SO you had a great workout at the gym yesterday. You lifted more weights for longer than ever before and pulled at a high enough level on the rowing machine to try out for the Olympic team.

Today, you lift a large suitcase and do your back in.

What happened? In all likelihood, you're not paying enough attention to your functional fitness.

You may be toned, tight and sporting a physique that Peter Andre would envy, but are you ready to lift your young child out of their car seat or put the water bottle onto the dispenser at work?

Functional fitness and functional training will again be this year's gym buzzwords, encouraging folks to focus on building bodies capable of doing real-life activities in real-life positions, not just lifting weight in an idealised posture, created by a gym machine.

Last year in this column I spoke about functional training exercises that involve using several muscle groups and engaging several joints in one movement because this is how our bodies function in everyday life.

Having functional strength means having a muscular system capable of doing a range of everyday tasks safely and effectively.

I've mentioned before that I feel many traditional methods of gym training are not contributing to functionality as much as they could. For years, people have exercised and lifted weights to do better in the gym, whereas functional training helps you do better in life.

The days of attempting to isolate an individual muscle group while training to improve overall health are over. The exercises we practise should integrate the use of multiple muscle groups and be applicable to the physical tasks we perform throughout our day.

Balance and co-ordination, while moving our muscles and joints through varied ranges of motion, are a necessity.

Currently, the emphasis in fitness training is to involve as many supporting muscles in one exercise as possible.

Apparently, exercise equipment manufacturers will no longer build machines that confine the user in a position which unnaturally emphasises a particular muscle group.

Support for our back, arms or legs comes from controlling the relevant muscles throughout each exercise movement and, very importantly, we must learn to control the muscles of the trunk.

I believe that "core" training and postural awareness through Pilates should be a pre-requisite before embarking on any new exercise programme. I'd also outlaw the wearing of gym belts, but that's just me.

The key to functional exercise is integration. It's about teaching all the muscles to work together rather than isolating them to work independently.

Functional exercise can be used for athletic training, rehabilitation, fat loss, toning, general fitness or building muscle. It will improve your balance, co-ordination and useable strength.

Sit tall, breathe deep, smile wide and get fit for living your life.

If you have any health issues or questions you want me to discuss you can contact me through my website at www.nikkifit.tk.