Huge Tilt Tonight.

Big night tonight. The Stanley Cup finals for the New England Senior Hockey League are upon us. Whats that? What the hell is the New England Senior Hockey League, you say? Well its only the most competitive sporting league in the Northeast, so shame on you. Exercise RX is set to take the ice tonight at 10:30pm at the Canton Sportsplex in front of a capacity crowd. I would tell you who we are playing, but I am not sure and frankly it doesn't matter. In honor of the Exercise RX guys I thought I would put together a couple of workouts modeled after two of our players.

Joe Santilli Bike Sprint workout

The only thing 'Tilli seems to be interested is bike sprint workouts, so here you go buddy.

15 second sprint, 20 second recovery x 5

30 second sprint, 40 second recovery x 5

20 second sprint, 10 second recovery x 8

Directions: Depending on the type of stationary bike you are on, you will want to use a nice, easy level for your recovery, and bump it to a more aggressive level for the sprint. The longer the sprint the easier the level, on the short sprints get aggressive on a high level. These are harder than they sound.

Ned Havern's Beach Body Pump

Former BC stud, Ned Havern, likes to get into the weight room and just keep carving that rock. He isn't very interested in how high he can jump or what he can bench, he is all show. Here you go Neddy.

Dumbell Incline Bench x 5 reps heavy

Dumbell Row x 5 reps heavy

Stationary reverse lunge x 5ea leg (hold dumbells)

Russian Twists x 5ea

Oblique bridge x 5ea

Try to rip through this for 8 rounds with minimal rest (YouTube exercises). Quality is better than quantity, meaning if you are crushed after 6 circuits, shut her down.

Tuesday April 28, 2009...Today's Workout

Today it is going to be 90 degrees outside. If you have the mental fortitude to get your ass in the gym today, you aren't going to want to be there long. You probably want to spend some time walking around the city, having a cocktail out on the patio at your favorite watering hole, or just relaxing out on the balcony of your apartment.

So here you go....

Dumbell Curl and Press Combo x 5 reps
Bodyweight Squat x 5 reps
T-Pushups x 2ea side (pushup and reach for ceiling at top of rep, rotating your body)
30 second treadmill sprint.

rest for 1:00. repeat 8-12 times depending on time available and fitness level.

PS. Bring a set of dumbells over to the treadmill and make that your own little area. If you want to work out outdoors, get rid of the curl and press and perform the rest of the exercises at a local field with your shirt off. This workout is effective for both men and women.

Go get it,

TSull

tssullivanjr@gmail.com

Putting the feelers out there.

I wanted to get a temperature check on everyone who reads the blog. In the interest of full disclosure, I need to generate more revenue at the gym. Plain and simple. S0 in order for me to generate more revenue, I need to help more people get lean and mean. Currently my main source of income is training high school athletes and a select group of clients who train like athletes and look like athletes but are everyday folks like you and me. Here are some ideas that I am toying with:

1. Saturday morning "sweat the booze out of your system" workouts (just a working title)

With the gorgeous weather finally upon us, and all of the open space at the new gym, I feel like we should all get together as friends first thing on Saturday morning and get a serious sweat on to battle the effects of anything you did Friday night and plan on doing for the rest of the weekend. For anyone that is dedicated enough to get themselves to the gym on Saturday mornings after a night out, you can vouch for how much better you feel after. So I figure let's get 20 of us at the gym, really get after it for one hour, then meet at a beach, throw the pig skin around, and cook some dead animals. I am thinking that these workouts will be $15 per session. Thoughts?

2. Mike Aylward's Combat Conditioning.

This one is not an idea. This one actually has an official Start date of June 1st. Mike has already put together all of the workouts for this. This will be a 3 time per week "bootcamp" style workout program. It will be intense, you will shed pounds, and Mike will motivate you to levels of fitness you never thought possible. The cost for this will be $179 per month. If you sign up by May 10th, you will lock in a price of $129 per month for the summer.

3. Sullivan Training Systems' Summer Fat Loss Guide.

This is something that I am working on and is really time consuming, but if there is enough interest, I will be prepared to offer this for June 1st-August 31st. This will be a manual that will take all of the guess work out of planning your workouts and dealing with your nutrition strategy. If you can't make it down to train with us, at least you can follow our strategy at your local Planet Fitness. Also, for those who follow my writing you know that I am a realist. You will find me drinking beer on weekends and eating cheeseburgers at cookouts. You will also notice that I am not bashful about playing hoop on the "skins" team. I will let you in on the secrets of having fun and having a lean physique. For 3 months of workouts and diet information for the summer, the cost will be $199.

I am genuinely looking for ideas, suggestions, and also telling me to pound sand if you feel that way. Please don't be bashful in the comment section. Email me or message me on Facebook (friend me if we aren't already). Thank you!

Best,

Tom

tssullivanjr@gmail.com

Mike

aylward.michael@gmail.com

Warm Weather Training Tips.

As I stare out the window of the gym right now, the sun is shining brightly and we just came off a weekend in the 80s. Feels great, doesn't it? I always love this time of year because it means you can start adding some serious outdoor activity into your lives, work on your tans, and just feel much better in general. There is a downside to all of this nice weather in my opinion as a fitness guy. As soon as you have temps creeping skyward into the 80s, every Tom, Dick, and Jane dust of their running shoes and begin pounding out miles after spending the previous few months hibernating. When you take a body that is not conditioned properly to the stresses of running and jump right into the "fire" you are creating a recipe for injury. No, you aren't going to blow your knee out jogging (or is it yogging with a soft J), but I promise if you start upping miles early on you will start getting achy in your achilles, knees and your hips. So if you must run, add miles slowly.

If you hate running, try this one on for size.

Playground workout

Park bench jumps (jump up, step down) x 3

Pullups x 3-5 reps

Sprint 40 yards and back

Do 10 sets, resting when you need to. If any 9 year olds get in your way, leave cleat marks up their chest.

Fat Loss Plateau Buster

Here is a quick idea that I came up with today. If you haven't realized this already, weight gain/loss is strictly a game of calories in versus calories out. Meaning take more in than you burn, hello weight gain. Burn more than you take in, hello Murph Abs. So if you are currently in a sticking point where you aren't making progress on your fat loss goals, we either need you to take in less calories, burn more, or a combo of both. This post is about burning more calories. When you get out of bed do this for 5 straight days to get some extra calorie burn:

10 Jumping Jacks
5 pushups
6 steps of lunge walks

repeat 5 rounds, get in shower, head to work having already stoked up your body to burn calories. This will help you break through your current plateau.

Updates and a couple workouts...

I realize I have been MIA on the blogging front as of late and I apologize. Opening the facility in Weymouth brought on a bunch of issues/details I hadn't originally planned for. Now the facility has been opened for 3 weeks, we are busier than ever, and are doing things that just weren't possible in the old Braintree facility.


I want to take a quick opportunity to tell you about a program we are launching for Summer 09 that will begin Monday, June 8th. The program is called Combat Conditioning and it will be run by Lance Corporal Michael Aylward. Mike is a member of the United States Marine Corps fresh off of a tour of duty in Iraq. While on deployment, Mike created a group training program that was used on his fellow Marines and borrows from concepts from their bootcamp. I had the opportunity to review the program with Mike yesterday and it looks awesome. If you are looking for a fast paced, competitive training atmosphere, definitely get in touch with me or Mike ASAP.


We are also getting geared up for our High School/Collegiate Summer Strength Program that will begin on June 8th and run through the end of the summer. We have added staff, space, and equipment this summer and so far the response has been overwhelming. If you are a high school or college athlete looking to make serious gains to take to the playing field, you need to train with us this summer.


Lastly, the STS website is currently under development and nearing completion so I am looking forward to that. I will keep you posted so I can get your feedback.


It wouldn't be a blog post from me if I didn't give you some content that you can act on right away to push you towards your fitness and body composition goals...


This week:


Tuesday Workout


Jump rope (jumping jack if you don't have a rope) x 50 reps
Treadmill Sprint x 25 seconds
Burpee x 10 reps


rest for 1:30. This is one round. Complete 4-8 rounds depending on your fitness levels. Then lay on the ground and curse at me.



Wednesday Workout


Dumbell Circuit (Standing)
Hammer Curls x 4 reps
Overhead Push Press x 4 reps
Front Squat x 4 reps
Bent over rows x 4 reps


Pick a light dumbell weight for the first round through. Take your dumbells and do your 4 curls, without resting proceed into your overhead presses, then with the dumbells resting on your shoulders go right into your squats, and finally right into your rows. Without dropping the dumbells, repeat one more round. Rack your dumbells and rest for 2 minutes. Repeat x 3-7 rounds depending on fitness level. Adjust your dumbell weight if necessary. Guys, you probably went too heavy. Gals, you are probably too light. Pick weights that challenge but allow for perfect technique.





Get after it,



TSull

tssullivanjr@gmail.com

Where the Figawi? Part 2

We have roughly 7 weeks until shove off time for Figawi. How is everyone doing with their goals? Hopefully you have been getting to the gym 4-5 times a weeks, eating to support your goals, and getting plenty of rest to fuel your workouts after busy days at the office. Here are 10 random tips to help push you towards your goal of looking great on the beach of Fog Island.

1. No more skipping workouts. No more excuses, no more lying to yourself. If you want to look good or even great in your swim trunks, you have to man or wo-man up and get your ass in the gym.

2. It is time to ratchet up the intensity. Workouts need to get harder, diets need to get more strict during the week while maintaining some freedom over the weekend.

3. Three workouts per week need to be fast, circuit style workouts. Need some help with workouts? Check out this previous posts that I wrote. http://tsullsworld.blogspot.com/2009/01/men-of-exercise-rx.html

4. It is time to strip all of the sugar and starch out of your diets during the week. Get rid of bread, pasta, rice, and potato. During the weekend you can add it back in. The fastest, most effective fat loss diets are low in carbs.

5. Lift heavier weights. Start increasing weight lifted during your workouts. Same for the girls. I promise you won't get big, you will just tighten up.

6. Conditioning and cardio sessions need to be harder. If you like to run or bike, get rid of the steady state, moderate paced "cardio". Start doing sprint and recover workouts. Some good breakdowns are sprint for 30 seconds, recover for 1 minute, repeat x 10-12 reps. If you are a real self-masochist try doing Tabatas during your next run. Sprint for 20 seconds rest for 10 seconds repeating this 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. Your legs may fall off. If they haven't, rest for a couple of minutes, then repeat the protocol.

7. Start guzzling more water to help keep appetite at bay and to keep your body functioning properly.

8. Get a training partner(s) with similar goals to yours.

9. NEPA. Non-exercise Physical Activity. Move around more. Walk to work, walk to the bar, walk up stairs. Any type of movement is good for fat loss. How many fat mailmen do you know?

10. If you need a concrete, aggressive plan to hit your goals I will build a "Figawi Plan" for you for $99

Video Tour of Weymouth Facility

Here we go...

I didn't forget about you...

Friends,

I just wanted to drop a quick note. I haven't forgotten about the blog or gotten lazy with putting up new content. Yesterday was the grand opening of the new facility in Weymouth. I am putting together some pictures and a new entry for everyone to see.

I hope everyone is still on track with all of your goals. Let me know if I can be of any assistance.


Best,

TSull

tssullivanjr@gmail.com