Peter Cronin is a freshman goaltender at BC High over on Morrissey Blvd. Pete spent the entire summer and fall training with us over at STS. When we first got Pistol in the gym, he was just like every other typical beginner: lacking basic levels of strength, conditioning, movement quality, and unsure of his physical boundaries. Fast forward to last week's Massachusetts High School Hockey tryouts:
Hi Tom, it's Peter Cronin just letting you know that I made the BC High Varsity squad. I just wanted to let you know how much your program helped me and pushed me to be my very best. There is a very good chance that this wouldn't have happened without you. I look forward to continuing in the future and spreading the word about your gym.
I also received this email from his Dad:
Hi Tom:I echo Peter's comments. He's clearly stronger and recovers much more quickly than he did just a few months ago. Each of the four consecutive nights of tryouts was 2+ hours and he was stronger at the last tryout than he was at the first. The important thing is that he notices the difference and that appears to help his confidence.
Quite an accomplishment Pete! Congratulations!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Winter 2009 at Sullivan Training Systems
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Below is today's post which is a mind dump on some things I am thinking about. It is one of those posts that I always ask myself after writing, "why am I telling people this?" I think the reason I write posts like this is it helps me lay everything out in front of me, highlights issues, holds me accountable because people know I can be an idiot, and also highlights some issues in owning your own business.
Winter is usually a pretty stressful time of year for me. As a new business owner I have done a piss poor job in managing the business in the best way possible. Basically what has happened in the almost 2 years that I have been in business is as follows:
Summer: absolute gongshow, plenty of athletes, 10-12 hours per week of training with the Mass Satellite Program, lots of general fitness clients, people getting great results, play golf 3 times a week, party two nights a week, do a couple of trips to cape cod and the islands, life is good. Except that the appropriate thing for me to do would be stuff a lot of the cash into the mattress to provide a cushion as business slows down or save for some new equipment, or save money for necessities like rent, food, a new vehicle (mine is just about ready to power down), you know the usual stuff.
Fall: Business slows down but I hang on to a lot of my hockey guys as they get ready for their winter season. I didn't do a good enough job of retaining general fitness clients for fall, but my staff has gone back to school so expenses are less since I am running a one man show. I am paying my bills but can no longer afford to golf or party a couple of nights per week.
Winter: Since I have been running the place by myself, I have been operating as a trainer who happens to own a facility. I need to retool my mindset and try to look at it as a business owner who trains people. For more clarification, when I have staff in the summer, my role is to design all of the workouts, plan the sessions, attract clients, keep clients, answer the phone, and train a couple of groups per day. In the Fall, I do everything including running every session in addition to the other jobs. However, I find that the business development stuff suffers as I focus on developing great training programs and running successful sessions. So now I have spent less time on getting new clients which means all of the hockey guys who have gone back to playing will only be here once per week, which means monthly dues will be a lot less. Now I have to try to scramble for clients, make late payments on bills, let the books go to hell, and have a nervous breakdown. Real chicken with the head cut off type of act.
My saving grace this winter will be some of the teams that have chosen to train with us in season as well as my duties as Assistant Hockey Coach at North Quincy High School.
Spring will pick back up with my hockey players, new fitness clients, and always a couple of other positive surprises.
Winter is usually a pretty stressful time of year for me. As a new business owner I have done a piss poor job in managing the business in the best way possible. Basically what has happened in the almost 2 years that I have been in business is as follows:
Summer: absolute gongshow, plenty of athletes, 10-12 hours per week of training with the Mass Satellite Program, lots of general fitness clients, people getting great results, play golf 3 times a week, party two nights a week, do a couple of trips to cape cod and the islands, life is good. Except that the appropriate thing for me to do would be stuff a lot of the cash into the mattress to provide a cushion as business slows down or save for some new equipment, or save money for necessities like rent, food, a new vehicle (mine is just about ready to power down), you know the usual stuff.
Fall: Business slows down but I hang on to a lot of my hockey guys as they get ready for their winter season. I didn't do a good enough job of retaining general fitness clients for fall, but my staff has gone back to school so expenses are less since I am running a one man show. I am paying my bills but can no longer afford to golf or party a couple of nights per week.
Winter: Since I have been running the place by myself, I have been operating as a trainer who happens to own a facility. I need to retool my mindset and try to look at it as a business owner who trains people. For more clarification, when I have staff in the summer, my role is to design all of the workouts, plan the sessions, attract clients, keep clients, answer the phone, and train a couple of groups per day. In the Fall, I do everything including running every session in addition to the other jobs. However, I find that the business development stuff suffers as I focus on developing great training programs and running successful sessions. So now I have spent less time on getting new clients which means all of the hockey guys who have gone back to playing will only be here once per week, which means monthly dues will be a lot less. Now I have to try to scramble for clients, make late payments on bills, let the books go to hell, and have a nervous breakdown. Real chicken with the head cut off type of act.
My saving grace this winter will be some of the teams that have chosen to train with us in season as well as my duties as Assistant Hockey Coach at North Quincy High School.
Spring will pick back up with my hockey players, new fitness clients, and always a couple of other positive surprises.
Monday, November 23, 2009
A case of the Mondays.....
A bunch of random thoughts:
1. With Thanksgiving coming up this week, I plan on taking some time away from training athletes and clients. I think it is important to spend some time with Family and Friends this week and in the coming holidays. Having said that (any Curb fans out there), I do plan on getting into the gym on Thursday morning, Friday morning, and once more over the weekend. These will be brief but intense workouts to combat the caloric intake of the holidays. Usually at about 8pm on Thanksgiving, I take two pieces of Italian bread and begin to build...layer of stuffing, pile of turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, miracle whip, salt and pepper. I literally have to step on it to get it in my mouth, so I figure I need to keep training.
2. For my winter athletes, this is their last week of training before hockey tryouts. These kids are in the best shape of their lives and are looking forward to attacking tryouts. These kids were all beginners when they came in. Most are still relatively skinny kids but their strength levels have shot up as well as their mental toughness reserves and I believe they are ready to go.
3. The past couple of weeks I have had the pleasure of working out with my longtime friend, Chris Cullen, who is in town for Thanksgiving. Chris is an Army Pilot who flies Blackhawk helicopters (how cool is that) and is stationed in Alaska and recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. On Friday we did a team competition in which we pit civilians (Brian Sull, Joe Fernald, and myself) against US Military (Chris Cullen and Mike Aylward USMC). The workout consisted of 5 chinups, 10 steps lungewalk, med ball side toss x 3 (left and right), and a 100 yard sprint out and a 100 yard sprint back as fast as possible. We competed head to head in each round and am sad to report that the Civi's lost 5-3.
1. With Thanksgiving coming up this week, I plan on taking some time away from training athletes and clients. I think it is important to spend some time with Family and Friends this week and in the coming holidays. Having said that (any Curb fans out there), I do plan on getting into the gym on Thursday morning, Friday morning, and once more over the weekend. These will be brief but intense workouts to combat the caloric intake of the holidays. Usually at about 8pm on Thanksgiving, I take two pieces of Italian bread and begin to build...layer of stuffing, pile of turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, miracle whip, salt and pepper. I literally have to step on it to get it in my mouth, so I figure I need to keep training.
2. For my winter athletes, this is their last week of training before hockey tryouts. These kids are in the best shape of their lives and are looking forward to attacking tryouts. These kids were all beginners when they came in. Most are still relatively skinny kids but their strength levels have shot up as well as their mental toughness reserves and I believe they are ready to go.
3. The past couple of weeks I have had the pleasure of working out with my longtime friend, Chris Cullen, who is in town for Thanksgiving. Chris is an Army Pilot who flies Blackhawk helicopters (how cool is that) and is stationed in Alaska and recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. On Friday we did a team competition in which we pit civilians (Brian Sull, Joe Fernald, and myself) against US Military (Chris Cullen and Mike Aylward USMC). The workout consisted of 5 chinups, 10 steps lungewalk, med ball side toss x 3 (left and right), and a 100 yard sprint out and a 100 yard sprint back as fast as possible. We competed head to head in each round and am sad to report that the Civi's lost 5-3.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Saturday Sweat being postponed.
Quick Update.
I am postponing all Saturday Sweat workouts until after the holiday. Check back after Thanksgiving to see the updated schedule.
TSull
I am postponing all Saturday Sweat workouts until after the holiday. Check back after Thanksgiving to see the updated schedule.
TSull
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Heading in to the Holiday Season...
Right now, a lot of fitness professionals and strength coaches are starting to write about the holiday season. It is said that most people will gain somewhere between 3-10 pounds of fat during the holidays with some people gaining even more. I think the reason why a lot of people get fat is this steady progressive weight gain. Most people don't blow up over night but if you think about 8 pounds of fat per year, that means in 5 years you are 40 pounds heavier, which is a whole lot more than you weigh now. Here is how I typically advise people to get through the holiday season.
1. Don't try to diet through the holidays. People will think you are a douchebag if you start talking about no stuffing or mashed potatoes as they shovel it on their plate (pass me my shovel please).
2. Maintain or increase your training intensity. Workout on Thanksgiving morning before the feast, and the day after as well. The best type of workouts to help battle fat gain are fast intense circuits or interval sprints which will elevate your metabolism for hours after.
I think just increasing your training intensity from Thanksgiving - New Years can work wonders for you. You will head into the new year with a solid idea of what it takes to prevent, and even lose fat so if you decide to make a resolution to lose fat, you have a jump start on all of those hogs who will be signing up for gym memberships come Jan 1st. These same people will spend 30 minutes on the elliptical sipping on a gatorade sports drink which will contain more sugar and calories than they will burn during their workout. They will be shocked that they aren't losing weight and will quit by Feb 15. Don't be that person. If you need ideas, just ask.
Best,
TSull
tom@sullivantrainingsystems.com
1. Don't try to diet through the holidays. People will think you are a douchebag if you start talking about no stuffing or mashed potatoes as they shovel it on their plate (pass me my shovel please).
2. Maintain or increase your training intensity. Workout on Thanksgiving morning before the feast, and the day after as well. The best type of workouts to help battle fat gain are fast intense circuits or interval sprints which will elevate your metabolism for hours after.
I think just increasing your training intensity from Thanksgiving - New Years can work wonders for you. You will head into the new year with a solid idea of what it takes to prevent, and even lose fat so if you decide to make a resolution to lose fat, you have a jump start on all of those hogs who will be signing up for gym memberships come Jan 1st. These same people will spend 30 minutes on the elliptical sipping on a gatorade sports drink which will contain more sugar and calories than they will burn during their workout. They will be shocked that they aren't losing weight and will quit by Feb 15. Don't be that person. If you need ideas, just ask.
Best,
TSull
tom@sullivantrainingsystems.com
Monday, November 9, 2009
Building Leg Strength.
Back at it today after a long weekend in Montreal. I spent the weekend playing in a hockey tournament with some close friends at Les 4 Glaces in Montreal, Quebec. We were able to secure the championship trophy along with some serious off ice antics. Back to the business at hand...
Mike Boyle and Single Leg Squats
Mike Boyle just released Functional Strength Coach 3.0, which is a DVD set where Mike gets into detail about all of the latest and greatest in the industry of strength and conditioning. One piece that has created some stir is the section on squatting. In short, Coach Boyle explains how he believes that in order to build your most powerful legs, you should be training them 1 at a time. Just as some practical feedback, my Fall Athletes did some front squatting last week. When they looked at their weight sheets, they were nervous about doing poorly because they hadn't done a two legged squat since October 10th. The worst performance out of the group was a 25 pound increase in their heaviest 3 rep set, with the best performance being a 55 pound increase. That should eliminate any questions of whether or not you can get stronger doing 1 legged work. Most of the leg work that the athletes in my facility had been doing was the rear leg elevated split squat with dumbells and barbells.
If you are interested in building some solid pistons, these should be a staple in your program. I think the girls that read the blog will get some serious benefit from doing these as well. Beware that the first few times you perform these, you will have some soreness in your butt and hammys.
Best,
TSull
Monday, October 26, 2009
A Day in the Life.
I recently finished a Fat Loss Manual that is just a compilation of some of my thoughts on dieting for optimal physique with an eye on the real world. Most people can't and aren't willing to eat like bodybuilders (travelling with coolers full of chicken and brown rice), so I wrote this with you folks in mind.
Send me an email at tom@sullivantrainingsystems.com if you would like a free copy.
As for the rest of this blog, it is a day in my life, and just a peak into what I do, day in, day out.
Here is typically what a day in the life of world famous, fitness pro Tom Sullivan looks like:
6:00am: Wake up, head to gym. Eat a quick breakfast of greek yogurt with added protein, walnuts and a piece of fruit.
6:30-7:30: First client of the day (Dad). Dad has some creaky knees, lower back pain, a tweaked neck, and occasional shoulder pain. 5 times a week he is in the gym getting a training effect, so I don't want to hear about your injuries. Any good trainer can train around your injuries effectively.
8:00-9:00: Another morning client on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Dayls).
10:00-11:00: Last morning client(s) of the day. Usually a small group of 2-3 men looking to get lean.
11:00am: Another scoop of protein, apple smothered in cinnamon raisin PB (Peanut Butter & Co. delicious). Return emails, phone calls, marketing activities, brainstorming, blogging, reading, researching. PS. My promptness in returning most peoples' calls really blows. In the words of Jason Smith, "It's gotta be better."
12:00pm-2:00pm: From 11:50 - 12:00, I watch an assortment of YouTube vids to get motivated to train for the day. If I am excited to train on that day, I will watch olympic weightlifting technique videos or people front squatting Toyotas to get in the zone. If I am being a little, whiny bitch (waahh, I don't like to train by myself) I will watch something more motivational. Then I foam roll, warmup and get into my workout. My favorite workout right now is Front Squat, Bent Row, DB Military Press for a rep scheme of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
2:30-3:00: Catch breath, shower, eat. Prepare for athletes.
3:00-8:00pm: During this time I see an average of 8-10 high school hockey players, 4-5 general fitness clients, and sometimes a 12-13 year old hockey team. These 5 hours are my reminder of why I do what I do. I love my morning clients and the time we spend together, but my true passion is teaching kids. To take a 130 pound kid who looks like a baby deer on ice, and in 5 weeks watch him hang clean his bodyweight (which is now 140-145 pounds) for 3 reps with excellent technique, and wash that down with a circuit of sprints, squats and 25 foot rope climb for 7 rounds, is unreal. To see a kid get to the ceiling climbing the rope for the first time and jump down with a huge smile and ripping my arm off with a high 5, makes me feel like the luckiest guy on earth. It has a tendency to give me some perspective the next time I get in my car with the hood bungy'd down that barely starts and is like chick repellent. It also puts me at ease when I ignore calls from my student loan lender and wake up in a cold sweat because I can't pay some of my bills on time this month.
8:30p: Home. Dinner (which lately has been a slow cooked stew, chili, or pile of other warm dead animals.) Little TV in my fat guy pants, comatose. Rinse and repeat everyday.
Send me an email at tom@sullivantrainingsystems.com if you would like a free copy.
As for the rest of this blog, it is a day in my life, and just a peak into what I do, day in, day out.
Here is typically what a day in the life of world famous, fitness pro Tom Sullivan looks like:
6:00am: Wake up, head to gym. Eat a quick breakfast of greek yogurt with added protein, walnuts and a piece of fruit.
6:30-7:30: First client of the day (Dad). Dad has some creaky knees, lower back pain, a tweaked neck, and occasional shoulder pain. 5 times a week he is in the gym getting a training effect, so I don't want to hear about your injuries. Any good trainer can train around your injuries effectively.
8:00-9:00: Another morning client on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Dayls).
10:00-11:00: Last morning client(s) of the day. Usually a small group of 2-3 men looking to get lean.
11:00am: Another scoop of protein, apple smothered in cinnamon raisin PB (Peanut Butter & Co. delicious). Return emails, phone calls, marketing activities, brainstorming, blogging, reading, researching. PS. My promptness in returning most peoples' calls really blows. In the words of Jason Smith, "It's gotta be better."
12:00pm-2:00pm: From 11:50 - 12:00, I watch an assortment of YouTube vids to get motivated to train for the day. If I am excited to train on that day, I will watch olympic weightlifting technique videos or people front squatting Toyotas to get in the zone. If I am being a little, whiny bitch (waahh, I don't like to train by myself) I will watch something more motivational. Then I foam roll, warmup and get into my workout. My favorite workout right now is Front Squat, Bent Row, DB Military Press for a rep scheme of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
2:30-3:00: Catch breath, shower, eat. Prepare for athletes.
3:00-8:00pm: During this time I see an average of 8-10 high school hockey players, 4-5 general fitness clients, and sometimes a 12-13 year old hockey team. These 5 hours are my reminder of why I do what I do. I love my morning clients and the time we spend together, but my true passion is teaching kids. To take a 130 pound kid who looks like a baby deer on ice, and in 5 weeks watch him hang clean his bodyweight (which is now 140-145 pounds) for 3 reps with excellent technique, and wash that down with a circuit of sprints, squats and 25 foot rope climb for 7 rounds, is unreal. To see a kid get to the ceiling climbing the rope for the first time and jump down with a huge smile and ripping my arm off with a high 5, makes me feel like the luckiest guy on earth. It has a tendency to give me some perspective the next time I get in my car with the hood bungy'd down that barely starts and is like chick repellent. It also puts me at ease when I ignore calls from my student loan lender and wake up in a cold sweat because I can't pay some of my bills on time this month.
8:30p: Home. Dinner (which lately has been a slow cooked stew, chili, or pile of other warm dead animals.) Little TV in my fat guy pants, comatose. Rinse and repeat everyday.
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