These are the folks who have helped me on my Functional Fitness journey in one way or another. I can’t promise that I’ve watched everything they’ve published, but somewhere along the way each of these folks has made me smarter and better able to understand what I’m trying to do, and why.
Note: Most of the information available online is geared more towards younger people and trying to maximize strength/gains. My personal program/journey is about somebody in his mid-50s who cares more about movement, flexibility, full range of motion, living pain-free, and trying to feel youthful for as long as possible (with added strength as an extra bonus/consequence of working with a progressive program). But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from the information presented.
Channels I follow: (in no particular order)
Mark Wildman
Mark has forgotten more about Functional Fitness than most of us will ever learn. I have learned more on this topic from him than from any other individual/group/site in the space. Mark has been sharing videos for almost a decade and has >350,000 subscribers. When he talks, I take a minute to listen.
The Flowing Dutchman
I'm not sure anybody on the planet has spent more time studying and practicing Mace and Club swinging than Harbert "The Flowing Dutchman". And if you've ever seen him juggle a Kettlebell you can be sure he isn't a one-trick pony. I get smarter evrey time I watch and listen to him practice.
Mover's Odyssey
This channel posts videos which have an amazing way of breaking complicated topics down into understandable pieces - using hand-drawn illustrations to compliment the discussion and emphasize points. But most of all - he tackles all types of Functional Fitness topics. It's worth checking out for sure.
The Bioneer
Adam Sinicki has put in the work, that much is obvious. He has an impressive skill set and has built a lifestyle around functional fitness. His videos are a great place to learn from somebody else's experience, practice, and research.
Dan John
Dan has spent a lifetime competing in world class events and training world class athletes, and has been able to reduce a lot of complicated topics into a few simple, actionable, full-body exercises. And while his frame of reference is generally "top of sport" and "very heavy/strong", I've gleaned a great deal of information from listening to Dan talk.
Strength Side
These two brothers have shared their journey online over the last decade as they've transformed from being "regular guys" to basically having body-control superpowers. I've learned a lot from them in the areas of hip & ankle flexibility, squatting and ground work/play, and balance/flexibility exercises.
Kettlebell Carlos
Carlos is an interesting and likeable guy who clearly loves all things Functional Fitness and is pretty well plugged into the Functional Fitness equipment scene. He has a unique take on things and listening to him sometimes sparks an idea or answers a question I didn't even know I had.
Lebe Stark
I take this one with a grain of salt because it feels to me like he tends to sensationalize his positions and he's trying hard to sell his programs. But once you get past that it becomes clear this is a former body-builder who has a decade of high-level Kettlebell under his belt, which gives him a good perspctive from which to share nuggets of wisdom.
George Thomas
This is a kid's channel (I should give him more respect and say young man's channel) - clearly outside the realm of our 50s & 60s lifestyles. But this young man "gets it", and speaks with wisdom greater than his years. Sometimes I feel like he's talking to my kids, but sometimes I'll hear him and something he says hits home.
.