Daily Activities Made Easier With Functional Fitness

Functional fitness is an effective type of whole-body strength training that can make your daily chores and activities a breeze!

Whether you’re already active or thinking about becoming active, it’s a good idea to weave functional fitness into your workout routine. This kind of training mimics your daily movements, like pulling a heavy bag of groceries out of the car or picking items up off the floor.

As its name implies, functional fitness training literally helps you function better. It strengthens the muscles you use each day. It also improves balance, endurance, and coordination. An added bonus? It may also help ease low back pain. All of these fitness gains make your daily activities easier, safer, and less tiring to do.

While aerobic exercise and other forms of cardio are essential for heart, lung, and muscle endurance, functional fitness gives you different yet equally important fitness benefits. If you’d like to give this type of training a try, talk with your doctor or physical therapist first to make sure it is safe for you. Then think about adding some functional fitness exercises to your workout routine.

Daily activities made easier with functional fitness 

Here are some examples of daily activities you likely do on a fairly regular basis and the functional fitness exercises that can make them easier:

• Pushing a heavy couch across the living room floor. Push-ups, chest presses with dumbbells, weighted sled pushes, mountain climbers
  
  

   

• Sitting down and standing up. Squats, sit-to-stands
  
  
• Picking a toddler up off the floor. Squats, lunges, core planks, upper body strengthening exercises
  
  
• Carrying heavy bags across the airport. Walking while carrying dumbbells, rucking
  
  
• Reaching overhead to place a heavy item onto an upper shelf. Single and double overhead dumbbell presses, squat to press
  
  
• Pulling the starter on a boat engine or lawn mower. Bent over dumbbell rows, resistance band pulls to strengthen upper back and shoulders
• Locomotion (walking/running/stepping to the side). Forward, backward, and side lunges, side shuffles and carioca, sled pulls and pushes, mountain climbers 

For a sampling of these and other functional fitness exercises, try streaming this fun, challenging workout .

Take functional fitness training up a notch with primal movement 

Primal movement exercises are, in essence, a type of functional fitness training—just more evolved. They take functional fitness workouts to a higher level with more challenging types of exercises. You likely already do some primal movements in your workouts (think squats, lunges, push-ups, etc.).

Many primal movement exercises mimic the movements of animals. They are also thought to align with the natural, instinctual ways our bodies were made to move. Think pushing, pulling, rolling, walking/running, jumping, crawling, climbing, twisting, lifting, and getting up and down from the ground.

These types of whole-body exercises involve using your trunk and all your limbs together in a coordinated way. Instead of working out these body parts separately, primal movement workouts engage the entire body. The movements are often multi-directional rather than linear (front to back or side to side only), which adds an extra element of challenge and novelty. You also have more contact with the ground. These elements all help build strength, agility, and mobility in a creative way.

Bear crawls are one type of primal movement. You get down on all fours and crawl across the floor like a bear. This works your arms, shoulders, legs, hips, back, and core. There are also:  

Inchworms

Crabwalks

If primal movement is new to you, consider working with a certified personal trainer who can start you off with beginner exercises. This can help you gradually progress through your learning curve as you build strength and coordination for these types of advanced exercises.

No matter your exercise experience or fitness level, functional fitness training is an effective addition to a well-balanced workout routine. The options for functional fitness exercises are also endless—whether you’re brand new to exercise, moderately fit, or highly athletic. So, integrate this type of training into your routine and watch your fitness gains roll in. 

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References

Andrews, E. (2015, April 23). Outdoor functional training exercises. American Council on Exercise. https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/blog/5391/outdoor-functional-training-exercises/

Cleveland Clinic. (2025, March 12). Cardio or strength training: Which is better? Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/cardio-vs-strength-training

Cortell-Tormo, J. M., Sánchez, P. T., Chulvi-Medrano, I., Tortosa-Martínez, J., Manchado-López, C., Llana-Belloch, S., & Pérez-Soriano, P. (2018). Effects of functional resistance training on fitness and quality of life in females with chronic nonspecific low-back pain. Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, 31(1), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.3233/BMR-169684

Guler, O., Tuncel, O., & Bianco, A. (2021). Effects of functional strength training on functional movement and balance in middle-aged adults. Sustainability, 13(3), 1074. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031074

Petersen, J. A. (2017). Ten nice-to-know facts about functional training. ACSM’s Health and Fitness Journal, 21(3), 52. https://doi.org/10.1249/FIT.0000000000000301

Smith, J. (2015, August 24). 6 functional strength and conditioning exercises you’re not using with your clients. American Council on Exercise. https://www.acefitness.org/resources/pros/expert-articles/5616/6-functional-strength-and-conditioning-exercises-you-re-not-using-with-your-clients/

Soriano, M. A., Boullosa, D., & Amaro-Gahete, F. (2022). Editorial: Functional fitness/high intensity functional training for health and performance. Frontiers in Physiology, 13, 1024809. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.1024809

This article was written by Gail Olson, edited by Stephanie Ruiz, and clinically reviewed by Jaynie Bjornaraa, PhD, MPH, PT, LAT, ATC, CSCS, CSPS, on February 6, 2026.