texag06ish said:
Right now my primary workouts are lifting and running. I am looking to switch up my workouts to include exercises that focus on mobility, elevated heart rate and functional strength but I don't know where to get started.
My question is: how did you design your workout routine and what resources did you use for research?
What is your goal? Do you train for aesthetics (for hypertrophy ie bodybuilding), for health only, for strength, for a sport etc? How many days a week do you or can you train? And by functional strength, could you explain that a little further? If you are lifting properly with good form, your "functional strength" should be fine as there are really no special 'functional" movements proper lifting doesn't already cover, even bodybuilding. And your lifting alone, if you are going through full ranges of motion and focusing on getting deep into the lengthened or stretched position with control, your weight lifting alone can be great for mobilizing. If you can't get deep at first, progress slowly over time getting deeper in the movement. It's a slow journey so don't rush it.
Now, if what you mean is becoming more mobile, there are a lot of various options available online and on youtube. First, define your goal or purpose for training. For example, if you are a powerlifter (just using this as an example), look up mobility exercises for powerlifters, and choose maybe 2-5 exercises, especially those that focus on the movements that you plan on doing that day (its a squat day for instance). Take 5-10 minutes before the actual training and perform those mobility movements as your warm-up then go train. For elevating your heart rate, take a day where you focus mostly on conditioning work. Again, for a powerlifter, look up conditioning for powerlifting. So, if you train 4 days a week, add a 5th day for moderate conditioning work and progressively go from there. Potentially add a yoga day if you like. It is more general, but it can be great for mobility.
Point is, conditioning and mobilizing can be, and likely should be tailored to what type of training you do and your training should be tailored to what you goal is (specificity). If it's overall general strength and health, than it is pretty easy. Almost anything works. If it's more specialized, it's a good idea to mobilize for your specific training. But you don't have to take too much extra time for this. Again, take 5-10 minutes prior to actually training to mobilize and work on elevating the heart rate on days off with conditioning work (you can do a circuit stations for instance-think HYROX type training, run, go for walks it get 10K-15K steps etc) or maybe do some 2-a-days where you train in the morning doing one and the evening doing the other (weights vs conditioning) depending on how much time you actually have....
