Yes, We Still Core!

A strong core is essential to your health and development.   It is primarily responsible for the astounding results we see in strength gains and overall fitness at GPP.  We have observed that GPP training prevents injury and advances healing for those with a weak core.  It also looks good on!  

Couples that core together ...

While the rest of the world has moved passed specifically training the core, GPP still embraces focused emphasis on core training for its unique effect on our health, fitness and appearance. The popular present day mantra of the health and fitness industry is that one need only to move in effective ways and the core will take care of and strengthen itself.  This is a risky approach.  We have learned that strength gains in the legs and arms will quickly outstrip one's core strength.  This is especially true for those who don't directly train their core.  This compromises your ability to stabilize the core during certain fundamental movement (squats, dead lifts, cleans, jerks, high Sums, KBs, etc.) making those fundamental movements more dangerous to perform and putting you at higher risk of injury. 

We feel a more straight forward (direct) approach of abdominal/core training stimulates more strength and ultimately yeilds higher benefit with less risk of injury.  Oh, and did we mention - It looks good ON?!   

Snakes of Fitness

Why does GPP advocate the "snaking" pushup? 

One of the problems with most of the professional exercising world is their refusal to see benefit in a movement that isn't related to the original intention of that movement. 

For example.  Many exercise professionals cannot see ANY other reason to do biceps curls, other than to build very large biceps.  Classically, building very large biceps has to be done with strict form.  However, by swinging a biceps curl, you can work other parts of the body.  Yes, this will take somewhat away from the goal (if you had it) of building massive biceps, but it will add health and fitness to other regions and systems.  Namely your core and nervous system. It does this in ways which are hard to simulate.  In other words, there are no other moves we can use (situps, legups, etc.,) which can work these regions and systems as effectively as swinging a biceps curl. 

Once you realize this, it makes swinging a biceps curl - suddenly very cool!   

Back to our original point about snaking pushups.  What the greater exercising world generally misses is the fact that most exercises can be altered from their original forms to yield other healthy benefits to the user.  These benefits are every bit as important (more-so in many cases) to your health as the intention of the original exercise.     

Snaking pushups yield benefits to the entire body (core, nervous system, endurance) that strict pushups can't - for most people.  This mandates our use of them.     

Set Goals, but Don't Tell

We've spent a lot of time at GPP extolling the virtues of setting SMART goals.  Not setting SMART goals might be one of the most often over-looked aspects of becoming fit and healthy.  Winston Churchill said it best.

"Those who fail to plan, plan to fail." 

This is as true as it ever was.  What seems to be at issue is - WHO should you tell your goals to?     

Behaviorists used to say that we should tell EVERYONE of our plans to become fit and healthy.  Doing so was thought to help us get some skin in the game and give others the opportunity to lend support. 

That's not the advice given by experts anymore.  It turns out, it is better to keep your goals secret.  Here is why by Derek Sivers.