GPP Essentials DVD Review
Introduction:
GPP Essentials provides an overview of the training methods used to prepare athletes for the season ahead along with other concepts central to the Charlie Francis Training System. It contains a full 7 week GPP plan showing transition to a short to long SPP for an athlete of medium to high level. It is shot professionally with narrative provided by Charlie over the top of the action. It covers all the basic drills, stretching and med ball work discussed in the Charlie Francis Training System E-book and also contains information on sprint mechanics.
Content:
After a brief graphical introduction the DVD starts with an explanation of what GPP is and how it fits into the training year.
The first section discusses Warm Up 1 & 2 explaining why the warm up should be broken down into two sections and why Charlie stays away from rehearsal based warm ups that have become fashionable in recent years. Classic static stretches are shown and further theory is covered.
Coach assisted PNF stretching is then demonstrated and discussed. Ballistic stretching is also shown and Charlie explains the basic format and duration for a warm up. The Mach Power Speed drills are then shown (A and B Skips).
General medicine ball throws are then shown before the DVD switches to a discussion of tempo running and the “big circuit” is discussed. Following this Charlie’s (or should I say John Smith’s) multi position sit up circuit is then demonstrated. Then more medicine ball exercises are demonstrated this time with a partner.
Hip mobility drills and hurdle walkovers are then demonstrated before the footage returns to Med ball work. This time the more explosive med ball throws and acceleration drills are shown.
At this point Charlie begins to lay down the actual GPP programme. Graphs 1, 2 and 3 explain the explosive medicine ball component of the programme and how it changes as the weeks progress.
The rationale behind hill work is then discussed and graphs are shown describing how hill work fits into the programme and provides information on the weightlifting components at this time. The weightlifting graphs show programmes for both beginner and advanced athletes.
The next section discusses plyometrics along with how it fits into the yearly plan. Charlie then discusses acceleration and top speed work as well as the pitfalls of “paralysis by analysis”. What follows is a fantastic discussion of correct running mechanics, which answers a lot of questions regarding form development and hip height. Fast-easy-fast and easy-fast-easy (ins and outs) are then demonstrates strength training hip extension exercises such as the hyper complex and reverse hypers. The section finishes with graphs showing the full plan for speed work over the GPP period.
At the end of the DVD Derek Hansen has one of his athletes demonstrate some basic weightlifting exercises and progressions. This is a good addition for those athletes who are training on their own and do not know what good form is all about. Compare this form to that seen in a typical gym and you can see the difference good coaching can make. If you need further clarification on the Olympic lifts check out the Fundamentals 1: Speed & Strength Part One DVD.
In this section the deadlift, deadlift with shrugs, power shrugs with clean and snatch grip, the power clean, the hang clean, the snatch, hang snatch, Romanian deadlift, full back squat, parallel back squat, parallel front squat, snatch grip squat (overhead squat), military press, push press, jerk with split., bench press, close grip bench press, incline press, seated shoulder press, barbell bent over rows, cable pull downs with overhand grip, behind the neck wide grip pull downs, upright (seated) rows, straight leg reverse hyper extensions both with and without resistance and the hyper complex are all shown with good form.
Conclusion:
This is a great DVD for those athletes that train alone as well as coaches looking for more ideas. The section on sprint mechanics is especially useful. My only criticism is that the entire programme, which is presented in stages throughout the DVD, should have been summarised at the end so you don’t have to go back through and write it all down to see how the components fit together. The video runs at around 58minutes and really crams the information in so don’t expect to pick it all up on first viewing. To sum up, this DVD is a very informative, professionally produced product on the practical aspects of early season sprint training.
