What are some of the challenges or difficulties that you face when programming functional training sessions?

2 Balancing specificity and variety

Another challenge in functional training programming is to balance specificity and variety. Specificity means that your training should match the demands and characteristics of your functional goals as closely as possible. For example, if you want to improve your running performance, you should train with exercises that mimic the running motion, such as lunges, squats, and plyometrics. However, specificity alone is not enough to ensure optimal functional training outcomes. You also need to incorporate variety into your training, which means that you should expose your body to different stimuli, challenges, and adaptations. Variety can help you prevent boredom, overuse injuries, and plateaus, as well as enhance your overall fitness, coordination, and creativity. Therefore, you need to find a balance between specificity and variety, by using different exercises, equipment, modalities, intensities, volumes, and frequencies in your functional training sessions.

3 Choosing appropriate exercises

A related challenge in functional training programming is to choose appropriate exercises that suit your functional needs and goals. Functional training exercises are generally classified into three categories: basic, intermediate, and advanced. Basic exercises are simple and stable movements that target one or a few muscle groups or joints, such as push-ups, squats, and bicep curls. Intermediate exercises are more complex and dynamic movements that involve multiple muscle groups or joints, such as lunges, rows, and shoulder presses. Advanced exercises are the most challenging and unstable movements that require high levels of coordination, balance, and power, such as burpees, kettlebell swings, and TRX suspension exercises. However, choosing appropriate exercises can be difficult because there is no one-size-fits-all formula for functional training. You need to consider various factors such as your current fitness level, injury history, available equipment, available space, and personal preferences.

4 Progressing and regressing exercises

Another difficulty that you may face when programming functional training sessions is to progress and regress exercises according to your performance and feedback. Progressing exercises means that you increase the difficulty or intensity of the exercises to challenge your body and stimulate further improvements. Regressing exercises means that you decrease the difficulty or intensity of the exercises to accommodate your limitations or avoid injuries. However, progressing and regressing exercises can be tricky because there are many ways to do so, and each way may have different effects on your functional training outcomes. For example, you can progress or regress exercises by changing the load, speed, range of motion, stability, complexity, or duration of the exercises. However, each of these variables may affect different aspects of your functional fitness, such as strength, power, endurance, mobility, balance, or coordination. Therefore, you need to monitor your performance and feedback carefully, and adjust your exercises accordingly.