New Years Resolutions

During this time of year, it has become increasingly popular to come up with extravagant "resolutions" to accomplish during the upcoming New Year. Resolutions have probably been around as long as humans have used the current calendar system. Who can resist the urge? It makes perfect sense, with a brand new year coming up many people look at it as a fresh start or a brand new opportunity to attain a goal they have in their mind. So what do I think about New Years Resolutions?

I think waiting until New Years to declare a goal that has any personal value to you is retarded. If its worth doing at all, why not just set out on your goal now? Let's look at some common resolutions.

1. Lose weight

2. Read more books

3. Sell more products

4. Make more money

5. Exercise more

6. Eat better

Can we all agree that these are the most common ones we hear? I would be willing to bet you a month's pay that Harry McGuillicutty who tells you he plans to lose 20 pounds this year will have a different resolution for 2010; to lose 30 pounds. Same goes for the other ones. Why not put them on a dart board and throw a few darts and go with whichever one they land on?

Don't misunderstand me, however. I am HUGE into goal setting and achieving. I just think to wait until New Years is a mentally weak thing to do. It is just following the masses, who are usually wrong anyway. It is taking the easy way out.

If you must set a resolution, below is a way to do it MUCH more effectively.

Actions

1. Open up Microsft Powerpoint immediately.

2. Save this new slide deck as "JohnSmith2009Goals.ppt"

3. Create three slides. At the top of one slide, write "2009 Career Goals". Slides 2 and 3 become "2009 personal goals". I think you will need two slides for personal goals, because in my mind "personal" canvases a whole variety of things.

4. On slide one, set 3 career goals. If you write "make more money", go ahead and throw yourself out a window. If that is your goal, write "make 125,000 in 2009" and then go ahead and write underneath that exactly how you plan to do so. BE SPECIFIC or don't bother.

5. For your personal slides, write whatever goals you want to accomplish outside of work. BE SPECIFIC. A few of my personal goals are "Drive a brand new, black, Dodge Ram pickup truck by March 1st". Another is to Visit Mexico before next summer to surf for 7 days, sleep in a tent, and go fishing with locals. They need to be specific and measurable and bonus points if you attach a date because it will give you a sense of urgency.

6. Let's tackle a health and fitness goal. "Lose Weight" may as well be "F*ck Off". Lose Weight doesn't mean anything, you could just cut your hair, wear lighter clothing and have a bowel movement. Guess what, you have just lost weight. A better goal is to "Be at 10 percent body fat, with visible abs, by April 1st, 2009". From here you can now make a plan to go about getting to 10 percent bodyfat.

7. Print this slide deck out and hang it on the fridge, keep one in your gym bag, email it to a close friend, put one in the office, and anywhere else you are bound to be slapped in the face by it everyday. Email it to me if you want and I will check with you periodically to see if you are on track.

Summary

1. Don't wait. Start Now.

2. Be as specific as you possibly can.

3. Put it in public places to help you be accountable. Give a copy to a friend to help you and ask for theirs.

4. If "10 percent body fat with visible abs is in your future, let me put your plan together for you, and train you a couple of times per week. I can guarantee I will help you reach your goals.

5. Aim high, miss high. If you say earn 150k this year, and only earn 138k but last year made 70k, chalk that up in the win column.

Happy New Year.

TS

tssullivanjr@gmail.com

781 831 3901

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas everybody, I hope you are spending the next few days relaxing with family and friends. I know I will. Couple things:

1. I am having a big group workout tomorrow at 10am at the gym. If you are interested, get in touch with me. PS. It is free.

2. As far as the holidays go, do not try to diet through the holidays. Eat and drink whatever you want, try to get a few training sessions in, and then dial it up come January 2nd. I heard a line the other day that goes, "Don't eat well from Christmas to New Years, eat well from New Years to Christmas."

3. I will update the blog in the next couple of days with my thoughts on New Years resolutions.


Have a great day,

TS

5 Things to Change Today: For the girls...

After a couple of requests this weekend, I have decided to write a post for the women who follow the blog. I will lay out a couple of things that women do poorly (not all women, but most), and then some solutions.

1. Not eating enough protein. Almost all of the women I have worked with are way to low in their consumption of protein.

2. Too much steady state cardio. Steady state cardio is the type where you hop on an elliptical, or stair stepper and go at the same pace for 15 minutes or longer.

3. Not doing any weight lifting and being afraid that weights will make you big and bulky.

4. Eating way too few calories.

5. Having the wrong goals.

Solutions:

1. Pretty easy fix. Start eating more protein. A few easy ways to do this would be to eat eggs in the morning, and then make sure to have some lean protein at every meal. Chicken, fish, meat, turkey, etc are all good choices. If you still are too low, think about a protein shake once or twice per day. This will not make you fat or big.

2. If you must do all of the cardio you currently do, you have to change it to intervals. Try an interval where you exert some serious effort for 30 seconds, then you slow the pace to a recovery pace for 1 minute. Repeat for 6-8 times and you have just performed a much more beneficial cardio session.

3. Weight lifting will not make you big. People don't put on muscle by accident. Think about how stupid that sounds, woops I got too big. Plus most of you wouldn't work hard enough to put on serious muscle. Weight lifting will however burn a ton of calories and make you look much harder. If you don't know how have someone show you the basics like squats, pullups, pushups, presses, etc.

4. If you are currently training hard, you probably aren't eating enough calories. A perfect recipe for looking like you have an eating disorder would be to do a ton of muscle wasting, steady state cardio, and then eat nothing but salad. You want to preserve your lean muscle, this is the stuff that makes you look attractive in the first place.

5. If you are skinny to begin with, you shouldn't be trying to lose weight. You should try to build some lean muscle, you will look way better. If you are trying to add some lean muscle, you should make sure your training program is correctly structured to help you reach your goals.

If you need help, drop me a line at tssullivanjr@gmail.com

Do your workouts look like this?

Its 5:30 pm after a long day at the office and you drag yourself over to the gym to get a "workout" in. You walk in the gym, do a few side bends, static hamstring stretches, and you are ready to go. If you are a guy, you head over to the bench do 2-3 warmup sets and then 1 or 2 more difficult sets with the same weight you have used since high school. Maybe you head over to the seated shoulder press machine and bang out three sets. Then you walk over to the bike and pedal at level 2 for 20 minutes (which is usually 15 minutes, you just tell everyone 20 minutes). If you are a girl, you head straight for the elliptical with US Weekly and go for 20 minutes on a machine that makes you look foolish. Guess what folks. Your workouts suck.

Solutions:

1. First off, don't call it "working out". What the hell does that even mean? Call it training. This changes your mindset completely and makes it feel like you are working out with a purpose.

2. So what is your purpose in going in to the gym three times per week? Come up with a specific goal and a specific timeline for reaching it. Otherwise you are wasting your time.

3. Do things no one else does. Look around the office, not one person there could do 10 strict pullups. You hardly ever see anyone doing them. So make it your goal to work up to 10 pullups, you will be thanked with a muscular back and shoulders. Also learn how to squat properly, deadlift, press, dip, and do real pushups. No one does them or does them correctly except for the people who have great physiques. That should tell you something.

4. Have a plan and keep a log.

5. If you need help with a program, ask me. tssullivanjr@gmail.com

The Eagle Has Landed

Congratulations to Eddie O'Connor who has been accepted early decision to Bowdoin College and will play for the Polar Bears next winter. Eddie trained at Sullivan Training Systems this summer and fall in preparation for his final year at Noble and Greenough in Dedham. Ed put in loads of hard work this offseason and the results were excellent.

New Exercise! Overhand Tomahawk Loafer Throw

Happy Monday everybody. I want to take this opportunity to start with a link to a video I am sure most of you have seen by now. Here is the link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7782422.stm

I would like to extend my thanks to the Iraqi gentlemen for his demonstration on this new exercise. Tonight over at STS in Braintree, I will be having my 4pm group and 6pm group experiment with this athletic movement. I will have the athletes partner up, remove their sneakers and stand at opposite ends of the room. One athlete throws and one dodges the incoming shoes. This is a great bang for your buck activity. You get the overhand explosive throwing movement that will transfer directly to your sport, along with the agility involved in dodging flying Nikes. Everybody wins.

Boot Camp Starts tomorrow...

With tomorrow's women's bootcamp kicking off tomorrow, I have developed the plan for what will happen in the 50 minute sessions. Have a look, should be a lot of fun and a lot of sweat.

Dynamic Warmup
high knee walk, high knee skip, high knee run, butt kicks, lateral high knee run, hip walkovers, shuffle, carioca, inchworm

Core work
4 point stability 20 seconds each position x 3 sets
Medicine Ball russian twists 3x10each way

Metabolic Work Stations
Ball Slams
Ring Rows
Pushups
Reverse Lunges
Stairs
Burpees

Static Stretch

There it is sports fans. See you tomorrow morning.

Online Coaching

In an effort to help as many people as possible realize their health and fitness goals, I have decided to do a limited amount of Online Coaching. What is Online Coaching?

I provide you with a plan for exactly what to do when you walk through the doors of your gym for four weeks. No guess work. Simple, but effective. I will also provide you with all of the nutritional guidance you need to reach your goals.

How much does it cost?

$49 dollars per month with a three month commitment. You can't make REAL progress in anything less than 12 weeks. If you are not willing to commit to 3 months, I am not willing to commit to helping you.

If you are interested, let me know ASAP because this stuff is pretty time consuming and I am going to limit the amount of online coaching that I do.

Serious Inquiries Only

tssullivanjr@gmail.com

6 Days to Sign Up for Women's Bootcamp

Sullivan Training Systems will be holding a women's boot camp starting next Saturday December 13th and running through the end of the Winter. Each session will be 50-60 minutes in length and cost $20 per session. Each session will feature:

Dynamic Warmup
Joint Mobility Complex

30 minutes of fast paced work designed to help attack body fat.

Sessions will be run at 10am, and 11:30am.

Spaces are filling fast, serious inquiries only.

tssullivanjr@gmail.com

To All of My Buddies Who Work Real Jobs

Tonight I thought I would take a break from posting about young athletes and fire a message out there to any of my friends who work real jobs in real offices with real responsibilities. When I worked at EMC I was able to maintain a decent body and decent fitness levels (not great, decent). I thought I would put a list out on things that I would have done differently to have a better body and better fitness levels.

1. First and foremost, you have to get the diet extra dialed in. Right now I can afford a little bit of crap in my diet because I am on my feet actively training people and demonstrating exercises. When you sit at a desk for 10 hour per day, you can't afford to eat a whole lot of crap. What does this actually mean? Well here is a sample days worth of eating for people who work in offices.

7am: Protein shake and a piece of fruit (if you don't think you need a protein supplement, you are wrong). Metabolic Drive Low Carb Vanilla is delicious and a great product.

9:00am: Breakfast in the cafeteria. Omelet with WHOLE EGGS (better for you), with either wheat toast or small oatmeal accompanied by a gallon of iced coffee. Get rid of the sweeteners and cream. Drink it black, you will learn to love it.

12:00pm: I would get your workout in now, it will charge you up to get on the phone for the rest of the day. You and I both know that after work you are going to put your sweatpants on and get on the couch. Do something with high intensity. If you don't know what to do, or think that bench and curls twice per week is good, email me at tssullivanjr@gmail.com, and I will write a 4 week plan for $49. Even getting on the bike or elliptical for 30 minutes sucks. After your workout have a grilled chicken wrap on wheat and a piece of fruit. A small bag of chips 5 days per week is stupid and I used to do this everyday. 5 small bags equals a massive bag. NOTE: YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EAT CARBS FROM NOW TILL YOU GO TO BED. This feed is your last that includes carbs.

3:00pm: Protein shake, keeps the energy levels high so you don't bonk.

7pm: Dinner and the last time you eat until morning. Dinner has to be lean protein and side of veggies. The only acceptable takeout would be steak tips and veggies, most places in Southie will do this for those of you who live there. Other good options will be fish, chicken, or lean steak with veggies. RESIST THE URGE TO EAT LIKE A HORSE NOW, IT WILL PAY OFF HUGE.

Stop pretending you don't know how to eat at work, I just friggin told you.

2. Make sure you crush a workout 4 days per week minimum. Again if you don't know exactly what to do, ask.

3. Allow yourself three cheat meals per week. 3 meals, not days, tubby. And guess what, 11 bud lights and a small appetizers at Cole's Tavern is a cheat meal.

Let me know if I can help you in any way,

Sull

The Holidays and Your Health

This entry was sparked when I listened to Ryan Seacrest on the radio talk about how he had to put his diet and fitness goals on hold because of the holidays.

I also have had a few conversations over the past 10 days or so with people about how holiday eating/drinking effects the health of Americans. It is my belief that our Obesity Epidemic is largely due to the behavior of Americans during the Holidays. People take a period of time from November 27th until January 2nd of the next year and gorge themselves on dinner, drink, dessert, and more drinks like there is no tomorrow. The problem doesn't lie with the small percentage of Americans who train at the gym by themselves, with trainers, or who play sports. The problem lies with the HUGE percentage of us who sit at desk jobs and lack the motivation to get to the gym more than once per month. Think about putting 8 pounds of lard on during the holiday season, not working out and keeping the weight hanging around your midsection. Now 8 pounds may not be noticeable at first but repeat this practice for 7 years. How do you think your current body would look carrying an extra 56 pounds of fat? Decent?

Solution

I am never the type of person to tell you you can't indulge once and a while, I think you would go insane. And if you are around me at all during the holidays you know I put on the feedbag as much as anyone. The difference is what people don't see, and the fact is that even during the holidays I train with high intensity 5 days a week so that the 8 pounds average Joe American stuffs on, may only be a pound or two for me, which as soon as the new year hits and my diet gets back on track will be torched off with a few workouts.

So the choice is yours. Continue to make excuses and put 8 pounds on, or get after it in the gym and put zero to one pound on.

Training for Speed in Hockey

I received an email yesterday from a hockey player that trained with us over the summer and is now playing in the EJHL. I hope he doesn't mind me using this for the blog.

"...I was just wondering if you had any exercises that could improve my foot speed or just speed in general out on the ice. For about two weeks now i have been running stairs and riding the bike at the gym after every workout. I would just like some feedback as to what you think on the subject. Thanks."

If you are reading this, don't take this the wrong way. The fact alone that you are asking for help sets you apart from the rest of your opponents who just assume they will get faster. Here was my response:

"When you think about speed on the ice, you should be thinking acceleration. The guys who are fast like Phil Kessel, or Ovechkin or any of the elite guys go from 0-60 in a split second. This is the kind of speed that creates separation on the ice. This is the kind of speed you and any hockey player should be after.

Just logically thinking, how would running stairs or biking have anything to do with this type of speed? Not a whole lot. In fact, it may be the opposite type of training that you want to perform. In order to obtain this type of speed you have to train that way. So a few ideas:

1. After practice, take a guy on your team who is faster than you. Race him for 6-8 reps from the goal line to the top of the circle if he is willing. If he is not willing he is a shitty teammate.

2. Lift weights with speed. When you olympic lift or squat move the bar as fast as you can. This goes for any type of plyos you might be doing. Train explosively if you want to move explosively.

3. Get your legs stronger. Specifically single leg strength. Any type of single leg squat will get this done. Split squat, bulgarian split squat, unsupported single leg squats, any of these work well.

4. Depending on how lean you are, lose 8 pounds by altering your diet. If you can't afford to lose any weight, then don't.

5. Consciously focus on performing drills in practice as fast as possible. You are looking for overspeed, finding that 5th gear."

Hope this helps. Here's to all of you torching the competition,

Sull