vol. 15: General Physical Preparedness

This past week has been a tough one.

Completely ruptured my left Achilles last Saturday, had surgery to repair it this Wednesday and have been doing my best to rest + recover ever since.

It’s crazy how humbling injuries like this can be.

A week ago I was proud to have hit almost 400 lbs deadlifting - then this morning, I was proud to have given myself a bath and shaved.

Your perspective really does shape so much of your reality - never forget how much power there is in that.

If you treat your habits like a celebration of what your body can do, you’ll have a much better relationship with them and with your health in the first place 🙂

I’m extremely grateful to be on the road to recovery. This has been a painful process no doubt, but the worst is over now and I’m so excited to get back to it here soon.

So, last week we discussed how to create your yearly training plan, aka your Macrocycle.

If this is something you’ve done or are planning on doing, today’s topic is a type of training that you’ll want to include in your plan to avoid injuries like mine: General Physical Preparedness.

General Physical Preparedness, or GPP, is exactly what it sounds like.

A broad and inclusive approach to fitness, GPP training aims to develop overall physical abilities and preparedness for a wide range of activities and challenges.

It’s often associated with strength and conditioning programs that focus on enhancing an individual's overall fitness, rather than specializing in a specific sport or activity.

There are a ton of ways to improve your GPP, because overall, it’s about being a well rounded athlete and trying a lot of things:

Improving your GPP will help you be able to tolerate more intense training down the road, while making you a better overall athlete and helping you prevent injuries.

So let’s get into 10 movements you can start working into your training today to improve your GPP.

A quick disclaimer before we get into this:

I do my best to keep this newsletter simple and informative so that the tips in here are actionable for our community. With that said, the human movements I’m about to list all have more scientific names, but these names are much less intuitive.

Everyone knows what it means to push or pull something, but not everyone knows what flexion or extension mean in terms of physiology. This is why I’ve decided to speak of these things in more simple terms.

Alright, now onto the 10 movements:

1) Run:

Running is a fundamental movement that enhances cardiovascular fitness, strengthens lower body muscles, and promotes overall endurance, contributing to improved general physical preparedness.

2) Jump:

Jumping exercises, such as plyometrics, enhance explosive power, agility, and coordination. These movements are crucial for sports performance, functional fitness, and overall lower body strength.

3) Push:

Pushing movements, like push-ups or overhead presses, strengthen the upper body, particularly the chest, shoulders, and triceps. They are essential for developing upper body pushing strength and overall functional fitness.

4) Pull:

Pulling exercises, such as pull-ups or rows, target the muscles of the back, biceps, and rear shoulders. These movements help balance the upper body, improve posture, and contribute to a well-rounded strength training program.

5) Throw:

Throwing engages the entire body and enhances explosive power, coordination, and core strength. It is a functional movement that translates well to various sports and activities requiring upper body power.

6) Catch:

Catching involves hand-eye coordination and reflexes, improving overall agility and spatial awareness. It complements throwing and is vital for sports that involve catching or intercepting objects.

7) Rotate:

Rotational movements, like twists or medicine ball throws, enhance core strength, stability, and flexibility. Improved rotation is crucial for sports involving swinging motions and supports overall functional movement patterns.

8) Balance:

Balance exercises, such as single-leg stands or stability drills, improve proprioception and core stability. Enhancing balance contributes to injury prevention, functional movement, and overall physical readiness.

9) Hinge:

The hip hinge movement, seen in exercises like deadlifts, kettlebell swings, or Romanian deadlifts, targets the posterior chain, including the hamstrings and glutes. This movement is essential for hip mobility, lower back strength, and overall functional movement.

10) Hang:

Hanging exercises, like pull-ups or hanging leg raises, strengthen grip, forearm muscles, and engage the core. They contribute to upper body strength, grip endurance, and overall functional fitness, especially in activities requiring hanging or pulling motions.

Today, we covered our new premium newsletter offering, ‘Hybrid Health Plan’, and 10 ways to train your General Physical Preparedness.

As always, thanks for being a part of our growing community - and have a wonderful Sunday 🙂

Dane

ps: if you’re interested in specific workouts for any of the movements listed above, leave a comment or reply to this email and I’ll send some over for ya!