In the early days of Soviet sports science, coaches discovered something that modern fitness culture keeps rediscovering and forgetting: general physical preparation matters as much as specific training, and the best GPP for strength athletes looks nothing like a conditioning class. Louie Simmons built sled work into the foundation of Westside training because it addresses a problem that pure barbell training cannot solve: general work capacity, or the ability of the organism to do more and recover faster.
GPP is not a conditioning class. It is not a metcon. It is not HIIT. GPP, properly understood, is training that is intentionally different from the primary sport stimulus — designed to develop the general physical foundation on which specific adaptation sits. For powerlifters, Simmons prescribed sled work, reverse hyper work, glute-ham raises, and light upper body sled pulling as GPP. None of these are powerlifting movements. All of them make the powerlifter's body better at tolerating the powerlifting training that follows.
For hybrid athletes, GPP takes a similar form: carries, sled work, and low-intensity conditioning that doesn't compete with the recovery demands of strength training, but does develop the connective tissue robustness, trunk stability, loaded movement efficiency, and general aerobic base that make every other training quality better.
The carry is the most underrated training tool in strength programming. A heavy sandbag carry for 80 feet, a farmer carry for 50 meters, a bear hug carry with a D-ball — these movements train every postural stabilizer simultaneously, at a difficulty level determined by load rather than movement complexity, with essentially zero technique barrier to effective execution.
Viada identifies carries explicitly in his military athlete framework: weighted carries are among the highest-carryover movements for the population that needs to move quickly under load, stabilize a moving object against changing terrain, and maintain posture under extended fatigue. Event 6 of the Struggle Standard Test is essentially a GPP test — measuring whether the athlete has developed the loaded carry endurance and positional strength that direct barbell training cannot replicate.
Simmons' sled prescriptions cover specific GPP functions:
In the program, sled work appears on Day 1 (ME Lower: heavy forward drag, 6–10 trips depending on wave) and Day 5 (DE Lower: reduced load — GPP without interfering with DE recovery). The load drops from Day 1 to Day 5 because Day 5 serves a recovery GPP function, not a stimulus GPP function.
One of the less-discussed applications of GPP is its role in active recovery. Simmons is explicit: sled work done at reduced intensity the day after a heavy session promotes recovery by increasing blood flow to fatigued muscles without creating additional mechanical stress or CNS demand. This is why Day 9 (Recovery) includes a 15-minute Zone 2 flush — not because aerobic adaptation is needed in that moment, but because gentle cardiovascular work promotes the physiological recovery that makes the next cycle productive.
Carrying heavy things makes you better at everything because it builds the connective tissue robustness, trunk stability, loaded movement efficiency, and hip extension strength that are the physical substrate on which every other training quality operates. GPP ensures these foundations don't become the limiting factor on test day.
Event 6 is a GPP test. See how the program prepares you for it.
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