We are excited to announce that The Functional Athlete has officially moved to our new, bigger state of the art facility across the street & just kiddy corner from our old location.
Come train with us in our brand new gym!
“You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.”
– Michael Phelps… Read more...
We are excited to announce that The Functional Athlete is moving to a new, bigger state of the art facility across the street & just kiddy corner from our old location.
Our new address will be 51 East Plainfield Road in Countryside, IL 60525
Stay tuned for some amazing updates and our official move date.… Read more...
“The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character.”
—Arnold Schwarzenegger… Read more...
Looking for something fun to do with your kids this summer? Well, Look no further! Sign up for The Functional Athlete’s Fun & Fitness Summer Kid Camp where a kid can be a kid. In todays society most young kids do not get the benefits we did at their age. Whether it is, cutbacks for gym class or the crazy world of youth sports these days. This summer The Functional Athlete will change your child’s life forever by allowing them to be a kid again & adopt a healthy active lifestyle. Functional Athlete coaches will supervise all kid camp activities & make sure they are age appropriate.
– Speed Agility and Quickness Training: Warm-up, Agility Speed Ladders, Cone Drills, Sprints, Coordination, Quickness, Cool down.
– Intro to Strength & Conditioning; teaching basic exercise movements to build the athlete’s Foundation and to prepare their bodies for more advanced stages of strength training in the future & to start them out on the right path to living a healthy lifestyle that will carry them thru their adult lives.
– Obstacle Courses; a FUN mixture of Ninja warrior style activities, relay races, Spartan Race & Military style Obstacles performed in a circuit format.… Read more...
Spartan Chicago Super Race is coming August 15th, 2015. More details to come soon.
Tired of pavement? Try MUD. Will YOU accept the challenge?
#CHALLENGEACCEPTED… Read more...
Written by: Steve Mologousis NASM CPT, PES, CES, IHP FTS, IHP MMA SCC
Anyone who has been around a gym for any period of time, has most likely heard this a million times. How much do you Bench? Or What is your Max on Bench? All legitamate questions. But do those age old questions really matter when it comes to being a successful athlete. Other than a Powerlifter who’s main goal in their sport to be successful is to lift the heaviest load they can. So, why does everyone ask these questions, 1- Yes it is great for the ego, 2- not so bad for developing your pecs,3- and last but not least the chicks dig it.
The question we should be asking is “Will the bench press make you a better athlete?
In order to answer the above question we must first examine just how functional is the bench press?
First, I’d like to start by saying that I personally feel the bench press is a great exercise to have in your toolbox of training. I believe it is a great movement for developing maximal strength in certain functional positions. The problem is, a majority of coaches put too much emphasis on how much their athletes can bench.… Read more...
Do not expect to train like a bodybuilder, unless that is your specific sport. That also goes for powerlifting and Olympic lifting. At The Functional athlete we will incorporate Hypertrophy, (building muscle ) as a 4-6 week phase or cycle for someone who is trying to build muscle mass. Body building essentially focuses on muscle groups and for aesthetics. Athletes in all sports need to train their entire bodies synergistically ( working together.) At the functional athlete I like to say; we train athletes from the inside, out. That means we don’t just train the superficial muscles, we train all muscles. I have the utmost respect for bodybuilders, they are dedicated and disciplined about their sport just like any other ompetitive athlete. They need to train the way they do because that is their specific sport. I would like to see the majority enter the functional training realm.… Read more...
Power lifters and Olympic lifters are also sports specific, but we very strongly believe in incorporating powerlifts and Olympic lifts into our protocols. Whether they be bi ,tri, quad-plexes, or meta circuits, we feel that they are a very important part of building strength and power. Alongside our functional training philosophies the Olympic lifts and power lifts form a unbreakable bond that will make indestructible athletes. Incorporating Olympic lifts and power lifts followed by functional movements will keep your energy systems working throughout your entire workout but stills allows enough time for your energy systems to replenish before performing another set of the heavier lift. See more on this in the programming tab.… Read more...
Afraid that things will be too tough? Just try it and you’ll be surprised by how our trainers’ knowledge and understanding will make the transition easy.… Read more...
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