---
title: "How to Program a Functional Bodybuilding Workout (5 Considerations)"
description: "Welcome to Lightboard Learning where we discuss coaching principles. Today, I winna talk about five considerations to think about when you give your clients functional bodybuilding. So, first, let's..."
url: https://yosekbaez60.ws/2026/03/05/how-to-program-a-functional-bodybuilding-workout-5-considerations/
date: 2026-03-05
modified: 2026-03-05
author: "yoselkbaez36ck"
categories: ["Fitness"]
tags: ["CCP", "Coaching Certificate Program", "Coaching Education", "crossfit games", "functional bodybuilding", "functional bodybuilding workout", "Functional Fitness", "James FitzGerald", "Marcus's filly", "OPEX", "OPEX Fitness", "OPT"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# How to Program a Functional Bodybuilding Workout (5 Considerations)

Welcome to Lightboard Learning where we discuss coaching principles. Today, I winna talk about five considerations to think about when you give your clients functional bodybuilding. So, first, let’s talk about what functional bodybuilding is and let’s talk about what it’s perceived to be. I think a lot of people that aren’t really in this space perceive functional bodybuilding as a fun way to do contractions, a fun way to add a bunch of random exercises, because it looks really good. And what it actually is and the people that are actually doing this thing on a day-to-day basis, coach wise, what it actually is, is a great opportunity to, yes, vary up exercise selection, relative to what your clients are able to perform.

![](https://images.pexels.com/photos/36400008/pexels-photo-36400008.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&h=650&w=940)And it’s a great way to build motor control. So, functional bodybuilding is outstanding, but I want you to think about five things before implementing with your clients. So, number one, still remember that contractions are still king, right? So, if you have a client and they come to you, and they’re like, “I winna get bigger biceps” or “I winna get a bigger chest”, or bigger quads. Contractions are king, right?

So, you don’t winna give them this thing or this perception that you have a functional body building, and band them up, and put a bunch of things in the front rack and all of that, if you need to make their quads bigger. So, think about what your client’s goals are and what you need to give them in functional bodybuilding to get them to their goals. ‘Cause remember the whole idea of functional, right? What does that word mean? It just means that it increases your client’s capabilities of what they do on a day-to-day basis. So, if they’re an athlete, you need to increase their capabilities of being an athlete. If they’re a mom, and they bring in their kids to practice every day, then you need to increase their capabilities of them getting their kids to practice and feeling really good doing that. So, just keep that in mind, relative to that word functional. It doesn’t always mean snatches and muscle-ups. Number two, think about capabilities, determining the variety inside of the training program.

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So, think about someone that comes to your gym, or they hire you as their coach, and they have zero years of training experience. Think about what goes inside of their training program. If you’re a coach and you’re watching this, that’s pretty easy, right? It’s like, we’re probably going to have some compound movements, we’re going to do an assessment, we’re going to put some exercises in there to increase their, where if they have failed assessments or they don’t move adequately or something like that, the exercise program is going to shore up those things, right? You don’t winna give someone with zero years of training experience, a different training program every single day, every single week, every single month, right?

They have to get good at movement patterns. So, think about how you design those and the exercises that go into them takes us to our next point. Capabilities also determine exercise selection. So, just because you see this exercise that looks really good, maybe it’s on Instagram, maybe it’s on YouTube. And you’re like, “I winna implement this with all of my clients.” Think about if your clients are capable of doing that. And then going back to principle number one, and realizing that contractions are king, do your clients get the adequate contraction out of that exercise, right? So, if we go back to that client that wants bigger quads, is it necessary for you to band them up to do squats? Or do you just need to get a lot of contractions into that quadricep and get a lot of blood in there, right? So, really think about the exercise selection and the capabilities of that client, determining that exercise selection, it’s going to make it really easy and seamless for you.

![](https://images.pexels.com/photos/15491995/pexels-photo-15491995.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&h=650&w=940)So, what we teach in CCP is we winna go from motor control to strength, endurance and max contractions, right? An example of motor control is an air squat, right? So, if your client cannot perform an air squat, you’re probably not giving them really high volume front squats because they need to nail down that air squat first. So, you’re limited in exercise selection by your capabilities, always, no matter who you are. The next thing I wanna hit on is concurrent training.

So, concurrent training principles still exist, right? So, when you think of concurrent training, think about doing resistance training, and then aerobic training, and then maybe some anaerobic training, and maybe you’re doing some strength speed movements. What’s inside of the program and how it’s organized, there’s principles behind that. So, don’t forget those, just to make the program look and feel really good, stick to concurrent training principles. And we’ve done a lot of stuff, free downloads on concurrent training.

It’s just, click the link below, and go to that thing. But we dig really deep into that. So those things still exist, okay. And then the last thing, bodybuilding principles still exist, right? So, there’s been a lot of giants in the past, right?

Like your Charles Poliquin’s, all of your bodybuilding pros on T Nation, all the people that have spent years, and years, and years, and years developing bodybuilding protocols and principles. Those things are still there. So, let’s not shy away from those. Let’s actually use those principles and see how we can have those fit into the bigger picture. So, those are five things to consider, when you’re implementing functional bodybuilding with their clients.

What are some things that you guys consider or what are your experiences with functional bodybuilding? Let us know in the comments below.

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