As some may know, my wife and I along with my father-in-law, brother-in-law, and several other from our church went on a mission trip to Haiti last summer. Our mission was to build houses for unfortunate people from local churches whose houses were destroyed in the earthquake a few years back. For seven days we worked in two teams outside the village of Fermathe to build two houses for two different families
Life in Haiti is very difficult. Just getting around is a hard task on its own. I observed that those of us who were active in our daily lives, and/or exercises regularly didn't get sore from our jobs in Haiti. The ones that didn't felt a feeling they might not have felt since high school sports.
General Physical Preparedness (GPP) is a term uses to describe being capable of performing tasks beyond daily activities without undue strain on your body and nervous system. Strength, endurance, power, and conditioning all play a part in GPP.
During my time in Haiti, I discovered that I had the strength and power to do any of the tasks but my endurance was lacking. A trip up and down the near-shear side of a 2,000 foot mountain showed me my conditioning was okay, but carrying bucket after bucket of building materials led me to consider working my grip endurance a little more.
I didn't get the least bit sore the entire week and I accredit that to my time under the bar in the gym. While my life doesn't require me to climb mountains, hanging on for my for my life on a 25 minute bumpy truck ride on the side of a cliff, or clean and press dozens of buckets of concrete, I do feel good to know that if called upon, I can deliver those things.
Have you ever thought about what your body can do? I want to be able to say that football with my grandchildren is more than probable. I want to be able to chase down someone or sprint for help in a case of emergency. I want to be prepared for adventures should they come and I don't want my age to slow me down.
Life in Haiti is very difficult. Just getting around is a hard task on its own. I observed that those of us who were active in our daily lives, and/or exercises regularly didn't get sore from our jobs in Haiti. The ones that didn't felt a feeling they might not have felt since high school sports.
General Physical Preparedness (GPP) is a term uses to describe being capable of performing tasks beyond daily activities without undue strain on your body and nervous system. Strength, endurance, power, and conditioning all play a part in GPP.
During my time in Haiti, I discovered that I had the strength and power to do any of the tasks but my endurance was lacking. A trip up and down the near-shear side of a 2,000 foot mountain showed me my conditioning was okay, but carrying bucket after bucket of building materials led me to consider working my grip endurance a little more.
I didn't get the least bit sore the entire week and I accredit that to my time under the bar in the gym. While my life doesn't require me to climb mountains, hanging on for my for my life on a 25 minute bumpy truck ride on the side of a cliff, or clean and press dozens of buckets of concrete, I do feel good to know that if called upon, I can deliver those things.
Have you ever thought about what your body can do? I want to be able to say that football with my grandchildren is more than probable. I want to be able to chase down someone or sprint for help in a case of emergency. I want to be prepared for adventures should they come and I don't want my age to slow me down.
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