About GPP

The way that we train is considered a General Physical Preparedness training approach.  If you're an athlete, the term GPP means that any training that you do that isn't sport specific (skill work and actually playing the game) is technically GPP. Getting stronger could potentially make you a better athlete, but it doesn’t necessarily look like the skills that you practice for your sport.  GPP is general training that improves your specific training by
  • Limiting your weaknesses,
  • Improving your quality of movement, and
  • Enhancing your body's ability to handle greater workloads.

We use the first day or so to simply look at how you move, to understand your current training, and to list all the injuries that you may have. Please be patient as we take in a lot of information for a tailored programming response. We are an FMS [Functional Movement Screen] program, which means we consider quality of movement to be a cornerstone to longevity in your sport and as a functional human (FMS basically means we place healthy movement patterns centrally in our programming more than muscles groups.)

Quality of movement is highly correlated with injury prevention and that is a first priority. Expect to learn how to do a lift properly.  We do not exercise, but we do develop general skills that transfer over into other activities.  Expect that there is a learning curve; you may not get it on the first try.  We practice safety in all our lifts.   One of our primary goals is injury prevention in your sport.

Usually, the first step is to find out what family of movements you do not excel at and start there.  Filling in the gaps automatically seems to make most athletes "all-over" stronger.  The families of movements we cover are:  Pull, push, hinge, squat, press, and carries & groundwork.  We begin by finding out where people are in each of the movement families.  Mastering these basic movements will assist in displaying all other components of fitness

Squat Movement
1.    Proper Form in the Goblet Squat
2.    Goblet Squat: 12K x 10
3.    Double KB Front Squat: 16K x 10
4.    Back Squat: 135 x 5
5.    Bodyweight Back Squat
6.    Bodyweight Front Squat
7.    Bodyweight Overhead Squat.

Hip Hinge Movement
1.    Hip Hinge with Proper Form (From stand, floor and loaded)
2.    Kettlebell Swing: 16K x 20 (Proper Form)
3.    Double Kettlebell Clean: 16K x 10
4.    Barbell Deadlift: 1.5 x Bodyweight (or 135×5)
5.    Double KB Swings: 24K x 10
6.    5:00 Minute Snatch Test: 16K x 100
7.    Barbell Deadlift 2 x Bodyweight (275lbs.)

Press Movement

1.    Push Ups x 1 (Excellent Pushup)
2.    One Arm KB Press: 10K x 5 per Side
3.    Double KB Press: 12K x 5
4.    Double KB Press: 16K x 5
5.    One Arm Overhead Press: 1/3 BdWt
6.    Bench Press: Bodyweight
7.    Two Arm KB Press: 2/3 Bodyweight

Pull Movement

1.    Batwings, thumbs in armpits, 8K x 10 seconds
2.    Bodyweight Row on Rings/TRX x 20
3.    Bodyweight Row, feet elevated, x 10
4.    Chin Ups x 1
5.    Chin Ups x 3
6.    Pull Ups x 3
7.    Weighted Pull Up with 24 K

Where Should You Be?

The idea is that 4 or so is where we would want like a high school athlete, 6 is the “Game Changer,” and 7 is around where you discover that “strength is not your issue.”  We’re finding out slowly that this is really happening.  Good things start happening in the sport [stopping power/quickness, overall resilience, ability to finish a season with fewer pains and compensations...to name a few] when we get into that 4-6 area.

What strength standard is there for women entering this particular collision sport?  Prior to trying out, I would love to see potentials walking in with these capacities:


Push = Bodyweight bench press
Pull = Three pullups
Hinge = 275-pound deadlift
Squat = 135 for five in the back squat
Loaded Carries = 85 pounds per hand
Getup = 1
Press = 3/4 bodyweight, overhead or 70

If you are not there currently, let’s get started!

Common Misunderstandings

The thought that many athletes have is that attending boot camps or interval style training sessions that leave one hot, sweaty, and exhausted is an adequate method of preparing for derby.  While these provide a wonderful sense of accomplishment, they unfortunately do not necessarily prepare the connective tissue the way lifting heavy weights does in all the movement families.  The adaptation is categorically different.  

Another misunderstanding is that training one time in this manner is sufficient for athletic needs.  Give your body several 3 month blocks over the course of a year or 3 to adapt sufficiently to the demands of collisions and falls.  This takes a while, but remember, at the end of your relatively short career in your sport [3-7 years], you must be a working, moving human the entire rest of your life.  Take care of that person too.