Functional training is a term used to describe exercises that help you perform activities in everyday life more easily.

These exercises typically use the whole body — definitely multiple muscles — and emphasize core strength and stability.

By mirroring the movements of your daily life, like squatting, reaching, or even carrying a heavy object, building functional strength can help increase your quality of life and reduce your risk of injury.

Bodybuilding-type strength training — which often just focuses on one muscle group — doesn’t provide as many benefits in the functional fitness realm.

For instance, a bicep curl targets just the bicep, but a bicep curl plus a reverse lunge combo integrates the whole body and tests your balance.

Depending on your goals, every exercise has the potential to be functional in some way, but multi-muscle, multi-joint movements tend to provide the most bang for your buck.

Sheltering in place may not be the ideal scenario for working out, but you can easily maintain your functional strength by staying consistent.

Use what you have around the house — large water jugs in place of dumbbells, for instance — and don’t overcomplicate things.

Try our foolproof routines below for a simple solution.

If you’re a beginner to strength training, or have taken quite a bit of time off, start here with this bodyweight routine.

With exercises like squats and pushups, you’ll focus on some fundamentals that will help you maintain your functional strength.

Work through this circuit of 5 exercises, completing 3 sets of 12 reps before moving on to the next. Rest for 30 to 60 seconds in between each set and 1 to 2 minutes in between each exercise.

Glute bridge

Your posterior chain — or the backside of your body — is full of powerful muscles that are essential to day-to-day movement. Integrate the glute bridge to strengthen it.

Muscles worked:

  • glutes
  • hamstrings
  • abdominals

How to:

  1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
  2. Place your arms down by your sides with your palms flat on the floor.
  3. Inhale and begin to lift your hips toward the ceiling, pushing through the soles of your feet and engaging your core, glutes, and hamstrings.
  4. Pause at the top, then slowly return to start.

Squat

From sitting in a chair to picking up groceries, you squat throughout the day without even realizing it.

Adding squats to your workout routine will help you maintain your functional strength while sheltering in place.

Muscles worked:

  • quads
  • hamstrings
  • glutes
  • abdominals

How to:

  1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, leaving your arms straight down at your sides.
  2. Brace your core and begin to push your hips back, bending your knees as if you’re going to sit in a chair.
  3. Ensure that your knees don’t cave in and that your chest stays proud. Pause when your thighs reach parallel to the floor.
  4. Push up evenly through your whole foot back to the starting position.

Pushup

One of the most foundational full-body exercises you can perform, a pushup is key to upper body strength.

Muscles worked:

  • pectorals
  • anterior deltoids
  • triceps

How to:

  1. Get into a high plank position with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders.
  2. Your body should form a straight line from head to toe, and your gaze should be slightly ahead.
  3. Roll your shoulders down and back.
  4. Bend your elbows and lower down, keeping them at a 45-degree angle until your chest touches the ground.
  5. Push back up to start, ensuring that your lower back stays strong.

Lateral lunge

We move front to back quite a bit in day-to-day life — walking, climbing stairs, even reaching down to grab something in front of you.

Side-to-side, or lateral, movement isn’t as common, but it’s still an important element of any functional fitness routine.

Muscles worked:

  • glutes
  • quads
  • hip adductors

How to:

  1. Start standing with your feet together and arms down by your side.
  2. Take a big step out to the side with your right foot, bending the knee and sitting back into your hip as you go. Keep your left leg straight and your chest up throughout the movement.
  3. Push up through your right foot and return to start.
  4. Repeat the same steps on the other side.

Plank

A plank works the whole body, but it puts much of its focus on the core. Core strength is integral to a healthy everyday life, so knock yourself out!

Muscles worked:

  • deltoids
  • pectorals
  • erector spinae
  • rhomboids
  • serratus anterior
  • quads
  • abdominals

How to:

  1. Get into a plank position on your forearms and toes.
  2. Roll your shoulders down and back, and ensure that your hips aren’t piked or sagging.
  3. Your body should form a straight line from head to heels.
  4. Breathe here, holding for 30 seconds to a minute. Repeat 2 to 3 times.

Once you feel confident in the bodyweight routine — and can complete the desired 12 reps easily — move on to the intermediate routine.

You’ll need some light- to moderate-weight dumbbells for this circuit. Again, aim for 3 sets of each exercise and 10 to 12 reps.

The last few reps of your set should be challenging, but you should still be able to finish them with good form — adjust your weight to get here.

Stepup to shoulder press

Compound movements like a stepup to shoulder press provide more bang for your buck while truly mirroring several of the actions you’d complete in daily life.

Muscles worked:

  • glutes
  • quads
  • calves
  • abdominals
  • deltoids
  • triceps

How to:

  1. Stand behind your bench or elevated surface with a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder level.
  2. Step up with your right foot, pushing through your heel and pressing the dumbbells up overhead.
  3. Bring the dumbbells back to shoulder level and step back down, left foot first.
  4. Repeat, leading with the other leg.

Deadlift

One of the kings of strength training exercises, the deadlift targets your entire posterior chain — plus your core — and provides major strength benefits.

Main muscles worked include:

  • traps
  • rhomboids
  • erector spinae
  • quads
  • glutes
  • hamstrings
  • abdominals

How to:

  1. Place a barbell or dumbbells on the ground and stand right behind them, feet shoulder-width apart.
  2. Maintaining a straight back, hinge at the waist, bend the knees slightly, and grip the barbell or dumbells. Your gaze should be ahead.
  3. Roll your shoulders down and back, inhale, and straighten your legs.
  4. Pull the barbell or dumbbells up off the ground.
  5. When your legs are straight and you’ve pulled the weight up against your body, sit back in your hips and bend your knees.
  6. Return the weight to the ground.

Goblet squat

While weighted squats can put lots of the load on the lower back, goblet squats target the quads and glutes without the added tension.

This means you’ll get all the leg strength benefits without lower back involvement.

Muscles worked:

  • quads
  • glutes
  • calves
  • abdominals

How to:

  1. To set up, grip a dumbbell vertically with both hands underneath the top of the weight.
  2. Position the dumbbell against your chest, and keep it in contact with your body throughout the movement.
  3. Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and toes slightly out.
  4. Inhale and start to squat, sitting back in the hips, bending the knees and keeping the core tight.
  5. Allow the elbows to track in between the knees, stopping when your thighs are parallel to the ground.
  6. Push up through the heels back to the starting position.

Single-leg dumbbell row

Adding a one-leg balance to any upper body exercise makes it infinitely more challenging, testing your balance in new ways.

Muscles worked:

  • abdominals
  • quads
  • lats
  • biceps

How to:

  1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your body.
  2. Hinge forward at the waist slightly and lift one leg behind you, allowing your arms to hang down.
  3. Maintaining your balance, pull your elbows up and back and squeeze your shoulder blades when you reach the top.
  4. Release your arms back to start.

Woodchop

Core strength is the foundation of functional strength, and the woodchop will provide just that.

Muscles worked:

  • deltoids
  • abdominals

How to:

  1. Hold a dumbbell by each end to the right side of your body.
  2. Squat down slightly, rotating your trunk to the right.
  3. Begin to stand up and, keeping your arms extended, bring the dumbbell up and across your body by twisting your torso.
  4. Allow your right foot to pivot as you go. The dumbbell should end up over your left shoulder.
  5. Twist your torso back and return the dumbbell to the starting position.

Move on to the advanced routine when you feel strong in the intermediate routine.

You’ll need a barbell or 2 dumbbells for this circuit, and again, complete 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps.

Single-leg Romanian deadlift

Challenge your balance — and strength —by taking your deadlift to one leg.

Muscles worked:

  • quads
  • hamstrings
  • glutes
  • lats

How to:

  1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, positioning them in front of your thighs.
  2. Put your weight into your right leg and begin to hinge at the waist.
  3. Allow your left leg to travel up and back and your arms to hang down.
  4. Keep your right knee soft, your back straight, and your gaze ahead, ensuring that your hips stay square to the ground.
  5. When your left leg reaches parallel to the ground, return to start and repeat.

Front squat

Front squats can be completed with a barbell or dumbbells, whatever you have available. Moving the load to the front of your body challenges your core — and legs — in new ways.

Muscles worked:

  • quads
  • glutes
  • abdominals
  • upper back

How to:

  1. Safely load the weight onto your front side. Rest the barbell across the front of your shoulders, or rest one side of each dumbbell on the front of your shoulders.
  2. Push your elbows up, regardless of your equipment.
  3. Begin to squat down, initiating the movement in your hips and bending the knees.
  4. Resist the pull to fall forward, keeping your chest up and your knees out.
  5. Push back up through the heels to start.

Reverse lunge with rotation

Adding a twist to a lunge challenges your balance — are you sensing a trend? — and will make your arms burn.

Muscles worked:

  • glutes
  • quads
  • hamstrings
  • abdominals
  • deltoids
  • pectorals

How to:

  1. Hold a dumbbell by each end at chest level.
  2. Step back with your right foot.
  3. When you’re in the lunge position, extend your arms and twist your torso over your left thigh.
  4. Begin to stand back up, bending your arms to bring the dumbbell back to center.
  5. Repeat on the other leg.

Renegade row

Combine a plank with a row for a challenge in strength and balance.

Muscles worked:

  • abdominals
  • lats
  • rhomboids
  • biceps
  • quads

How to:

  1. Get into a high plank position with each of your hands on a dumbbell.
  2. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your toes.
  3. Keeping your core strong, row up with your right arm, tucking your elbow and pulling it toward the sky.
  4. Stop before you start to open up in the chest, and ensure that your hips stay square to the ground throughout the movement.
  5. Return the dumbbell to the ground, and repeat with the left arm.

Burpee to broad jump

Functional strength routines can incorporate a cardiovascular element, too. Working on power is just as important as strength, especially for advanced exercisers.

Muscles worked:

  • glutes
  • quads
  • hamstrings
  • calves
  • pectorals
  • deltoids
  • lats

How to:

  1. Start with a burpee, dropping down to your stomach and chest, then jumping back up to your feet.
  2. Immediately after you get back onto your feet, complete a broad jump, propelling yourself forward on two feet as far as you can.
  3. Drop right back down into a burpee, then repeat.

Maintaining your functional strength while sheltering in place isn’t impossible. With minimal equipment, a space to work in, and some consistency, you’ll be back in the gym without missing a beat.


Nicole Davis is a writer based in Madison, WI, a personal trainer, and a group fitness instructor whose goal is to help women live stronger, healthier, happier lives. When she’s not working out with her husband or chasing around her young daughter, she’s watching crime TV shows or making sourdough bread from scratch. Find her on Instagram for fitness tidbits, #momlife, and more.