Rebel Strong

My lightbulb moment while doing yardwork

Read to the end to see my favorite yardwork tool for weeding overgrown flowerbeds!

Recently, I spent a good 8-9 hours straight doing some intense yardwork. Typically, my yardwork involves mowing, trimming, and edging the lawn, but it was finally time to tackle the long-overdue task of weeding out the OVERGROWN flower beds! Thick vines, roots, and weeds, buried cinder blocks, and unknown overgrowth from the next door neighbors was a daunting project.

Towards the end of the day, and nearing muscular failure and fatigue, is when my epiphany struck! 

You’ve probably seen a ton of trendy posts, both good and bad, about “functional fitness.” For me “functional fitness” is the combination of mobility, strength, power, range of motion, balance, endurance, and— perhaps most importantly—play, creativity, and fun! In that moment I realized that “functional fitness” was what I had been naturally doing all day! I was grateful for how my style of training go allowed me to accomplish this labor-intensive task.

One of the highlights was when my kids joined in on the clean-up. What could have been a mundane task of gathering pine cones, raking pine needles, and collecting branches instead became a playful game. We built a huge bird nest together and let our imaginations take flight! This playful approach not only made the work a lot more fun, but reinforced the idea that fitness (and even chores) can, and should be, fun!

Keep it simple. Keep it Meaningful.

Deep barbell squats allowed me to squat to ground level and pull weeds. Deadlifts taught me to lift with power and strength while bracing my core and pushing with my legs, allowing me to safely pull thick vines and roots without hurting my back. And I never realized how much the pectoral muscles are involved with raking and shoveling, leaving me grateful for the number of times I had bench pressed. My mobility work made it possible to reach, twist, and bend in slightly awkward positions while pulling weeds, reaching for tools, and spreading mulch and dirt. I was proud of the countless hours I had spent in the gym which allowed me to perform all of these movements with strength and ease and helping me realize that THIS is what functional fitness is really all about.

At the end of the day, I paused for a moment to admire my work— a fresh flower bed, cleared pathways, and a renewed and tidy space— and reflect on all the training in the gym that allowed me to perform these tasks. Am I sore today? Everywhere! But my previous training allowed me to stay injury-free despite the multiple hours of intense physical activity in the yard. The final results, the time spent with my kids, and the memories made were the ultimate culmination of true FUNCTIONAL FITNESS!

P.S. – ZERO Turkish Get-ups were performed or harmed in the creation of the renewed flower bed or in the making of this post.

P.P.S. – Turkish Get-ups can be a great movement to add to your training for core strength, mobility, stability, and training variation! But don’t fall victim to those who claim the movement is “functional” since I can’t recall any time in my life when I have performed a similar movement outside the gym. But if it’s a movement you enjoy doing, or something you want to challenge yourself to achieve, then let’s figure out a way to add it to your training program and make it happen!

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A post shared by Josh Maxwell (@josh.max)