Are You Insured? GPP and Trauma

The sound is horrifying. It never sounds like the movies, either. A motorcycle colliding with a vehicle at speed makes a sound that touches your marrow. You know right away. Within twenty seconds of the collision, I was in stride trying to catch up to our resident hero, Karis, who, while off duty from fighting fires, looked the part as she controlled traffic while scattering across the four busy lanes of Lincoln Boulevard to arrive at the scene. My job was simply speaking to 911 while she worked her magic.

This is a common scene in front of the gym. Vehicles play bumper cars with each other, cyclists, motorcycles, and pedestrians on a regular basis right outside our front door. Hell, I went through a car window on Lincoln myself. Our own Scott Pellegrino spent nine days in a coma after t-boning a SUV at speed on PCH (DEUCE Media Mini Documentary coming soon). Unfortunately, trauma is common.

Anytime I hear that sound in front of the gym – CRASH. I think, naturally, of the victim. Are they OK? Will they recover? Surviving a trauma, albeit a spill on your skateboard or a head on collision with a vehicle, marks the beginning of a new segment of life called recovery. Without question, one’s general physical preparedness (GPP) is going have an impact on the pace and the extent of their recovery. I observe that our level of GPP (or lack thereof) has more of an effect than we give credit to.

When we sign up for gyms and do workouts, our focus tends to move towards performance and aesthetics. Yet, for many of us, training is building a case for your own survival. Unfortunately, trauma is coming for us all. Twisted ankles, fender benders, and even cancer are a part of life as much as sex and sunsets. I’d just hope you’re fit for your own recovery when the time comes.

I know I benefited, for the first time, super human recovery from my face’s meeting with the pavement and Scott Pellegrino is six feet above ground because of his musculature. If you need a reason to train today, let it be that your fitness is greatest insurance policy in America.

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach