We are fiercely committed to helping you develop and achieve optimal health. Our goal is to make the GPP website an incredible resource providing everything you need to accomplish your health, fitness and weight loss goals. Please take what you need (please credit the source). If we don't have it, please write to us and we'll get it up (providing it is GPP stuff). If you have a thought we could use, or if you can think of a better way of delivering our GPP message, get it to us ASAP (we'll be sure and credit you for it). We've learned that there is ULTIMATE strength in community. We also know there is brilliance beyond our doors. Please share that we all may grow. Click HERE to send us a message.
The success you see here on the GPP Fitness site is unprecedented. Our very unique programming is tested and proven. There is nothing like it. Due to the fact that we aren't limited to performance pursuits (we have no interest in them) our style of training has no limits. You will see biceps curls and crunches here (where appropriate). You will also see more traditional strength training moves like dead lifts and squats. It is not uncommon to see Olympic style lifts like the Clean & Jerk thrown into the mix with other disciplines (running, sprinting, etc). It is the stuff that works. It always has. So we do it. ALL of it. To be successful like many of the folks you see here, you are going to need to know how to operate this site. Here are some steps you'll need to take to get this done!
Steps to Using GPP
1: Get Motivated
Get your backside HERE and recommit to your motivations EVERY FRICKIN DAY. Be perfect. Lose your story. That story you sell yourself and others on, about why you aren't as healthy as you ought to be (BTW - you are a pretty good salesman) is the reason you aren't stronger, healthier, more functional as a human. Its also the reason you may not be too comfortable in your own skin right now. Good reason or not, it is holding you back. It will continue to hold you back until you make a habit out of doing what the first sentence in this paragraph says (please re-read).
2: Practice Proper Nutrition
It starts right now. Seriously, NOW! If you have a face full of Twinkie as you're reading this, don't just throw the other half of the Twinkie away. Spit out the half that is in your face, THEN go throw the rest of it away. Then go to the nutrition resources (we have meal plans, diets and etc.) on our site and start putting some good nutritional days together. It only takes 4-5 to get on a roll. Drink more water. Take your vitamins. Nutrition can be different for everyone. Learn what is right for you (yep, you are going to have to contribute). Then DO what you KNOW is right.
3: Workout
Simple stuff here. GPP programming is tested and proven. Show up every day and just get it on! If you don't have the right equipment - go get it. We've tried for years to find cheaper, simpler stuff. It doesn't exist. Nothing that has the same "Efficiency and Effectiveness" as the stuff we use. Efficiency and Effectiveness are our mandates. To expect something MORE of what is LESS isn't reasonable. We make no apologies for asking you to make an investment in yourself of that which will improve you in every regard. So, if you don't have what we use, begin saving up. Until you have all you need, please make alts that are similar in method, movement, and intention to what you see here daily. When you have questions write to us. Better yet, drop a question on the comments of each daily workout. You'll get it answered quicker. Our Vets are FRICKIN smart.
The results you see here are simply amazing in terms of increasing your health and functionality. Plus the stuff looks good ON! We suggest showing up and storming GPP workouts to the best of your ability (safely) 5x per week, at first (read theWARNINGS). Our workouts have a lot going on in them. Each is programmed specifically to meet the needs of your optimal health. Our definition of "Optimal Health" is complex. It takes us 5 days to put it onto you in a balanced way. So ..., what we do on Thursday, for example, is because of what we have already done Mon, Tues, Wed. If you miss a day, you miss a piece of health and fitness. This can lead to imbalances or holes in your fitness.
As you become more experienced with our methodology (our Vets are better trainers now than most of the professionals we have worked with over the years), you can start to modify stuff to fit your specific needs. We urge you, however not to stray too far from the daily workout. Many well-meaning enthusiasts have tried to alter GPP stuff seeking an easier route to optimal health. These folks have found they all had something in common - failure.
4: Become Part of this Community
We are a unique gathering of like-minded folk who are trying to use the principles we learn here to improve EVERY aspect of our lives. We understand that the skills and abilities we develop improving fitness will transfer far beyond just the physical. We understand that the Physical is the conduit to this improvement.
We seek Optimal Health. We seek balance. We seek efficiency and effectiveness. We loath wastefulness. We are rare in that we will do ALL that is required to achieve our definition of optimal health. Therefore we do hard stuff like, burpees, pullups (or some variant), running and etc. We are minimalists. In other words, we refuse to do less than is required or more than is needed.
We are ultimately accountable for our own actions. It is not anyone/anything else's fault. Ever.
We are open to new things. We remain open to methods and practices which have come before. We love change. We understand that change for change's sake only serves change.
We value common sense over conventional wisdom. We love science. We value empirical evidence over anecdotal, but realize which one came first and will not completely discount either.
We have learned there is immeasurable strength in this community. We have discovered that humans (a comparably weak species) have mainly 2 advantages over all others. 1 - Our ability to accumulate knowledge, 2 - our ability to share what we know. We use both of these to gain health.
Somehow, we have found a group of amazing individuals to run parallel with - HERE. Please post your thoughts and actions often so that others may benefit. If you have ever drawn strength and/or motivation from someone else's words or numbers, you owe a duty to pay it forward. If you are looking, you are drawing strength and/or motivation. We deliberately keep it possible for you to post represented by a pseudonym so that you'll have no reason not to. We have learned that the efforts of our community are as important to each of our collective and individual successes as the programming and facilities are. Maybe more so.
5: Troubleshooting and Follow-up
This is stuff for future discussion (since this IS the "getting started" section), but one thing to cover right now is CAPTURING A BASELINE. To stay motivated you'll need to SEE your progress. It won't be enough to just "feel" better. You'll need comparisons that are more observable, measurable and repeatable. The info you collect will need to be gathered with (close to) absolute consistency. We use your average daily weight and weekly circumference measurements to tell the story of your progress. HERE is how we do it.
It is frustrating to NO END not knowing the story of your own progress, or lack thereof. There are few things you can do to hold back lasting, positive change. Please consider capturing data to help troubleshoot and follow-up on your progress.
That's the good stuff. Well, enough to get you started anyway. Good luck, my friend.