High School Hockey Playoffs

It's that time of year again, Mass High School Hockey Playoffs. Last year, on the coaching staff for North Quincy boys team, we sat out because we weren't good enough to be there. Not the case this year. They boys took care of business and we will be playing Franklin at some point this week in the D2 tourney.

If you are cruising around the rinks checking out the games keep your eye out for some of Sullivan Training's athletes. Hingham, Weymouth, Braintree, BC High, Fontbonne, North Quincy, Dexter, Xaverian, CM, WHP, Marshvegas.....this list goes on.

I will keep you updated on how it goes.

The Secret to Changing Your Body.

One of the most common questions that people ask me is, "How can I lose x amount of weight, in y amount of time?"

The answer to this question may look simple on paper but much less easy in practice. Do me a favor, starting today and for the next 7 days, build yourself a table that is 7 columns wide by 5 rows deep. The 7 columns represent the days of the week and the 5 rows should be labeled as follows: "Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner." Write down everything that you eat and drink for 7 days. Be honest. I have had clients return me sheets that include lucky charms for breakfast, and 8 captain and cokes with dinner. Once you have 7 days worth of your current nutrition habits, look for patterns. It doesn't take a nutritionist to see where you can make changes. Try changing one habit or pattern at a time. If you always have a snack before bed or after dinner, try cutting that snack out.

Allow yourself to have 3-4 slip ups per week. The key is getting back on track right away.

Some thoughts on progress/plans.

Based on your current workout regimen, do you know what you are going to do next week? Are you going to do the same exact workouts that you do this week? Are you going to change exercises? Sets and reps? Rest periods? Length of sessions? And on and on....

What I am trying to get at here is that you need to have some type of plan, however basic it may be. Repeating the same exact workouts from week to week will leave you mentally burnt out, and hating your trips to the gym.

My recommendation: Try looking at your workouts on a monthly basis. Write down all of your workout sessions in a given week. Then, plan to change up the volume (total work). For all of your lifts in week 1, do 4 sets of 8 reps. Week 2 do 5 sets of 5. Week 3 do 4 sets of 8 again. On Week 4 give yourself a break. Cut your workouts in half. Do 2 sets of 8, skip cardio and head home. I am giving you permission. Week 5 is a hard week again. See the pattern? This type of approach may be the key to workout longevity and the real reason some type of people go hard for a month and then take 4 months off. Consistency is crucial to maintaining your fitness and bodyweight levels so you aren't all over the place.

Give it a try.


Go get em,

TS

Some Friday Advice for Yas.

Some reading information for you guys...if you work in the fitness industry or are well read, these will seem really obvious. For my friends who work regular 9-5 jobs (probably 7a-6p), this stuff may help you steer clear of some previously shitty advice.

1. When you do abs, don't do sit ups and crunches. As new research comes out, the abs are designed to prevent movement of the spine, not create it. This means you want to be doing things like planks, bridges, roll outs, etc. Not only will you be improving your body's performance, but it has also been shown that these exercises activate more muscle fibers, aka are better suited for building your washboard.

2. Don't take a routine out of a magazine and haphazardly follow it. Think about things like: Do I know how to do this exercise? Do I know what they even mean? Do I need 10 sets for just arms? Does my gym have this equipment? Is this move too advanced or easy for me? I would rather see you grab some tid bits from here and slowly add them to your repertoire than to dive into some other stuff. Take the time to learn how to do things correctly.

3. Don't do "straight sets" any more. Example: a straight set would be to see 3 x 10 on lat pull down and do it like this, Do 1 set rest 2 minutes, Do another set and so on. Pair that exercise with a different type of movement, cut down your rest and get your breathing going a bit. You will crank up your ability to burn calories during resistance training.

4. Do more resistance training than "cardio". You burn more calories doing total body lifts than treadmill or elliptical work. Plus it isn't as boring, will help you shed fat, and build muscle (harden up those soft areas).

5. The best exercise for your six pack is "fork put downs".


TS

Recipe Help!

Based on a comment from the post with the grocery list, I wanted to share some info. The comment was basically, "Great! I bought all of this stuff, now what do I do with it?"

While Cait and I are definitely broadening our cooking horizons, we are by no means chefs. We always use recipes from other people. When cooking meals that will support your health and fitness goals, a great resource is Brian St. Pierre's blog, here: http://brianstpierretraining.com/index.php/category/recipes/. It would be irresponsible of me not to point you on to someone who has got 100 times more/better knowledge around food and nutrition than myself, and I really like Brian's stuff.

TSull