Sullivan Training Systems 2010 Spring Session
The spring session will feature a 2, 3, and 4 day option. It will be a 12 week program that will feature the style of training that has made us successful. Each 60-80 minute session will be geared towards making you the strongest player on the ice/field.
Start Date: March 15, 2010
End Date: June 5, 2010
Each session will be 60-80 minutes
Spring Session will run Monday-Thursday with your option or training 2 days, 3 days, or 4 days per week.
Pricing:
2 day: $429
3 day: $629
4 day: $829
Monthly Payment Plan is also available so you don't have to pay in full up front. Any questions, please email me at tom@sullivantrainingsystems.com or call 781.831.3901
Monday, March 1, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Sull's Gym: 2 Years
This week marks the 2 year anniversary of Sullivan Training Systems. I thought I would take this opportunity to reflect a bit on this journey. As my writing style dictates I usually like a bunch of random thoughts in bullet point format, I find it easier to read and hope that you do too.
1. I can't believe it has been 2 years since I first opened a training facility. It feels like last week I was still at 86 Hancock Street in Braintree. Not too long ago, I was cold calling at EMC immediately after graduation.
2. Old Gym was a second floor "studio" (used loosely) with no parking, hidden location, minimal signage, 800 square feet of training space, 8 foot ceilings with people over 5'10" constantly military pressing barbells through the shitty ceiling tiles, no room for speed and sprinting work, and 18 clients in my first summer of business.
3. STS Weymouth (newer Gym, will have been located here for one year this April) is a ground floor warehouse space, with good visibility in an industrial park, 25 foot ceilings, 35 yards of indoor turf, and 38 clients for the first summer session here, with this summer's goal of 64 clients (lofty, but so what).
4. With the new space, expenses have tripled, so I have had to really tough out some tough months as we get going. Increased expenses means increased stress as a business owner cutting the checks. It has been really important to remain positive knowing that business will continue to increase.
5. Business has continued to increase each quarter and I am expecting a huge boom for this upcoming summer season.
6. It is extremely important to have supportive friends and family. If it wasn't for my family letting me temporarily losing my mind and driving across the USA, I would never be in the position that I am today. My mom has been a huge help in keeping track of accounting issues and keeping the books organized, and Dad has been a huge help as a sounding board for business issues, sales advice, and being a dedicated client and walking billboard for the results he has gotten working out at STS.
7. I think the count is now at 734,000 for the number of times I have had this exchange: (Sull walks into watering hole in Boston to bend the elbow with some friends...) "Hey Sull, how's business?" "It's going great man, lot of fun, I love it." "That's great to hear, I gotta start getting in there a couple of times per week."
While the interest is great, I wonder: I hope people don't feel like we have nothing else to talk about. I am just interested in having a few beers, some shitty food, and relaxing, same as you. Just to let you know, people who say this NEVER come in to workout, and that is perfectly fine. I realize it is a pain in the ass to leave Boston after work to get to Weymouth to workout. So let's talk about the Olympics, where the most recent phantom bed-wetter has struck, whose girlfriend is the hottest, how great this burger is, etc.
8. As I settle in to this business, I am beginning to realize what I have to offer the marketplace that is better than my competition. I really believe that 50 percent of what I do is Fitness/Strength and Conditioning. I believe whatever makes up that other 50 percent is really where I excel. Some of it is intangible stuff, some of it isn't. I just know that if you hand me your 14 year old son or daughter for 12 weeks per summer, I will return you a kid who has gotten brutally strong, overcome numerous obstacles, no longer makes excuses for things that they can control, is mentally tough, and has a new found love for improving themselves in the gym. I know that anyone who spends a Fall Session working with Jeff, Brendan, or myself wouldn't dream of spending next fall anywhere else. There is a Planet Fitness one half mile from my door, so there is more to this thing than plates and barbells.
9. Every day when I turn the key to unlock the gym, I am thankful that I get to do this. My goal for every person that walks through the door is that the hour or two that they spend with me will be the best part of their day.
1. I can't believe it has been 2 years since I first opened a training facility. It feels like last week I was still at 86 Hancock Street in Braintree. Not too long ago, I was cold calling at EMC immediately after graduation.
2. Old Gym was a second floor "studio" (used loosely) with no parking, hidden location, minimal signage, 800 square feet of training space, 8 foot ceilings with people over 5'10" constantly military pressing barbells through the shitty ceiling tiles, no room for speed and sprinting work, and 18 clients in my first summer of business.
3. STS Weymouth (newer Gym, will have been located here for one year this April) is a ground floor warehouse space, with good visibility in an industrial park, 25 foot ceilings, 35 yards of indoor turf, and 38 clients for the first summer session here, with this summer's goal of 64 clients (lofty, but so what).
4. With the new space, expenses have tripled, so I have had to really tough out some tough months as we get going. Increased expenses means increased stress as a business owner cutting the checks. It has been really important to remain positive knowing that business will continue to increase.
5. Business has continued to increase each quarter and I am expecting a huge boom for this upcoming summer season.
6. It is extremely important to have supportive friends and family. If it wasn't for my family letting me temporarily losing my mind and driving across the USA, I would never be in the position that I am today. My mom has been a huge help in keeping track of accounting issues and keeping the books organized, and Dad has been a huge help as a sounding board for business issues, sales advice, and being a dedicated client and walking billboard for the results he has gotten working out at STS.
7. I think the count is now at 734,000 for the number of times I have had this exchange: (Sull walks into watering hole in Boston to bend the elbow with some friends...) "Hey Sull, how's business?" "It's going great man, lot of fun, I love it." "That's great to hear, I gotta start getting in there a couple of times per week."
While the interest is great, I wonder: I hope people don't feel like we have nothing else to talk about. I am just interested in having a few beers, some shitty food, and relaxing, same as you. Just to let you know, people who say this NEVER come in to workout, and that is perfectly fine. I realize it is a pain in the ass to leave Boston after work to get to Weymouth to workout. So let's talk about the Olympics, where the most recent phantom bed-wetter has struck, whose girlfriend is the hottest, how great this burger is, etc.
8. As I settle in to this business, I am beginning to realize what I have to offer the marketplace that is better than my competition. I really believe that 50 percent of what I do is Fitness/Strength and Conditioning. I believe whatever makes up that other 50 percent is really where I excel. Some of it is intangible stuff, some of it isn't. I just know that if you hand me your 14 year old son or daughter for 12 weeks per summer, I will return you a kid who has gotten brutally strong, overcome numerous obstacles, no longer makes excuses for things that they can control, is mentally tough, and has a new found love for improving themselves in the gym. I know that anyone who spends a Fall Session working with Jeff, Brendan, or myself wouldn't dream of spending next fall anywhere else. There is a Planet Fitness one half mile from my door, so there is more to this thing than plates and barbells.
9. Every day when I turn the key to unlock the gym, I am thankful that I get to do this. My goal for every person that walks through the door is that the hour or two that they spend with me will be the best part of their day.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Mentally Tough Teenagers?
Lately I have been hearing from a lot of fellow coaches about the same issue. Their athletes are not mentally tough, they shut down when faced with the slightest bit of adversity, and they are not nearly as gritty as the athletes they have coached over the past 10 years. I have to agree completely. As I get more experience in dealing with young athletes it is clear to me that a good portion of these kids are weak. In every aspect possible. Now that we agree on this point, how do we move forward?
I often catch myself falling into the trap of "when I was in high school" or "when I was a kid" and stopping before I start a 5 minute rant. For me, berating people with how tough you were as a kid doesn't help anyone accept pump your own ego.
Instead of bitching and moaning about how weak kids these days are, do something about it. Personally I plan on taking the kids on my high school team and the athletes who enter my facility and placing them in difficult situations, often. Pushing them through discomfort and forcing them to compete against each other, and teaching them about digging deep. On a regular basis I implement rules and strategies at the gym that do not allow kids to say things like "I can't". I do not accept excuses from young athletes and practice the policy of brutal honesty with them. To me it is a change from the "everyone gets a trophy" mentality that they deal with at school and local sports.
In short, let's stop the "when I was a kid" rants and actually try to help these kids get tougher. Some kids will shut down and some kids will respond. Focus on the ones who respond.
I often catch myself falling into the trap of "when I was in high school" or "when I was a kid" and stopping before I start a 5 minute rant. For me, berating people with how tough you were as a kid doesn't help anyone accept pump your own ego.
Instead of bitching and moaning about how weak kids these days are, do something about it. Personally I plan on taking the kids on my high school team and the athletes who enter my facility and placing them in difficult situations, often. Pushing them through discomfort and forcing them to compete against each other, and teaching them about digging deep. On a regular basis I implement rules and strategies at the gym that do not allow kids to say things like "I can't". I do not accept excuses from young athletes and practice the policy of brutal honesty with them. To me it is a change from the "everyone gets a trophy" mentality that they deal with at school and local sports.
In short, let's stop the "when I was a kid" rants and actually try to help these kids get tougher. Some kids will shut down and some kids will respond. Focus on the ones who respond.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
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.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
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
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
Monday, January 11, 2010
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.
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