Advances in Functional Training Paperback – January 11, 2010

Mike Boyle is the best of the best and this book is a testimonial to that fact. The greatest part about this book in my opinion is that Boyle gives formulaic answers to both athletes and recreational exercisers. Most fitness professionals don't have or use a template which is adaptable to their trainees, but Boyle lays it on the line and exposes his approach honestly, clearly, logically, and practically. Most strength coaches and the best in the industry are missing at least one of these crucial elements. I've already redesigned my own template for working with my target population and I have observed directly the reduction and elimination of back pain and overall better movement.There really is only one part of this book which is missing - effective strength exercises for the glutes. This is Mike Boyle's sample template for the hip dominant exercises for lower body strength:"Level 1: First Three Weeks: Cook Hip Lift, Slideboard Leg Curl (eccentric only), Hyperextension, Hyperextension HoldLevel 2: Foot-Elevated Hip Lift, Modified Straight-Leg Deadlift, One-Leg Straight-Leg Deadlift (Progressions)Level 3: One-Leg Hyperextension, One-Leg Good Morning, Slideboard and Stability-Ball Hip Extension VariationsLevel 3: Slideboard Leg Curl (eccentric and concentric phase), Stability-Ball Leg Curl"These exercises all work the hamstrings and glutes, but work the hamstrings much more (except possibly for the level 1 exercises). If you read the book, it also does a lot more than just work the hamstrings and glutes, but that's a different story. Unless I missed something, the purpose for activating the glutes and strengthening them is so they can do their job and not be overtaken by the low back and hamstrings. A more functional template to encourage glute strength should have the glutes having at least the same amount of work at least in hip extension (but not possibly in knee flexion). Boyle lays out beautifully the template for activating the glutes and he does a superb job of this as I have used just this approach to activate the glutes and improve lumbar movement or one could say anti-movement. An example template which uses glute strengthening exercises could be (and is the one I use with my clientele): Level 1: Progressively Heavy Bird Dog's (to balance strength assymetries and further enhance lumbar stability versus mobility). Level 2: Glute Bridge with Heavy Weight. Level 3: Hip Thrust with Shoulders off Bench. Level 4: Hip Thrust with Shoulders and Feet of Bench. Based on these levels, high step ups off of a pad could be used at any one of these levels to minimize quad and hamstrings involvement, to provide frontal plane stability training, utilize the obliques, etc..99% of Mike Boyle's book is great and I could write about 10 pages raving about this book, but I encourage anyone fitness professional to read this book from beginning to end to learn how great exercise programming is done.

As an avid exerciser, I have found some excellent programs (e.g. Mark Verstegen's "Core Performance"The Core Performance: The Revolutionary Workout Program to Transform Your Body & Your Life), but eventually muscular adaptation and psychological boredom demand mixing up one's routine. Beyond searching for the "next best" workout, I have been eager to expand my knowledge about the underlying rationale for various workout programs, so that I could continually vary a routine of my own design. I am not a weekend warrior, and my days of varsity athletics are long behind--but I do have some old injuries (an ACL given up to the game of lacrosse) and am committed to being active well into my later years. So from this perspective, functional training is intensely interesting me.I have no advanced training in athletic training, kinesiology, or any related fields, but this book is so rich in insights, that I feel much more well equipped to evaluate and craft a complete exercise program than the typical personal trainer at the local gym. And when I mean complete I am referring to thinking about joint mobility, joint stability, static flexibility, dynamic flexibility, injury prevention, balancing pushing and pulling exercises across multiple pains of motion (and doing the same with knee dominant versus hip dominant exercises), emphasizing unilateral exercises, rehabilitating a painful knee with a focus on eccentric movements and hip stabilizers, the role of core strength, developing power through appropriate use of Olympic Style lifts, the pitfalls of an over-emphasis on steady-state cadio endurance work & the benefits of intense intervals, and using foam rollers to enhance recovery and decrease muscle density. Phew!The limitations: This is not written with the interested layman like myself in mind. The author presumes a degree of knowledge of his reader consistent with the target audience. For me this meant brief explanations of certain movements/exercises and a dearth of helpful images. There also seem to be some inconsistencies based on text that I suspect is left over from his previous publication Functional Training for Sports (I still can't quite figure out where Mr. Boyle stands on dead-lifts, for example). That said, this is an amazing resource for anyone interested in deepening their knowledge of athletic training or just plain old effective exercise.

Coach Boyle has written an excellent book that teaches a systematic approach to enhancing athletic performance that is based on understanding movement, not muscle action.Many books focus on simply making muscles stronger or more powerful yet given little attention to movements that muscles are designed to create. The fact is that muscles work as a function of movement and if we (as trainers and coaches) can enhance movement skills then we can improve muscle function and consequently athletic performance.If you are looking for ways to take your own training to the next level, or if you are a coach looking for a research-based, systematic approach to off-season conditioning then this book should be a part of your library. Effective, efficient human movement is a fluid combination of mobility and stability, which need to be trained as separate components before progressing to integrated training strategies for the entire body. Coach Boyle lays out the function of each joint-whether it is to provide stability or mobility, then teaches strategies for assessing and training to improve function and the progressions to lead to performance enhancement.Boyle is not only a great educator but, more importantly, puts the theory into practice by using the techniques laid out in this book to help the BU hockey team win a national championship (he is the strength coach for the team). Boyle does a great job of taking complex theories and discussing them in ways that do not require a degree in the field of exercise science. If you buy this book and follow the system, you will experience better performance, no matter your sport.