I'm going to be honest, CrossFit got this one wrong. Generally considered the king of functional training, CrossFit relies way too much on a training tool that barely relates daily life in the least. Very rarely are you going to find an object in nature that has been perfectly proportioned for you to lift it. No, usually it's going to be some weird, unbalanced shape that's going to need to crazy maneuver to pick up. For example, my in-laws live on a small pig farm and one day we were having trouble getting a young pig from the barn to and outdoor pen. I decided the easiest thing to do was for me to lift it into a wheelbarrow and wheel it over. They informed me that the pig weighed about 175 pounds, not much considering I've deadlifted well over 500 before. But you know what? That was damn near one of the heaviest things I've ever needed to lift. The pig was moving, the balance point was weird, I could not lift with a perfectly flat back, and I need to do some crazy one-arm-over-one-arm-under thing to lift it. Plus, something like that is way further from your body and center of gravity than a barbell is, making it feel much heavier. If you have ever done Strongman stone loading then you know exactly what I mean. The bottom line is that you need to focus on way more than barbell training if you really want to be functional.
While CrossFit and other functional training methods spend s lot of time with barbells, they obviously use other tools as well. Kettlebells, medicine balls, body weight, and sometimes Dumbbells (much more now than they used to) are all seen on a daily basis. And while these things are all great, they still may not accomplish the goal of helping with every day living. There are some other great tools that I love and I wish were used more often then you see.
The biggest one of these is sandbags, and I don't mean the ones with convenient handles. These can be a great tool for functional training. They're big, heavy, awkward, and their weight shifts as you lift. This makes them great for learning to move real world object. Lift them, squat then, press them, carry them, just move them in some way. Another great option is atlas stone or any odd shaped stones. Just find a big rock, pick it up, and carry it. This will do wonders for your leg, core, back, and arm strength as well. To be honest, anything you can pick up and carry can be functional to an extent. Yes, this includes barbells (think farmers carry) and pretty much anything else. When we're looking at exercises that are "functional" in terms of relating to every day lifeit's hard to beat pickup something up and carrying it.
The other problem with barbells is the fact that 90+% of exercises are done bilaterally, meaning with both arms or legs at the same time. While this allows you to move the most weight, it limits you in your options. If you want to be truly functional then single arm and single leg exercises are a must for your program. This can show you imbalances, potentials for injury, as well as helping a ton with balance and stability. If this sounds like most of your training, then try adding in some unilateral work and you might be surprised how much stronger one arm or leg is than the other.
The point is to make sure that your training stays carried and doesn't lock you into only a few pieces of equipment. The more variety you're going to do, the better and healthier you're going to be.
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