Endurance athletes are a pretty simple bunch. No matter the level of participation, nearly everyone is aiming to improve his or her performance and hoping to see noticeable gains in speed or power fromall that hard training; that is, after all, part of the joy of sport. Unfortunately, in their pursuit of excellence, this desire leads most athletes just to focus on their core sport with such frequency the results don't usually balance out with the effort applied.

If you take a step off the beaten path of more traditional training approaches, beginning with simply viewing your training a little differently, you might actually reap the rewards you desire. Focusing on your functional strength is a great place to start to achieve that power, speed and endurance you are seeking. Unfortunately, it is often the case that, while many understand the need for gaining functional strength, identifying how to achieve it can be difficult.

Let's begin with what it is not. A proper functional strength program does not entail hours of heavy lifting at the gym with traditional exercises such as bench press, leg press and bicep curls. While this type of activity has a place in health and fitness, it is debatable as to how it benefits endurance performance. Many athletes can achieve proper stimulus and benefit from simply using their own body weight.

Functional strength is also not simply a series of static abdominal exercises and core work performed on a mat. Exercises should directly correlate to movements you will make in your core sport(s). Movements should be dynamic and teach you to engage the prime movers in the exercise in conjunction with the core muscle groups that make up your abdominals and lower back. To be truly effective, functional strength training should include the following characteristics:...