Constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. Anyone of us can tell you that is the definition of CrossFit. We come to “the box” looking for a tough workout that will leave us on our knees gasping for air. However, the purpose of CrossFit is not to be dead after every workout. The purpose of CrossFit has always been to prepare people for the unexpected and to have a good quality of life. In order to do that, we need to work on our General Physical Preparedness (GPP for short) just as much as we work on any other aspect of training.
General Physical Preparedness can be defined as a preparatory phase of training that is intended to provide balanced physical conditioning in endurance, strength, speed, flexibility and other basic factors of fitness. In other words, it can be considered all-around fitness. We use GPP style workouts to work on our deficiencies. We can use them to balance our unilateral strength, work on our endurance or strengthen weaker muscles. Typically, we use GPP days as active recovery days and “grunt” work. In those days we look for quality instead of quantity.Our daily life keeps most of us in a state of inactivity. We sit at our desks for hours in end and now a days with the increase of work from home, we are not even walking to our cars. Taking the stairs is out of the question for most people and food delivery services are on the rise. Simply put: we don’t move enough. Then, we go to the box looking to burn all the calories we haven’t burned in the day and we go way harder than we should. This all or nothing attitude can cause pain or even injuries if we are not careful. We can’t expect our body to do a 21-15-9 of thrusters and pull ups in under 5 min after spending the whole day sitting on our couches watching Netflix and answering emails.
GPP days are important because get to push our bodies but in a less intense structure. When we focus on the quality of movement we can increase our endurance and the amount of weight we can move over periods of time. We also provide our bodies a chance to adapt to new weights and movements without the added stress of racing the clock. Unfortunately, a lot of people see GPP days as their designated rest day. Trust us, the more you work on your overall preparedness by working on your weaknesses, the better you will perform on the short and nasty workouts. In fact, most people find themselves improving their lifts after adding GPP days to their training. It is also a mental game, when a GPP day consist of movements that we struggle with we work on our mental toughness by getting it done.At Celebration CrossFit we believe in the importance of having a balance when it comes to training. We are committed to keeping you healthy and out of pain. Yes, we have days when the MetCon will leave you on the floor making sweat angels; but we also believe in the importance of working on quality movements that will make your whole body stronger. Don’t skip GPP days and you will thank us when you PR your Fran time (after you catch your breath).by Coach Keren
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