Last week, our blog – https://telosstrength.com/blogs/telosstrength-com-blog-functional-fitness-fundamentals/ outlined the fundamental movements we use every single day at Telos: squat, hinge, push, pull, step, and carry. I covered why these movements and our progressive overload programming have helped me achieve better strength, fitness, and body composition in under an hour a day as a 40-year-old mom, compared to when I was a Division I tennis player or when I spent twice that amount of time in the gym.

Here’s the thing: My training now is not about being “perfect” every day, but about being consistent over time. It’s about showing up for myself, even when it’s not glamorous, and trusting that the cumulative effect of varied, foundational movement will pay dividends for years to come.

The strength training I do now is the same type of programming we use to help our members improve their GPP (general physical preparedness), and it works. 

So, whether you’re training for a sport, working towards a fitness goal, or just trying to stay capable and independent as you age, GPP gives you the broad physical base — a great foundation– to build on for many years to come.

It’s not fancy. It’s not complicated. But it’s the kind of training that makes you better at everything else. It’s the silent powerhouse that truly helps you maximize your potential for a strong, healthy, and active life.

What Exactly Is GPP?

GPP stands for General Physical Preparedness. It refers to non-sport-specific training that develops broad, foundational fitness. It’s about making your body generally ready for anything, rather than narrowly specialized for one task.

Unlike specialized training that targets a single skill or sport (like practicing free throws for basketball or perfecting a clean in Olympic weightlifting), GPP focuses on:

• Movement literacy: Your ability to move your body effectively and efficiently in various ways.
• Muscular balance: Ensuring all your muscle groups are working harmoniously, preventing overdevelopment in some areas and weakness in others.
• General strength and work capacity: Building overall strength and your body’s ability to perform work for extended periods.
• Cardio-respiratory fitness: Enhancing your heart and lung health for sustained effort.
• Injury prevention: Addressing weaknesses and imbalances before they lead to problems.

In short, GPP prepares the body for anything — not just one specific activity. It’s about creating a well-rounded, resilient human being.

Why GPP is so important to lifelong fitness

Now that we know what GPP is, let’s dive into why it’s so incredibly important and how you can start incorporating its principles into your own life. Here are five specific ideas to unlock your full physical potential:

Reclaim Your Movement Literacy and Embrace Varied Movement Patterns

Remember being a kid? You probably didn’t think about “movement patterns” – you just moved. You ran, jumped, skipped, crawled, climbed, rolled, and twisted without a second thought. This natural exploration built incredible “movement literacy” – the ability to understand and control your body in space, adapting to any situation.

As adults, our lives often become very linear and specialized. We walk forward, sit for hours, and maybe lift weights in predictable up-and-down motions. We lose the ability to move sideways, backward, or rotate efficiently. This creates “gaps” in our physical capabilities, making us less adaptable and more prone to injury when life demands an unexpected movement.

How to do this in real life: Intentionally reintroduce variability into your movement.

• Walk Differently: Try walking backward or sideways for short distances during your warm-ups or cool-downs. 
• Incorporate Play: Think about activities you did as a child. Can you hop, skip, or even do a somersault (safely, of course!)? Play a game of tag with your kids or throw a ball with varied movements. TELOS MEMBERS: This is why we practice skipping forwards, backwards, and sideways in our training sessions!
• Explore New Movements: Try bear crawls, crab walks, or other animal flow movements that challenge your body in new ways.

By exposing your body to multiple planes, tempos, and patterns, GPP helps you move with better awareness, coordination, and control – preparing you for anything from picking up a dropped item to reacting quickly in a crowded space.

Build True Balance and Stability

When most people think of “balance,” they picture standing on one foot. While that’s part of it, true balance and stability in GPP terms means having strength and control across all movement patterns and resisting forces from all directions. 

Our modern lives, filled with repetitive motions and prolonged sitting, often lead to muscular imbalances. GPP actively corrects these imbalances that result from repetitive or one-dimensional training.

This is absolutely key for both athletes looking to optimize performance and everyday movers aiming to prevent aches and pains. Exercises that emphasize unilateral (one-sided) work, asymmetry, and proprioception (your body’s sense of where it is in space) are vital.

How to do this in real life: Integrate unilateral and stability-focused exercises.

• Single-Leg Work: Add exercises like single-leg RDLs, split squats, or lunges to your routine. These force each leg to work independently, highlighting and correcting imbalances.
• Asymmetrical Carries: The Suitcase Carry (carrying a weight in one hand) is a prime example. It forces your core to work incredibly hard to prevent your body from leaning to one side, building powerful unilateral core strength and stability.
• Rotational Stability: Exercises like Pallof presses (resisting rotation with a band or cable) build anti-rotational core strength, crucial for protecting your spine and improving power.

These exercises help improve balance and joint stability, reinforce core strength and control, and reduce compensations that often lead to injury.

Expand Your Work Capacity 

Work capacity is simply your body’s ability to do more work – for longer, with less fatigue, and recover more quickly. It’s about building your “engine” so you have more in the tank for everything you do, whether that’s a tough gym session, a long day of errands, or keeping up with active kids. If your work capacity is low, even simple tasks can feel exhausting, and your ability to progress in more intense training will be limited.

GPP boosts your ability to do more work by improving both muscular and aerobic endurance.

How to do this in real life: Incorporate continuous, low-to-moderate intensity efforts with varied tools.

• Sled Work: Sled pushes and drags are phenomenal for building full-body work capacity without excessive impact. They’re tough but incredibly effective.
• Loaded Carries: Beyond the suitcase carry, try farmer’s walks (carrying weights in both hands), front rack carries, or sandbag carries. These build grip strength, core stability, and overall endurance.
• Circuits & Complexes: Combine 3-5 exercises (e.g., bodyweight squats, push-ups, rows, planks) and move through them with minimal rest for a set time or number of rounds.
• Tempo Work: Using a slower tempo during lifts (e.g., lowering for 3-5 seconds) increases time under tension, building muscular endurance.

The bigger your engine, the more you can handle — and recover from — both in and out of the gym.

Prioritize Injury Prevention: Address Weak Links Before They Break

One of the most compelling reasons to focus on GPP is its powerful role in injury prevention. Many injuries don’t come from a single catastrophic event, but rather from cumulative stress on “weak links” in your body that are constantly compensating for imbalances or a lack of general robustness. GPP addresses these weak links before they become problems.

It builds strong tendons, stable joints, and resilient tissue – keeping you healthy when training or competition gets intense, and perhaps more importantly, when life throws an unexpected twist.

How to do this in real life: Focus on mobility, stability, and neglected muscle groups.

• Full Range of Motion: Ensure you’re moving through a full, controlled range of motion in all exercises.
• Targeted Mobility Drills: Incorporate daily mobility work for your hips, shoulders, and spine. This could be simple joint rotations, cat-cow stretches, or hip circles.
• Backside Strength: Often, our “pushing” muscles (chest, quads) are stronger than our “pulling” muscles (back, hamstrings, glutes). GPP emphasizes strengthening the posterior chain through movements like RDLs and various rows to balance your body.
• Core Stability, Not Just Abs: As we often discuss, a strong core is your body’s natural brace. GPP focuses on building a core that can stabilize your spine in all directions, protecting it during lifts and daily activities.

By consistently strengthening these areas and improving your overall movement quality, you create a more durable and resilient body, significantly reducing your risk of injury.

Make GPP a Lifestyle

GPP isn’t a temporary “phase” you do before a sports season or after an injury. 

It’s a mindset. 

It’s a commitment to a well-rounded approach to movement and capacity that serves you for the long haul. In a world of quick fixes and instant gratification, GPP stands as a testament to the power of consistent, foundational work. It’s about making a shift out of the “quick fix” mentality and into building a long-term habit and lifestyle that truly supports your health and vitality.

How to do this in real life: Integrate GPP principles into your daily life and long-term fitness plan.

• Think Beyond the Gym: Look for opportunities to move in varied ways outside of structured workouts. Take the stairs, carry groceries in different ways, play actively with your kids.
• Prioritize Consistency: Aim for regular, varied movement sessions each week rather than sporadic, intense bursts.
• Listen to Your Body: GPP is about building a base, not burning out. Pay attention to how your body feels and adjust your intensity or volume as needed.
• Get Some Help: If you’re unsure how to integrate GPP effectively, work with a coach who understands these principles. They can help you build a progressive, varied, and purposeful plan tailored to your needs.

GPP Makes You Durable, Versatile, and Ready for Life

Whether you’re training for a sport, chasing a fitness goal, or just trying to stay capable and independent as you age, General Physical Preparedness gives you the broad physical base – a great foundation – to build on for many years to come.

It’s not fancy. It’s not complicated. But it’s the kind of training that makes you better at everything else. It’s the silent powerhouse that truly helps you maximize your potential for a strong, healthy, and active life. 

And that, in my experience, is the most valuable fitness goal of all.