped weights with a handle that can improve your clients' functional strength, power, and endurance. With kettlebells you can perform swinging, lifting, or carrying movements that involve multiple joints and muscles such as swings, snatches, goblet squats, and Turkish get-ups. All these pieces of equipment can be used to add load and intensity to your clients' functional training program.

4 Adapt their intensity

Functional training can be adapted to your clients' fitness level, goal, and tolerance by adjusting the intensity of their workouts. The intensity refers to how hard or easy your clients work during their functional training sessions. You can manipulate the intensity by changing the variables of their program, such as the load, volume, frequency, duration, rest, and speed. You can use different methods to measure and monitor your clients' intensity, such as the rate of perceived exertion (RPE), the talk test, or the heart rate. You can also use feedback from your clients to determine if their intensity is appropriate or needs to be modified.