The 3 Lies Fitness Influencers Keep Repeating About Functional Training
Functional training is trending — and like most trends in fitness, it’s getting butchered.
Scroll through Instagram and you’ll see guys jumping on BOSU balls, swinging cables like weapons, or doing circus acts with no real structure. Influencers are throwing the word “functional” on everything — but most of it is garbage disguised as innovation.
Real functional training isn’t about looking flashy.
It’s about building strength that actually transfers — to movement, to sport, to life.
If you’ve been confused or burned out trying to chase performance through influencer routines, this blog’s your truth check.
We’re calling out the top lies — and showing you how to train functionally without wasting your time, wrecking your joints, or looking like a clown at the gym.
What Is Actually Functional Training?
Functional training means training that improves your ability to perform real-world tasks — think:
Controlling your body through space
Moving through full ranges of motion under tension
Resisting force, producing force, and maintaining joint stability across planes
In simple terms:
If it doesn’t improve how you move, it’s not functional.
Research backs this up. True functional training improves balance, coordination, mobility, and neuromuscular efficiency — especially when bodyweight and multi-joint movements are involved (Behm & Anderson, 2006; Tomljanović et al., 2011).
Let’s look at what the industry keeps getting wrong.
❌ Lie #1: “Functional Training Means Unstable Surface Training”
This is one of the worst myths out there — and it’s everywhere.
BOSU squats, wobble board presses, stability balls for everything…
The truth? Unstable surface training has almost zero carryover to real-world strength for healthy populations — and it actually reduces force production and movement quality (Behm et al., 2010).
Unless you're in rehab or working with a specific instability challenge, you're just limiting your ability to get stronger.
Fix: Build stability by moving through ranges, not wobbling on toys. Single-leg work, deep range push-ups, ring training, and hanging core work are all “unstable” in a natural, useful way.
❌ Lie #2: “If It Looks Crazy, It’s More Functional”
Influencers love to stack movements for no reason:
Jump into a lunge, do a curl, twist, press overhead while standing on one leg. What’s the point?
These mashups burn calories but destroy coordination and force bad compensations. There’s no skill progression. No movement mastery. Just chaos.
True functional training is clean and repeatable.
It scales over time and builds a nervous system that can react with precision — not guess.
Athletes and ex-lifters don’t need more confusion. They need clarity, intent, and progression.
Fix: Master foundational patterns — push, pull, hinge, squat, rotate — under control. Then build complexity with purpose. Not for likes.
❌ Lie #3: “You Don’t Need Strength to Be Functional”
This one’s subtle — but dangerous.
The mobility crowd often glorifies flow and flexibility while downplaying raw strength. Yes, mobility matters. But mobility without strength is instability. And instability leads to injury.
A 2021 review found that combining strength and mobility training outperformed mobility alone in improving movement efficiency and injury prevention (Kritz et al., 2021).
You can’t stretch your way into a muscle-up. Or handstand. Or even a pain-free squat.
Fix: Train full-ROM strength first. Then layer mobility within your strength work — not as a separate routine.
What Real Functional Training Looks Like
Pull-ups with scapular control
Deep pistol squats with knee tracking
Handstand holds with spinal alignment
Copenhagen planks and Nordic curls for joint durability
Planche, front lever, L-sit progressions for skill-based tension
This is the stuff that builds a resilient body — not just for the gym, but for life, sport, and aging like a savage.
Final Word
Functional training isn’t a trend. It’s a standard.
And most influencers are missing the point.
You don’t need chaos. You need mastery.
You don’t need toys. You need tension.
And you don’t need more exercises. You need a better filter.
If you’re ready to train for aesthetics and real performance — without wasting your time — I’ll show you how.
References
Behm, D.G., & Anderson, K. (2006). “The role of instability with resistance training.” Strength and Conditioning Journal, 28(1), 43–47.
Behm, D.G., et al. (2010). “Effectiveness of instability resistance training for trunk muscle fitness.” Sports Medicine, 40(9), 747–765.
Tomljanović, M., et al. (2011). “Effects of five-week functional training on anthropometric and motor performance variables.” Kinesiology, 43(2), 145–154.
Kritz, M., Cronin, J., & Hume, P. (2021). “The effectiveness of combining strength and mobility training to improve functional performance: A systematic review.” Journal of Sports Sciences, 39(17), 1960–1972.
