Advances in Functional Training: Training Techniques for Coaches, Personal Trainers and Athletes

In the seven years since the publication of his first book, Functional Training for Sports, new understanding of functional anatomy created a shift in strength coaching. With this new material, Coach Boyle presents the continued evolution of functional training as seen by a leader in the strength and conditioning field. After an introduction into his new thinking, Michael uses ten basic sections to present everything a strength coach or personal trainer needs to understand modern training theory, beginning with his joint-by-joint approach to training, along with details of his use of Gray Cook and Lee Burton’s Functional Movement Screen. Next he discusses injury avoidance, treatment, rehab and training after injury. Then he updates the reader on the current thinking in core training, back pain, and on how the hip musculature works, and how it fails. We learn his philosophy on cardiovascular training, and see what has worked for the athletes training in his facility. In the second half of the book, Michael shifts to training strategies, including which exercises he uses today and which he’s discarded, what equipment and tools are in use on his gym floor, how he develops speed, and, of course, there’s a large section on his now-famous single-leg training. Finally, we get to program design, where he puts the entire package together to mesh theory with daily reality. He’ll teach you the basic objectives of a sound program, and then over the course of 32 pages, he’ll show you exactly which programs he uses in a variety of client and athletic circumstances.