These two categories are very similar, and can even crossover into each other
Functional Training can best be described as training that helps and makes performing everyday tasks way easier. Things like getting in and out of a chair, lifting boxes from the ground, putting heavy stuff on shelves above your head. Helping friends move furniture, house-hold chores, outside chores, etc.
Weight Training is repeating certain movement patterns and attempting to increase the weight being lifted. This technique produces primarily esthetic results. You get toned arms, legs, core, and overall denser muscle.
The muscle of a weight lifter will typically be bigger, denser, and stronger. Stronger, but only in certain positions. Functional training people will typically have a leaner and more Mobil body.
In order to perform heavy weight training, you’ll need heavy weights. Things like dumbbells’, barbells, weighted plates, machines that you can load up with weights. In order to do functional training, all you’ll need is your body weight. So doing things like lunges, pushups, farmers-walks, pullups. Some equipment you’ll need are bands, kettlebells, med-balls, and sleds.
Form is important for both disciplines. But its especially more important for heavy weight lifting. This is because with more weight, bad posture can displace the weight you are lifting onto the wrong places like your lower-back. Bad form/posture in performing functional training will just lead to no results.
Which one should you do? I say both. You want to cycle on and off both disciplines. One month do functional training, and the next month do heavy weight training, and then alternate. I advise beginning fitness people to start with functional training. Its less risky and has major benefits. When you can perform a perfect plank, squat, lunge, pushup, and pullup (functional training exercises) then you are ready to weight train and load up on the weights. The hardest thing for beginning people to do is to not go directly into the heavy weight lifting discipline. Many people are impatient and want immediate results. So they start lifting heavy weight and soon develop a shoulder, hip, or knee impingement, and stop working-out. This is not good. Its all about establishing a fitness habit for the rest of your life, and not just for short term results.
