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General Physical Preparedness (GPP)

By Greg Mihovich

General Physical Preparedness or GPP is the ability to continuously perform
quality work for a certain period of time, while maintaining a good athletic
posture (alignment). Therefore, GPP forms a foundation for further athletic
development. I hope that you are aware by now that you are an athlete, as well as
that you are physically, mentally and spiritually unique – as such an athlete you
require a unique approach.

Yet you still a human with the core, upper body and lower body present and
therefore you need to undergo a more generalized approach before tackling
more advanced, intense and specialized movements and methods of training.

The higher your GPP level is the higher you will go as an athlete and the fewer
injuries you will have along the way, because you will be able to do more work,
while being more focused and tired less, as well as recovering faster. The
number of injuries will simply go down because of that prolonged focus and less
mistakes, as well as the ability to maintain structural alignment during a
prolonged or intense performance.

Without a certain basic level of conditioning it is impossible to progress. It is like
building a house on the sand. With a strong foundation, on the other hand, the
sky is the limit! In the illustrated example below "simple" bodyweight Squat
(among with some other exercises) has build the foundation for the much more
advanced One Arm Overhead Squat -- the later would be impossible or
dangerous without the previous.

Modern lifestyle sets very low GPP standards. Kids and adults alike spend more
time glued in front of the TV or computer than outside playing sports, hiking and
generally running around. Seldom people have a physical job, usually they sit in
an office all day and/or drive. All of this sets people way back in terms of general
physical development.

To offset this pattern a variety of both weighted and non weighted exercises
should be performed almost daily. These exercises should be general in nature
and mechanically simple yet sound. They should also load all of the body’s
systems, including muscular, cardio and respiratory systems, as well as tendons
and ligaments.

Movement pattern examples could include running, squatting, pushing, pulling,
climbing, kicking and swimming. The good exercise example could be Squats,
Pull Ups, V-Ups, Lunges and Bridges.

The benefits will include:

•        Increased blood circulation and better recovery and regeneration

•        Enhanced coordination and athleticism

•        Enhanced mental toughness

•        Enhanced conditioning and general physical capacity

Kids especially should regularly engage in GPP activities and avoid
concentrating on a single one-dimensional sport.

In the West it is common to see a kid that specializes in, let’s say Baseball or
Soccer since the age of four. What it does is seriously compromises the child’s
athletic potential and threatens him with potential injuries during and after his
athletic carrier.

I am not saying that you should not start your kids in a sport and keep him there
because both you and the child like the sport and you have great plans for his
athletic future. Certainly, the earlier the child will be exposed to an activity, the
better he will be at it overall as he grows up.

Am I contradicting myself here? Not really.

What I am talking about is that a great amount of the kid’s overall training time
should be dedicated to general physical activities such as running, jumping,
climbing, throwing, rowing, lifting, crawling, etc. no matter what is the sport he
plays. That GPP training served in bulk will ensure his balanced development,
strengthen his weaknesses and ultimately, upon mastery, lead to his better
development at his main sport.

Another thing you have to remember that your life does not end when the
competitive sport carrier ends and continues well many years after that. Unless
you are in a sport for the medals as a main objective and not for yourself, which
topics for a different conversation, but than you are blind and are robbing
yourself from a bigger picture.

To summarize:

You need to build yourself from the bottom up by developing a strong and wide
foundation of general movement practice and physical conditioning before
moving to more specialized practices.

Kids need to engage themselves into diversified (actually, it is by default) GPP
training on the daily basis.

Adults and experienced teenage athletes are no exception either. However their
GPP training volume in comparison to the overall training should be lower
(unless they do not have a strong GPP base to begin with).

Greg Mihovich
Performance Enhancement & Combat Arts Specialist
www.UndergroundGym.com

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