Congratulations: Richie Aylward

I wanted to take a short moment to say congratulations formally to Richie Aylward. Rich was recently accepted into the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and will be joining the Buccaneers next Fall. Richie has been training with me since I started out on my own. Between sessions in the basement/garage and local shopping mall parking lots, Rich has established himself as a big, strong, athletic kid who will play Football and Track & Field in college. More importantly for Richie, he will be attending a school that will allow him to pursue a career on the high seas. Having spent a lot of time on boats with Rich, most memorably a voyage from Buzzards Bay to Nantucket Island in a hail storm in 6 foot seas (on a 19 foot boat) to celebrate July 4th, I know this next step for him is the right one. So congratulations Richie, thanks for your support my friend.

Peak Inside STS Weymouth

When I went to the gym today, I planned to work up to a heavy weight and get after some bench press singles. I personally believe winter is a good time for me to build up my top end strength. However, as I was warming up on the bench, I noticed I had some pain in my left hand. I was determined to get a workout in, but a lot of exercises hurt. As I was taking a look at the workout plan for some of my fitness clients, I figured that I could get through most of it with minimal pain. What I did was this:

Foam Roll
Dynamic Warmup
Mini Circuit that consisted of:

plank variation for reps
glute bridge for 30 seconds
ankle mobility drill
and overhead squats

Workout was as follows:

Front Squat or goblet squat (went with 185 lbs on the front squat) paired with a series of short sprints, suicide style for 5 sets with 1 minute rests between sets. This by itself was a pretty decent workout and had me laying on the turf with my chest heaving. I rested for a couple minutes then attacked two more pairs of exercises. Number 2 was pushups vs. bands paired with renegade row, both for 10 reps x 5 sets with 1 minute rests. Number 3 was recline rope rows for 10 reps paired with 15 sandbag swings for 5 sets with 1 minute rests. All said and done I was smoked. Bottom line, you should be able to figure out how to train around an injury or a small setback, if you don't ask!


Best,

TSull
tom@sullivantrainingsystems.com

New Years Ressy Update

Right now is a great time to do a status check on your New Year's Resolutions. How are they going? If you are not where you would like to be, simply reset your goals and start over. This is one of the biggest reasons why I dislike formal resolutions and prefer traditional goal setting exercises. If you took my advice and set a goal for 15 weight workouts and 15 cardio/conditioning workouts for January, you still have 12 days left to achieve your goal. So, stop feeling bad for yourself for falling off the wagon, and get back after it. If you need a little push, here is one for today. After work and voting (in Mass), try this:

Pair these two lifts together:

Goblet Squat 5 sets of 5
Chin Ups 5 sets of 5

Perform with minimal rest between sets. Then finish with:

Treadmill tabata sprints. Warm up on the treadmill by gradually increasing speed for 4 minutes until you are at 75 percent of max effort. Let the treadmill belt run at this speed. CAREFULLY, get on while holding the handrails until you catch up to the belt and sprint for 20 seconds. Take 10 seconds rest and repeat :20 work, :10 rest for a total of 8 reps. Shower and go home. You have just done one weight workout and one cardio workout. Chalk today up as a 'W'.


Go get it done,

TSull
tom@sullivantrainingsystems.com

Pond Hockey Footage

On Saturday, the boys got together to play a little pond hockey in Canton, Ma, on Messenger Street. There isn't a lot better than a good group of guys, some pond hockey, and mother nature keeping the beers ice cold. Check out some of the throwback jerseys.

100th Post on TSull's World

I know I haven't written in a while and its only because I had nothing valuable to say. But when I logged in this morning and saw that I had 99 posts, I figured 100 posts was as good an occasion as any to write. So let's keep this random.

1. Gym, Tan, Laundry. If you watch the Jersey Shore, you know what I am talking about. The more I watch, the more I think that these guys have figured it out and we are all wrong.

2. My training plan for January is very basic. My favorite author, Dan John, has become famous for a program titled "One Lift a Day". I have decided to dedicate myself to completing this in January. It is not complicated, just difficult. Or as he says, "Simple, not easy." I have gotten rid of everything except for the big basic lifts. Here is the plan. I foam roll and then start lifting.

Monday = Bench Press
Tuesday = Pull Ups
Wednesday = Squat (and I have used the back squat, which I don't have a lot of experience with)
Thursday = Off
Friday = Military Press
Saturday = Deadlift
Sunday = Off

So far I am loving the simplicity, but hating the brutality.

3. How's your New Years Resolution going? If you slipped up already, who cares. Get back at it. 15 weight workouts and 15 conditioning workouts per month.

4. Here is what I have been doing in my free time: