Do Single-Joint Exercises Enhance Functional Fitness?

T raining for functional fitness has become an increasingly popular approach for personal trainers and strength coaches alike. According to Okada et al. (15), functional movement can be defined as the ability to produce and maintain a balance between mobility and stability along a kinetic chain while carrying out fundamental patterns with accuracy and efficiency. Given this definition, the primary goal of functional training is to optimize the ability for individuals to carry out activities of daily living, recreational pursuits, and/or sports performance (4).