Functional Training and Beyond: Building the Ultimate Superfunctional Body and Mind

by Adam Sinicki

Overview

Train Like a Superhero

"I recommend this book to all personal trainers, training geeks, and people who just want to learn about different training methods and philosophies.” ―JC Santana, author of Functional Training

#1 Best Seller in Physical Education and Coaching

Body and Brain Training Designed to Unlock Your Amazing Hidden Potential

Change your life. Many of us have forgotten how to move correctly. We live with muscular imbalances, constant pain, and low energy. Adam Sinicki is on a mission to change this. He is best known for his YouTube channel “The Bioneer”, where he provides expertise on functional training, brain training, productivity, flow states, and more.

Be better than just functional. Currently, functional training is exercise as rehabilitation. It aims to restore normal, healthy strength and mobility using compound and multi-faceted movements. In Functional Training and Beyond, Adam reveals how to become “better than just functional.” We can improve our physical performance and our mental state. We can train to move better, think more clearly, feel energetic, and live more efficiently.

Advanced way to train. Until now working out has had one of two goals─get bigger or get leaner. But why are those the only goals? What if there was a third, practical, healthy and exciting way to train our body and our mind? Learn how we can train our brains just like our bodies, and how to incorporate this into a comprehensive, well-rounded program.

Discover:

• New ways to train body and mind
• Training for greater mobility, less pain, improved mood, and increased energy
• The fun of training with kettlebells, calisthenics, clubbells, street workouts, animal moves, handstands, rope climbs, isometrics, and more

Fans of Overcoming Gravity, You Are Your Own Gym, The World’s Fittest Book, New Functional Training for Sports, or Calisthenics for Beginners―discover a new and better way to train both your body and mind in Functional Training and Beyond!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781642505047
Publisher:	Mango Media
Publication date:	01/19/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	372
Sales rank:	732,734
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Adam Sinicki is a health and fitness writer with an interest in human performance. Adam is best known for his YouTube channel “The Bioneer”, where he discusses functional training, brain training, productivity, flow states, and more.

Adam has been working as a writer for over ten years, specializing in health, fitness, technology, and self-development. During this time, he has researched countless topics relating to health and fitness. He also holds a personal training diploma, and BSc in psychology from Surrey University, alongside experience in several martial arts, rock climbing, and bodybuilding.

Adam’s other career highlights include creating the hit mobile app Multiscreen Multitasking, working as a technology journalist and presenter for Android Authority, an assistant editor at Writers’ News magazine, and penning two business and programming books published by Apress Media. He juggles these multiple commitments using the very same productivity tips that he shares on his channel!

When Adam isn’t training or writing, he enjoys synthwave musc, action movies, gaming, comics, eating sandwiches, and spending time with his wife and daughter in Oxfordshire, UK.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: What is Functional Training and Why Does it Matter? Chapter Goal: To explain the concept of functional training, and to explain why the big 3 lifts are not sufficient for complete strength. • Who needs functional training (martial artists, athletes, and in my opinion: everyone else) • How our modern lifestyles are ruining our bodies • Skills vs attributes • Recent trends and developments in fitness (movement culture, old time strongmen, MMA, parkour) • Why training the body and mind together is logical Chapter 2: The Science of Hypertrophy and Building Strength Chapter Goal: This chapter outlines the basic science of building muscle to help lay the foundation for what is to follow. Readers will learn the basics of building muscle and power. • Metabolic stress, muscle damage, and mechanical tension • Progressive overload (and alternatives) • Time under tension and other factors influencing growth • Bodybuilding vs powerlifting (also “powerbuilding”) • Building explosive power (an explanation of muscle fiber types and rate of force development) • A list of effective strength-building exercises Chapter 3: Kettlebells and Alternative Methods for Building Strength Chapter Goal: This chapter will introduce lesser-known methods for developing truly transferrable strength, from old-time strongmen (and modern strongmen), to kettlebell training. Kettlebells help build strength thanks to their offset nature, and constantly changing angles of resistance. Similarly, old time lifts like the bent-press develop stronger obliques. This has huge carry-over for sports and everyday activities. • Old-time strongman lifts for training the missing muscles • Introducing the kettlebell (and clubbell/Indian clubs – with exercises) • Medicine balls, sandbags, battle ropes, and more • The missing link: grip strength (and pinky strength!) • How overcoming isometrics develop super-human strength (with explanation of muscle fiber recruitment) • Quasi isometrics • Hybrid exercises Chapter 4: Just Move: An Introduction to Movement Training Chapter Goal: This chapter will serve as an overview of the emerging movement culture, providing introductions to animal walks, training outdoors, and more. It will show you how to naturally increase range of motion, to eradicate stiffness, and regain child-like exuberance. • Get outdoors (why training outside is beneficial, an explanation of movements like MovNat) • Barefoot running and developing foot strength • Move like an animal (an introduction to animal walks) • Proprioception and balance • Why animals don’t warm up (pandiculation and “incidental training”) • Developing mobility Chapter 5: Handbalancing and Advanced Calisthenics Chapter Goal: This chapter is a natural progression from the last, explaining hand-balancing and gymnastics, along with movements such as gymnastic strength training. Straight arm strength is one example of a crucial aspect of strength that is overlooked by mainstream health and fitness. This can unlock amazing skills like planche and handstands, which will be explained here. • How to build muscle with bodyweight • An introduction to hand-balancing • Straight arm strength explained • Hollow body and core strength • Gymnastics rings, dip bars, parallettes, and other tools • Advanced calisthenics moves explained • Training for parkour • Training for martial arts Chapter 6: Maximizing Endurance Chapter Goal: This chapter will introduce concepts like HIIT, work capacity, steady state cardio, and more. Readers will learn how to increase fitness with long runs or short intense circuits. They’ll also learn how this translates to better performance in the gym, and how to go even further with advanced techniques like breath training. • How to increase fitness with steady state cardio • Introducing HIIT (it’s trendier and has many advantages, but doesn’t entirely replace LISS as we will see here) • Metabolic conditioning and resistance cardio • Work capacity and strength endurance • Advanced methods for increasing VO2 max (including lung training, threshold runs, breathing techniques etc.) Chapter 7: The Mind Muscle Connection Chapter Goal: This chapter will explain the intimate connection between the body and mind and why training them together makes a lot of sense. It will also discuss some specific strategies for improving mental performance, which can likewise enhance your training. • How we think with our bodies (this works in several ways, but I’m particularly excited to discuss embodied cognition – a fascinating and relatively new psychological theory). • How movement unlocks the learning potential of the brain (learning new movements is fantastic for brain plasticity) • Muscle control (how old-time strongmen and golden-era bodybuilders gained greater control over individual muscles and how this is beneficial for max strength) • Accelerate skill acquisition • Reflexes, working memory, and attention • Motivation, discipline, and mental toughness • Meditation for optimal performance Chapter 8: Recovery and Refueling Chapter Goal: Training on its own is not enough. Just as important is the rest and recovery phase, along with proper nutrition. This book won’t go into great depth regarding nutrition, but will provide some basics such as the importance of micronutrients, how to gain/lose weight, and advice on protein consumption. • Nutrition basics: weight loss, weight gain, and supporting your training • Why you aren’t losing/gaining weight • The importance of sleep and how to optimize it • Bulletproof: how to prevent injury • Avoiding overtraining and burnout • SuperFunctional supplement – what do you really need? • More lifestyle factors for optimum recovery Chapter 9: Programming and Overcoming the Interference Principle Chapter Goal: This book introduces lots of concepts and different training methods. The interference principle suggests that combining multiple training methodologies can result in diminishing returns. This chapter provides information on basic programming for any type of training, as well as explanations for the program that will be introduced in the final chapter. It also provides tips on how to set goals, overcome setbacks etc. • How to write a training program: cycles, frequency, and goals • Full body vs PPL vs Bro Splits (and a fourth option) • How to overcome the interference principle • Concurrent training • Dealing with setbacks and fitting training around your schedule. Chapter 10: Your Program for Complete Functional Fitness: The Protean System Chapter Goal: The book ends with a detailed training program that combines everything discussed in previous chapters. It also outlines a new strategy for combining isometric, explosive, and high-rep training in each routine that I call the “Protean System.” The program also incorporates exercises for cognitive performance. There will be a recap on diet, deload weeks, and mobility. • Conclusion and words of encouragement

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Adam has an extraordinary and unquenchable thirst for knowledge that draws the reader in and opens up a whole new world of functional fitness. He doesn't just think outside the box; he breaks the box right down, giving anyone and everyone an inspiring and motivating view on health and fitness for the mind and body. This is a must-read book!



“Adam has an unbelievable depth of knowledge stemming from a very genuine passion and fascination in his subject. If anyone needs to find something to motivate them to get fit and find a different way of looking at health and fitness, look no further!”

—Alex Gregory, English rower and a two-time Olympic Gold medalist





“Adam on The Bioneer is one of the most intellectual & informative people I've ever had the pleasure of watching. Each video leaves you blessed with a new knowledge quite helpful for everyday life. He's a great creator and I respect his work.”

—Jordan "JaxBlade" Downs





"Adam is the new breed of educator and has loaded Functional Training and Beyond with a ton of information not contained in any one text—not even mine. Adam covers definitions, physiological processes, cognitive and neural mechanisms of movement, different training perspectives, and ties all in with historical accounts and applications. I recommend this book to all personal trainers, training geeks, and people who just want to learn about different training methods and philosophies.”

—JC Santana, author of Functional Training