Exercise training for sport falls into two broad categories, Specific Physical Preparedness and General Physical Preparedness.
Simply speaking, Specific Physical Preparedness identifies what an athlete needs to succeed at their specific task or skill, and gives them more of it.
General Physical Preparedness’ role in maximising sports performance is in ‘filling the holes’ created by Specific Physical Preparedness. The best way to improve performance at a task (whether it be sporting or other) is to train at that task. This is especially true for novices. As expertise in this task develops however, adjunct methods must be employed to ensure further improvement.
GPP is an actively generalist, ’anti-specialist’ approach to physical fitness, as it exists through cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. You are as fit as you are competent in your weakest of these physical skills. General Physical Preparedness improves performance across varying tasks, skills and time domains (over seconds, and over hours).
The achievement of GPP is born from variation. To be good at anything, you must train for everything. To ensure mastery across as many physical domains as possible, the movements we train must emulate the movements we may be required to complete in life—whatever the arena may be. Functionality here is the key. There is no room for isolated, contrived movements.
An additional benefit to GPP is the injury preventing effect it has by balancing the relative weaknesses of a specialist athlete with their highly trained and developed muscles and systems.
Fitness is not finite in size. An improvement in GPP will not elicit a drop in SPP.
Specific sports training will always have a place – but let’s not try and fill this already occupied space with contrived exercise. Let specific sports training do it’s thing, then fill in the gaps.
