ARE YOU PREPARED ?
CEC ARTICLE
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ADAPTING THE GENERAL PREPARATION PERIOD FOR THE
FITNESS INDUSTRY
The fitness industry has much to gain by following the tried and tested principles of General Physical Preparedness that have been used for decades in the sporting world , writes strength coach Tony Boutagy , PhD .
T he old Soviet coaches used the term
‘ General Physical Preparedness ’
( GPP ) to refer to the non-specific development of work capacity prior to the season of sport-specific training . The goal was to enhance a large number of biomotor capacities , so that the athletes could tolerate and positively adapt to higher volumes and intensities of work in later phases of training .
General , not specific
Reading through all of the classic Eastern Bloc texts on sports theory , the thing that most struck me was the systematic approach to goal specific training blocks . All athletes , across all sports , commenced their training season by building work capacity and general fitness across a wide range of physical capacities that , and here ’ s the interesting part , were specific to general fitness but not specific to the sport . Whether the athlete was a hammer thrower , wrestler or track runner , programs emphasised endurance , mobility , strengthendurance , jumping , sprinting and so on .
The sports blueprint for GPP
One of the greatest weightlifters of all time , Naim Süleymanoglu , who passed away
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