January 7, 2025 • 12 mins
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Exploring the trend of functional fitness as a new transformative approach to personal wellness. I clarify my view of the relationship between functional fitness and physical therapy (and if there is one) while encouraging listeners to ask the right questions in their health journey.
• Insights on the upcoming trend of functional fitness in 2025
• The critical role of understanding 'why' in workouts
• Differences between functional fitness and physical therapy
• The significance of nutritional support during recovery
• Importance of asking questions when seeking healthcare options
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello and welcome to In the Rising a health and
wellness podcast for those goingthrough and those supporting
those going through cancer.
My name is Bettina Brown andI'm board certified in physical
therapy, wound care andlymphedema, and you know, for me
cancer is very personal.
It's affected my friends, myimmediate and my not so
(00:25):
immediate family, and thereforeI created this podcast and
fitafterbreastcancercom toaddress the multiple dimensions
of our lives during and afterrecovery.
Hello, hello and welcome to thefirst episode of 2025.
(00:46):
This is really exciting for meand I am ready for this season
and ready for seasons after.
Perhaps, like some of you, 2024may have just been hit after hit
, after hit, and a lot of themhealth hits hit and a lot of
(01:07):
them health hits.
But there's nothing like havinghealth hits to have you
reevaluate the purpose of yourlife and the purpose of what
every single day needs to be.
And that's where I feel rightnow super excited, super pumped
to move into the next season andto welcome you into In the
Rising podcast.
So my name is Bettina Brown,physical therapist, and I am
(01:29):
excited to talk about one of thetop trends for 2025.
So I like to see what's goingon and, especially as a physical
therapist.
I've been doing this just shyof 19 years, trying to stay
invigorated, excited about thisprofession, that I've been doing
this just shy of 19 years,trying to stay invigorated,
excited about this professionthat I've dedicated years to and
(01:49):
seen hundreds of thousands ofpatients at this point.
So one of the things thatcaught my eye on the list of
2025 trends was something calledfunctional fitness, and so I
stopped there.
I was like functional fitnessand so I stopped there as like
functional fitness.
What exactly does that mean?
So I googled, I googled somemore and I read some more.
(02:12):
I looked at what some peoplebelieve functional fitness is
compared to physical oroccupational therapy, and this
episode is really about givingmy perspective, which is
personal and professional, aboutthis new trend.
So one of the biggest thingsthat I've read about functional
(02:33):
fitness is it discusses andreviews the why behind what
you're doing.
For example, the why behind asquat Because we all know that
we love our squats.
Or the why behind a squatbecause we all know that we love
our squats.
Or the why behind a horizontalpull because pushups are
wonderful.
(02:53):
Well, one of the things with asquat is we know we're going to
have to bend our knees and we'regoing to have to be able to
stand basically partially standand partially sit and repeat,
and partially stand andpartially sit and repeat.
We also know to do a squat.
(03:14):
We have to hinge forward.
So we do deadlifts, we do stepups, because that hinge movement
allows us to have a betterposture and it allows us to have
better pot, to better have astrength for certain muscle
groups.
Functional fitness really turnsit back to if you do these
(03:37):
deadlifts and you do theselunges, well, this is what's
going to help you stand up froma chair and if we do upper body
work, you're going to be able tohold your groceries while you
get up in the chair.
So isn't this why so important?
And we're going to dedicate anentire process and an entire
(04:01):
program and entire websites tothe why behind it and thinking
about healthcare, how we canhelp people, help our clients,
help our people that weencounter achieve their own
goals.
What are my thoughts?
Well, I like one part in thatthe why is focused on greatly,
(04:29):
because why do you want to dothis, why do you want to do this
, why do you want to upgrade tofunctional fitness?
And I think that why is whatdrives us, just like that
Hallmark commercial I saw overChristmas.
That was really cool and I'mnot big on the Hallmark
commercials but I loved it andit was about this grandfather
who had a picture and you didn'tsee what it was till the end of
(04:51):
the commercial and he continuedto work out and work out and
the goal was so that when hesees his granddaughter he'd be
able to lift her up.
That was his goal.
He had his why in front of him.
Now physical therapy and I'veseen it described interestingly
in some of these websites asit's all about recovery from
(05:14):
surgery.
It's recovery after an injuryto progress to functional
fitness, which to me isinteresting because that's what
physical therapy is all about.
You know, having to have abachelor degree, typically in
biology and kinesiology orsomething like that degree,
typically in biology andkinesiology or something like
that.
It could even be art, as longas you have the prerequisites
(05:36):
chemistry and physics, becausethe body is all about physics
and human anatomy and nutrition.
To then go to a three-yearprogram, all about how the body
moves, and then graduate, justso that you can only help
someone recovery from an injury,but then you need to pass them
(06:05):
on for functional fitness.
That's a little mind-blowing tome.
I find it interesting thatseven years of education is so
you can pass it on to someonewho's a personal trainer.
I kind of struggle with thatthought and I don't even think
it's completely accurate.
I don't, and I would lovesomeone to challenge me on that,
because I don't follow thatline of thinking at all.
What I love is the idea thatfunctional fitness talks about
(06:29):
the why when physical therapy.
I think we could do a betterjob of it.
But when you come in, one ofthe things we have to write is
what is your goal?
What is your why?
And particularly when you aregoing through or have gone
through a health event, it isnot necessarily an injury or a
(06:50):
surgery but a recovery from anentire global body fatigue,
particularly when I have seenthose going through cancer
treatment at that moment orpost-cancer treatment.
Just daily activities were ourgoals the ability to vacuum on a
consistent basis.
(07:11):
You know, extending the arm andbending the arm.
We had exercises that wereextending the arm and bending
the arm.
We had activity to buildendurance.
We had to make sure that yourheart rate was able to tolerate
everything.
We had to measure youroxygenation.
It was not just here's arecovery from it.
(07:32):
It was not.
Just here's a recovery from it.
So when I did Google somefunctional fitness versus
physical therapy, even somearticles by physical therapists,
I was left more confused,because I feel functional
fitness is a really so much moreinteresting and sexy term than
physical therapy, because as aphysical therapist, I don't get
(07:54):
a lot of people who are like,yes, I'm going to PT, but I do.
In the world where we're movinginto a different terminology of
more holistic things, you know,this is for my function, this
is fitness for my why thatsounds just so much more
interesting than physicaltherapy, right?
(08:14):
So I think it is a little bitmore about marketing to help
someone as opposed to actuallybeing any different.
What is the point of thisepisode?
I also looked as a physicaltherapist and, working with my
partners of occupational therapy, I could not find anything
(08:35):
about functional fitness andoccupational therapy.
Because standing and sittingfrom a chair is the same action
of standing and sitting from atoilet.
To functionally be able to grabanything from the cabinets, any
of your dishes, or to grab anyof your clothes.
That is usually, by ouroccupational therapy,
(08:58):
counterparts your activities ofdaily living and not to say that
a physical therapist can't workwith someone to get anything
out of the cabinets and not tosay an occupational therapist
can't work on any walking withsomeone, because usually you
walk to the bathroom from yourbed.
I kind of lost what this entirefield is because it already
(09:22):
exists.
It already exists and I'mreally in support of anyone who
is looking for a provider,looking for help, to ask
appropriate questions.
If you're a functional fitnessperson, it's an occupational
(09:42):
which I haven't found, but it'spossible or a physical therapist
, great.
But really we're highlightingwhat this profession is already
doing and this profession hasdone very well for close to, and
if not over, 100 years.
Again, we're continuouslyimproving.
(10:03):
This already exists.
But if you're going throughhealthcare recovery and
particularly cancer recovery,whether it's a functional
fitness that you would like topractitioner, that you want to
work with, or a physicaltherapist, it might even be the
same person is really go back toasking the questions.
Those who work with those goingthrough cancer have a different
(10:26):
understanding of exercisetolerance.
They have a differentunderstanding of that.
Raising the arms overhead anddoing some of these activities
overhead may not be the firstthings we want to do after a
surgery If you've had lymphnodes removed.
There are certain activitiesand endurance activities that
can be brought on at a muchslower pace while being
(10:49):
monitored to not activate anylymphedema for which there is no
cure.
So more and go and do andstretch and be able to stand and
sit and push and pull, justbecause that is important and it
is important to me every singleday.
But negating the fact thatthere are other components that
(11:12):
are part of health care and partof nutrition, just to have a
better way of framing something,is something I take issue with.
So functional fitness I thinkthat sounds great.
I think it sounds so great.
I have a degree in it and thereare people with doctors.
I have a master's in it andI've been doing it for 19 years.
(11:35):
So I'm so glad that we have away to describe physical therapy
in a way that may not alwayscorrectly describe the work of
physical therapists, which is tohelp you be functional and to
help you be fit.
So I welcome any comments tothis.
I thank you so much for yourtime and I really hope that you
(11:58):
have the best questions to askyour provider, which I listed
below Ask questions.
We do so many investigations ofwho's going to come lay down
our floor and what kind ofbuilder do we want and what kind
of car do we want.
But we don't often do that withhealthcare practitioners.
We should be able to haveanswers for you when you ask
(12:18):
them.
So thank you so much for yourtime.
I'm so excited that you've beenwith me today.
Be sure to check out my website, fitafterbreastcancercom.
Or.
Rising Within Life Coaching,looking at what is next from an
emotional, from a physical, froma spiritual component.
And until next time, let's keepbuilding one another up.
Hello and welcome to In the Rising a health and
wellness podcast for those goingthrough and those supporting
those going through cancer.
My name is Bettina Brown andI'm board certified in physical
therapy, wound care andlymphedema, and you know, for me
cancer is very personal.
It's affected my friends, myimmediate and my not so
(00:25):
immediate family, and thereforeI created this podcast and
fitafterbreastcancercom toaddress the multiple dimensions
of our lives during and afterrecovery.
Hello, hello and welcome to thefirst episode of 2025.
(00:46):
This is really exciting for meand I am ready for this season
and ready for seasons after.
Perhaps, like some of you, 2024may have just been hit after hit
, after hit, and a lot of themhealth hits hit and a lot of
(01:07):
them health hits.
But there's nothing like havinghealth hits to have you
reevaluate the purpose of yourlife and the purpose of what
every single day needs to be.
And that's where I feel rightnow super excited, super pumped
to move into the next season andto welcome you into In the
Rising podcast.
So my name is Bettina Brown,physical therapist, and I am
(01:29):
excited to talk about one of thetop trends for 2025.
So I like to see what's goingon and, especially as a physical
therapist.
I've been doing this just shyof 19 years, trying to stay
invigorated, excited about thisprofession, that I've been doing
this just shy of 19 years,trying to stay invigorated,
excited about this professionthat I've dedicated years to and
(01:49):
seen hundreds of thousands ofpatients at this point.
So one of the things thatcaught my eye on the list of
2025 trends was something calledfunctional fitness, and so I
stopped there.
I was like functional fitnessand so I stopped there as like
functional fitness.
What exactly does that mean?
So I googled, I googled somemore and I read some more.
(02:12):
I looked at what some peoplebelieve functional fitness is
compared to physical oroccupational therapy, and this
episode is really about givingmy perspective, which is
personal and professional, aboutthis new trend.
So one of the biggest thingsthat I've read about functional
(02:33):
fitness is it discusses andreviews the why behind what
you're doing.
For example, the why behind asquat Because we all know that
we love our squats.
Or the why behind a squatbecause we all know that we love
our squats.
Or the why behind a horizontalpull because pushups are
wonderful.
(02:53):
Well, one of the things with asquat is we know we're going to
have to bend our knees and we'regoing to have to be able to
stand basically partially standand partially sit and repeat,
and partially stand andpartially sit and repeat.
We also know to do a squat.
(03:14):
We have to hinge forward.
So we do deadlifts, we do stepups, because that hinge movement
allows us to have a betterposture and it allows us to have
better pot, to better have astrength for certain muscle
groups.
Functional fitness really turnsit back to if you do these
(03:37):
deadlifts and you do theselunges, well, this is what's
going to help you stand up froma chair and if we do upper body
work, you're going to be able tohold your groceries while you
get up in the chair.
So isn't this why so important?
And we're going to dedicate anentire process and an entire
(04:01):
program and entire websites tothe why behind it and thinking
about healthcare, how we canhelp people, help our clients,
help our people that weencounter achieve their own
goals.
What are my thoughts?
Well, I like one part in thatthe why is focused on greatly,
(04:29):
because why do you want to dothis, why do you want to do this
, why do you want to upgrade tofunctional fitness?
And I think that why is whatdrives us, just like that
Hallmark commercial I saw overChristmas.
That was really cool and I'mnot big on the Hallmark
commercials but I loved it andit was about this grandfather
who had a picture and you didn'tsee what it was till the end of
(04:51):
the commercial and he continuedto work out and work out and
the goal was so that when hesees his granddaughter he'd be
able to lift her up.
That was his goal.
He had his why in front of him.
Now physical therapy and I'veseen it described interestingly
in some of these websites asit's all about recovery from
(05:14):
surgery.
It's recovery after an injuryto progress to functional
fitness, which to me isinteresting because that's what
physical therapy is all about.
You know, having to have abachelor degree, typically in
biology and kinesiology orsomething like that degree,
typically in biology andkinesiology or something like
that.
It could even be art, as longas you have the prerequisites
(05:36):
chemistry and physics, becausethe body is all about physics
and human anatomy and nutrition.
To then go to a three-yearprogram, all about how the body
moves, and then graduate, justso that you can only help
someone recovery from an injury,but then you need to pass them
(06:05):
on for functional fitness.
That's a little mind-blowing tome.
I find it interesting thatseven years of education is so
you can pass it on to someonewho's a personal trainer.
I kind of struggle with thatthought and I don't even think
it's completely accurate.
I don't, and I would lovesomeone to challenge me on that,
because I don't follow thatline of thinking at all.
What I love is the idea thatfunctional fitness talks about
(06:29):
the why when physical therapy.
I think we could do a betterjob of it.
But when you come in, one ofthe things we have to write is
what is your goal?
What is your why?
And particularly when you aregoing through or have gone
through a health event, it isnot necessarily an injury or a
(06:50):
surgery but a recovery from anentire global body fatigue,
particularly when I have seenthose going through cancer
treatment at that moment orpost-cancer treatment.
Just daily activities were ourgoals the ability to vacuum on a
consistent basis.
(07:11):
You know, extending the arm andbending the arm.
We had exercises that wereextending the arm and bending
the arm.
We had activity to buildendurance.
We had to make sure that yourheart rate was able to tolerate
everything.
We had to measure youroxygenation.
It was not just here's arecovery from it.
(07:32):
It was not.
Just here's a recovery from it.
So when I did Google somefunctional fitness versus
physical therapy, even somearticles by physical therapists,
I was left more confused,because I feel functional
fitness is a really so much moreinteresting and sexy term than
physical therapy, because as aphysical therapist, I don't get
(07:54):
a lot of people who are like,yes, I'm going to PT, but I do.
In the world where we're movinginto a different terminology of
more holistic things, you know,this is for my function, this
is fitness for my why thatsounds just so much more
interesting than physicaltherapy, right?
(08:14):
So I think it is a little bitmore about marketing to help
someone as opposed to actuallybeing any different.
What is the point of thisepisode?
I also looked as a physicaltherapist and, working with my
partners of occupational therapy, I could not find anything
(08:35):
about functional fitness andoccupational therapy.
Because standing and sittingfrom a chair is the same action
of standing and sitting from atoilet.
To functionally be able to grabanything from the cabinets, any
of your dishes, or to grab anyof your clothes.
That is usually, by ouroccupational therapy,
(08:58):
counterparts your activities ofdaily living and not to say that
a physical therapist can't workwith someone to get anything
out of the cabinets and not tosay an occupational therapist
can't work on any walking withsomeone, because usually you
walk to the bathroom from yourbed.
I kind of lost what this entirefield is because it already
(09:22):
exists.
It already exists and I'mreally in support of anyone who
is looking for a provider,looking for help, to ask
appropriate questions.
If you're a functional fitnessperson, it's an occupational
(09:42):
which I haven't found, but it'spossible or a physical therapist
, great.
But really we're highlightingwhat this profession is already
doing and this profession hasdone very well for close to, and
if not over, 100 years.
Again, we're continuouslyimproving.
(10:03):
This already exists.
But if you're going throughhealthcare recovery and
particularly cancer recovery,whether it's a functional
fitness that you would like topractitioner, that you want to
work with, or a physicaltherapist, it might even be the
same person is really go back toasking the questions.
Those who work with those goingthrough cancer have a different
(10:26):
understanding of exercisetolerance.
They have a differentunderstanding of that.
Raising the arms overhead anddoing some of these activities
overhead may not be the firstthings we want to do after a
surgery If you've had lymphnodes removed.
There are certain activitiesand endurance activities that
can be brought on at a muchslower pace while being
(10:49):
monitored to not activate anylymphedema for which there is no
cure.
So more and go and do andstretch and be able to stand and
sit and push and pull, justbecause that is important and it
is important to me every singleday.
But negating the fact thatthere are other components that
(11:12):
are part of health care and partof nutrition, just to have a
better way of framing something,is something I take issue with.
So functional fitness I thinkthat sounds great.
I think it sounds so great.
I have a degree in it and thereare people with doctors.
I have a master's in it andI've been doing it for 19 years.
(11:35):
So I'm so glad that we have away to describe physical therapy
in a way that may not alwayscorrectly describe the work of
physical therapists, which is tohelp you be functional and to
help you be fit.
So I welcome any comments tothis.
I thank you so much for yourtime and I really hope that you
(11:58):
have the best questions to askyour provider, which I listed
below Ask questions.
We do so many investigations ofwho's going to come lay down
our floor and what kind ofbuilder do we want and what kind
of car do we want.
But we don't often do that withhealthcare practitioners.
We should be able to haveanswers for you when you ask
(12:18):
them.
So thank you so much for yourtime.
I'm so excited that you've beenwith me today.
Be sure to check out my website, fitafterbreastcancercom.
Or.
Rising Within Life Coaching,looking at what is next from an
emotional, from a physical, froma spiritual component.
And until next time, let's keepbuilding one another up.
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