I swore that if I ever suffered a similar injury in the future, I would be better prepared. I now have nearly 50 pounds less bodyweight to haul around, and have greatly increased my muscular strength and endurance. I walked a half-marathon one year after my fracture, and can haul around heavy bags of potting soil and pet food with ease.

Even though my job involves no heavy lifting (and I have no small children to carry around), I know that every time I lift weights or try a new physical activity, I’m increasing my chances of being physically independent in the future. To me, that is functional fitness.

That being said, functional strength meant being able to lift my half of a Laser sailboat down from the top of a minivan without dropping it and cracking the hull.

I’m a bit stronger than that now *grin*.

Honestly, you don’t need to be but so strong to do stuff. Sorta… I’m a writer. The most strenuous thing I have to do most days is lift my laptop to my lap and kick back in my writin’ chair. It would be a terrible mistake mentally and physically to leave it at that level of strength. The mind and the body do interact and humans are built to move and do, never mind that we fortunates who make our cushy livings in comfortable offices don’t have to do that. If we don’t move and DO, our minds stop working.

I lift because I’m terribly lazy. It’s an efficient way to keep up my strength so my mind works right. I swim for the same reason.

While I don’t expect to NEED to exert great physical force to save my life or my children’s, I sure as heck want the OPTION!

@ Philip: I agree, I think sometimes we underestimate the effect that training has on day to day functionality. People often blame age, the weather, old injuries etc when they start to lose their ability to do certain things, but don’t realise that it doesn’t always have to be that way.

@ Jason: Yes, good one! It’s similar to the military approach of training soldiers to be prepared to handle anything, being in a state of readiness.

@ Justin P: I like your idea of defining functional strength by what it isn’t as well as what it is. We seem to have gone too far in the other direction (bodybuilding etc), which now dominates the way people think they should work out. It seems to me that the oldtime concept of ‘physical culture’ combined goals of strength, health and physical development very well.

Here’s another good quotation from the article that Andy posted: “The problem with our gyms is that they misrepresent the fact that you are fundamentally there to do work,” says Jack Berryman, PhD, a professor of medical history at the University of Washington and a historian for the American College of Sports Medicine. “The modern gym is a techno holiday with gadgets and lights. They’re trying to entertain people.”