This program gets posted here all the time whenever someone has a question about a thing, someone might just post a random FP link. Ok, this is fair.
But I was curious about it, so I decided to check reddit.
Let's see what some threads have to say:
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FunctionalPatterns/comments/tnp5cd/functional_patterns_functional_training_system/
Might be useful but a cult
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FunctionalPatterns/comments/eambvx/review_functional_patterns_10_week_course/
didn't work for this guy
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FunctionalPatterns/comments/v7pome/the_pros_and_cons_of_functional_patterns/
When you want to get results you need a trainer, and certainly a cult
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/sportsmedicine/comments/b1nb0u/question_about_validity_of_functional_patterns/
the positive post sounds like a sales ad
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/8k133u/opinions_on_functional_patterns/
The founder is a cultist
r/FunctionalPatterns - Functional Patterns? Anyone have experience with 1-1 training?
Critique from a physical therapist
I think this comment is noteworthy:
With this one:
Bolding done by me, not the OP:
From the article it cites: Bolding done by me not the OP.
Comments from the thread:
Then:
What's interesting is that much of the "discussion" about functional patterns on reddit has exactly the same energy. It's as if someone there has multiple accounts and is defending the system like a narcissist by insulting those that disagree. It's long and wordy and boring to read. There are some examples in those threads.
But I was curious about it, so I decided to check reddit.
Let's see what some threads have to say:
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FunctionalPatterns/comments/tnp5cd/functional_patterns_functional_training_system/
Might be useful but a cult
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FunctionalPatterns/comments/eambvx/review_functional_patterns_10_week_course/
didn't work for this guy
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FunctionalPatterns/comments/v7pome/the_pros_and_cons_of_functional_patterns/
When you want to get results you need a trainer, and certainly a cult
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/sportsmedicine/comments/b1nb0u/question_about_validity_of_functional_patterns/
the positive post sounds like a sales ad
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/8k133u/opinions_on_functional_patterns/
The founder is a cultist
r/FunctionalPatterns - Functional Patterns? Anyone have experience with 1-1 training?
Critique from a physical therapist
I think this comment is noteworthy:
I was all in on fp. I left because I woke up and realized the system is flawed from the beginning I dont believe standijg neutral is even neutral.. some of the corrective stuff is hard to follow chambers but u can do a lot of basics like kettlebell and movement work at home. I went back to lifting weights trust me you won't hurt yourself. Other people have been banned for having a view not aligning with fp or i know a few people who have woke up and realized that once fp isn't the be all end all. There is some good but lots of bad in it. Trust me you don't need to spend the rest of your life worrying about how your body is. The system creates anxiety even tho it claims to help get rid of anxiety. Do whats best for your health. I lift weights and I practice some things I have learned from a practioner and the 10 week course power of posture and the training system
With this one:
I am having these exact feelings now, only a month into FP with one-on-one training. It feels almost cultish & I don’t like how everything else is “bad”. I’ve taken on the advice from my trainer & stopped any other resistance training. But my mental health is really feeling it & also feeling unfit & not as strong because it’s not exactly a workout. I’m trying to stick it out long enough to see results but as you said, am I only pain free because I’m not doing anything? My pain was never constant, it is triggered by certain movements. I want to go back to my weight training but they make me feel kinda bad about it, but I should just do what I enjoy, right? But then there is this fear that if I do, I’m wasting my money with FP by counteracting it. Ahhh when to make the call about whether it is good for me or not
Bolding done by me, not the OP:
I have just started 10 week program and this Naudi bloke ironically reminds me of Bikram Choudhury. Culty, greedy, and potentially full of hot air. The fact he has to drag everyone else down and keep it a secret points to him being full of ***t. Bikram was similar in relation to other exercise styles and other yoga lineages. If you were really the best why wouldn’t you have it all open for interrogation and wider consumption. Also calling himself Naudstradumus on Instagram? Narcissistic tosser. Anyway gonna give it a go and may report back here to eat my hat if it’s good
r/FunctionalPatterns - Review of the Functional Patterns Article in Men's Journal
4 votes and 14 comments so far on Reddit
www.reddit.com
From the article it cites: Bolding done by me not the OP.
Review of the Functional Patterns Article in Men's Journal
Dan Van Zandt reviews the science (or lack thereof) behind the claims about stretching made by Functional Patterns in a recent Men's Journal article.
www.flexibilityresearch.com
According to the Functional Patterns website, the company teaches a method of fitness training that was first conceptualised in 2009 by the company's founder, Naudi Aguilar. I have had several run-ins with Mr Aguilar on social media in which I questioned his dubious claims about stretching. My requests for data to support his statements ended with him deleting my comments and blocking my account.
Comments from the thread:
Thanks for the lengthy and thorough response. Gonna take some time to digest your points and see if I have further questions. Not going for a rebuttal as I was really just looking for your thoughts not a debate.
I honestly don't have issue with the exercise portion of FP. I get it and I understand where a lot of the thinking comes from (PNF and RNT exercises, isometric holds, etc.). I have done the 10 week course, have/used the FTS and have worked with a couple practitioners int he past (which I found interesting and insightful). I find the movements fun and useful in some contexts but I didn't find them to be a full replacement for some of the more "traditional" (once again for lack of a better word) movements and exercises that make up my normal regimen.My question back which I asked one of the others a few weeks ago, is that- is anything I say here more likely to get you to try doing FP/the concepts that go with it?
The big turnoffs for me have more to do with the culture of FP and the peripherals.
-I find the online culture to be highly toxic (yeah i get the irony of a self professed troll decrying toxic online culture- we can dig into that if you want) especially the echo chamber aspects and a lot of naudi's personal rhetoric (which gets embraced, repeated and amplified by particular high level followers).
-The embrace of some truly wacky pseudoscience. ex. a lot of FP practitioners have started following and amplifying that Carrie Bennett lady after Naudi's appearance on her podcast. Further examples would be grounding, blue light blocking, sunning, and some of the dietary protocols (i dont necessarily disagree with these things on a top level but alot of the "science" behind them is garbage).
-The current shift of focus in a lot of (newer?) pracitioners towards aesthetics that focus on a very lean appearance and a highly tapered torso. This is just a personal thing- I don't like the look in bodybuilding either. I also see it as an unhealthy focus that can lead to some seriously disordered thinking and behaviors (orthorexia etc.).
-The all or nothing approach (naudi was just on about this yesterday) and the overwhelming need to ***t on anything that isn't FP.
-The level of general kinesiophobia FP creates in its practitioners/doers. Reading through posts in the FB group and instagram posts/comments shows that people are genuinely afraid to do just about anything and worried that they won't be able to return to the sports/activities they enjoy (and this gets reinforced by practitioners responses. ex. AJ telling people not to dance).
-Some pretty dubious anatomical concepts and gross speculation on what you are doing. ex. FP exercises remodeling bone, making changes to the periosteum, changing redox potential, etc.
-The whole negative injury rate thing.... Having gotten hurt doing FP with a prac I know this is BS. Promote a low injury rate but at least acknowledge that people do get hurt and be responsive to their concerns.
so what could y'all do to make me interested in doing more FP? Chill out, be more accepting, and be more transparent, and hurry up with the data driven science that shows that you are getting results for the reasons you think you are.
Then:
I'd add the arrogance of the "nobody does what we do but we won't measure it and will make up excuses" ***t. I made a thread with a pretty basic way to evidence strength gains etc which isn't perfect but is easy enough to do and viable but FP will only do things on its own terms and conaisera everything else bull**** without actually offering viable alternatives. The whole "I have a problem with the way traditional research is done" and then saying fuckint before and after pics and a treadmill video is better. Also the double standards and authorative claims about everything else despite lacking experience and understanding of other systems but moaning if anyone makes complaints about FP from the outside. Doble standards really piss me off
What's interesting is that much of the "discussion" about functional patterns on reddit has exactly the same energy. It's as if someone there has multiple accounts and is defending the system like a narcissist by insulting those that disagree. It's long and wordy and boring to read. There are some examples in those threads.