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IN WEIGHT TRAINING,
FORM SHOULD
FOLLOW FUNCTION
Although they may also be ‘functional’, movements in which ‘form follows function’ are defined by their
mimicry of the natural function of the target muscles, writes fitness trainer and educator Tony Podpera.
he term ‘form follows function’
was initially used in architecture,
meaning that the form of a
building should reflect the use for which it
was designed. It’s also a good rule for weight
training for size and strength, meaning that
an effective exercise for developing size and
strength will always mimic the natural
function of the muscles being targeted.
This is different to ‘functional training’,
which, very basically, means training with
the specific intention of becoming better
at a particular activity (often a movement
performed in daily life) and has been
discussed at length in some recent Network
articles, here and here. Rather, ensuring that
form follows function simply means that you
T
are doing the correct exercise, and doing it well, in order to maximise
the training effect on the target muscle group, whether the end result
is functional or not.
For example, not many people do an action that mimics a standing
power clean in real life. It’s not a strictly functional move for most
people. But if we want bigger traps, then standing power cleans
are a great option. They expose the traps to explosive contractions,
which are great for stimulating muscle growth. The movement uses
the target muscles as they should be used – form follows function –
even though we may not use those muscles explosively for any other
reason (and therefore we probably wouldn’t do the exercise if we
were doing purely functional training).
It’s always a good idea to check whether the exercises we are
doing, or prescribing, make sense in this regard. Let’s examine an
exercise where form follows function; where form follows function but
doesn’t need to; and where form does not follow function, resulting in
a less effective exercise.
NETWORK SPRING 2018 | 11