Boys & Girls Summer Middle, High School, and College Athletes

Summer 2010 is right around the corner. This year at the STS Summer Program, we are expecting between 55-75 athletes. We will be limiting group size to 9 athletes. There will be a number of start times which you can find below. Each session will last 90 minutes. The program will begin on June 21st and run until August 26th. That is 10 weeks of focused effort towards making you a better athlete. If you want to add 10-20 pounds of muscle to your frame while getting faster, more powerful, and leaner, this is the only place to do it. If you are a female athlete the program will be a little different. You will not add mass, but get quicker, more flexible and skinnier. Send me an email at tssullivanjr@gmail.com to reserve your spot.

Start times:

Morning:
6am, 6:30, 7:15, 8, 8:45, 9:30, 10:15

Afternoon:
3pm, 3:45pm

PS. College program starts Mid May (whenever you get home) and high school athletes who get out of school earlier than the 21st can start sooner.

STS College Bound Athletes.

Johnny McInnis formerly of Quincy Youth Hockey fame has played the past two seasons for the Okotoks Oilers of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. This year in 58 games played, Johnny tallied a ridiculous 42 goals, 31 assists, and 73 points. He was selected as team MVP for the season. Johnny spent last off season with us and was able to put on substantial size, strength, and speed which can be credited to the dedication he put in at the gym all summer. Plus when you have a high powered scorer who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty, that's a guy you want on your team (Johnny is in the white jersey below). John is off to Minnesota State next year to play ice hockey. Congrats buddy, I look forward to helping you take your game to the next level this off season.

Another STS College bound kid is Brian Sullivan of BC High. Brian will be playing college football for Massachusetts Maritime Academy (along with Rich Aylward) next season. Brian has been training with me since I opened STS and undoubtedly is the most dedicated athlete I have had. He continues to get bigger, faster, and stronger, and I have no doubt he will be rushing for piles of yardage next year. Good luck next year buddy! Bri is pictured above rushing for one of his many touchdowns.

The Other Side of STS.

Today's post will be all about two of my rock star women clients, Shelley Devane and Kristin Rosano. I have never written about these two on the blog, and they are long overdue for some praise.

Some brief history: Shelley and Kristin began training at STS last summer with Mike. They really enjoyed working with him during his summer bootcamps. When fall hit and it was time for Mike to return to pursue his Marine Corps career, I was worried that the girls would stop coming to workout (most of Mike's clients stopped training with us when he left) since now they would be working with me. I was wrong and they have been training ever since. My biggest mistake in working with the girls is that we have no real benchmarks as far as weight, circumference measurements or before and after photos. The only proof of results is that they continue to be very consistent with their training, they look terrific, and seem to really enjoy working with me. Below is a video of one of their recent training sessions. My biggest regret is that I do not have 15 more clients like the girls, which I hope will change in the near future. Mondays and Thursdays at 6 are my favorite times during the week because I get to spend 60 minutes with these two.




If you are interested in training with me and getting these type of results and doing totally different, fun workouts, contact me at tssullivanjr@gmail.com

Nutrition for Collegiate Student Athletes...and you!

Recently I was hired by the Babson College Hockey program to run 10 strength sessions this spring. Today will be my 3rd session with the team. I wrote up a 7 page manual of a bunch of thoughts on how to make the most of their training for ice hockey. I will publish bits and pieces on the blog because the advice is applicable for people who get to the gym 3-4 times per week.

This is the nutrition section that I wrote and the last piece features how to eat at the dining hall. This advice is also applicable for the lay person looking to eat healthier and build a more impressive physique. Check it out and let me know what you think.


Nutrition

Let’s shift gears a little bit and talk about another huge part of the equation. Nutrition. Nutrition may be as important as training, seriously. Here we go with another list to keep things simple.

1. Drink 1 gallon of water everyday. Water should be your beverage of choice. The occasional Diet Pepsi or coffee is fine. Green Tea is excellent for you, and good old, plain, unflavored water is best.

2. Gatorade, Fruit Juice, High octane soda, Vitamin Water, and the rest of them are rubbish and have no place in a healthy diet except if you enjoy them during competition.

3. Post workout nutrition is critical. You should be having a serving of whey protein immediately post workout with a full, healthy meal within 25 minutes.

4. While we are on the topic of supplements, there are only a few that I recommend. I recommend using 5 grams of creatine pre workout, and another 5 grams post workout. Basic creatine monohydrate is all you need. You don’t need anything named after a snake, crazy goblins, or anything with XXX on the label. The only other stuff I think you need is fish oil. Go to CVS and buy yourself a big bottle of fish oil caps and take 3 with breakfast and 3 with lunch. Personally I like a little caffeine pre-workout in the form of iced coffee with no cream or sugar but this is personal preference only. Sometimes a little boost can go a long way during your tougher sets.

5. When you go home for the summer, your first responsibility is to find a farmer’s market, a fruit stand, or a place to get good quality produce (not stop and shop). Eating produce that is locally grown, seasonal, and free of genetic modification is the healthiest thing you can do for your body. Most times these places will also have nice things like locally laid eggs and flowers for your girlfriend.

6. For your bread products, the only brand I can recommend is Ezekial Bread. It is made from sprouted grains and is full of proteins. White bread, and bread with tons of preservatives and chemicals wreaks havoc on your insides. Recent research has shown that grains in fact are not good for your health. Is whole wheat bread and fruit from stop and shop going to kill you? No, and if this is your only option, that’s fine, I want to present you with what is optimal, whenever possible. Whenever you can, you want fresh stuff without preservatives.

7. You must eat 5-6 times per day (at least 4). Shakes, healthy snacks, and meals count as feedings. If you are trying to gain weight, eat 8 times a day, with something before bed.

8. Keep your shitty eating habits for 3 meals per week. If you want to have a blowout every Sunday where breakfast is pancakes, lunch is a bacon cheeseburger, and dinner is Chinese food, that is fine, or you can spread it out over the week. This planned cheating helps satisfy any cravings you may have. You should try to eat to support your goals 90 percent of the time.

9. Start preparing your own food. This is the healthiest option and a great habit to develop.

10. With all of this in mind, I realize your options and habits will be different when you are on campus. Gordy Trim doesn’t always provide what seem like good options. So here would be my recommendations for eating at Trim.
a. Get out of bed and get to breakfast everyday. If you aren’t willing to do this, nothing else matters. It’s that important. This is an opportunity to get your body jump started with 500-800 quality calories. Scrambled eggs, bacon, two pieces of fruit. NOT cereal, waffles, and bagels.
b. Stay away from pizza and pasta. These are poor choices from Trim. Twice a week max you can have a couple of slices of pizza. Pasta is almost void of nutritional value.
c. Hammer the salad bar. Try to have 2 salads everyday (one with lunch, one with dinner). Use your head. Lettuce soaked in ranch isn’t a good choice. Try different things, the more colors the better.
d. Crush water. Not juice, not soda, not milk. Water.
e. Bring a shake or a bar to class with a handful of nuts or stolen trim fruit if you have 3 classes in a row. Don’t do more than 2.5 hours without eating.

Here is a weekly shopping list for you (or Mom).

Frozen Berries (biggest bag you can find)
Fresh Apples
Box of Clementines
Pile of bananas
Bell Peppers
Onion
Green Leafy stuff that you like (broccoli, spinach, romaine lettuce)
Bag of sliced almonds
Bag of shelled almonds
All natural peanut butter or almond butter (pricey but way better for you)
2 frozen loaves of Ezekial Bread (found in freezer section)
Strawberry Preserves (all natural if possible)
Lean Ground beef for burger patties
Any type of steak (flank or skirt steak is nice and lean)
Boneless chicken breast
Any kind of fresh seafood (must be used that day)
Lean cuts of bacon
2, 18 packs of omega 3 eggs
Chobani Greek Yogurt with fruit on bottom (strawberry, blueberry, and strawberry banana)

TSull has been MIA.

I apologize to anyone following along. I haven't wrote a blog in weeks. I haven't forgotten about the blog, I just really haven't been struck with any topics worthy of writing. I really don't have a set system for the blog, when something strikes me as a potential topic, I write about it. I think I need to start to plan better so I can write more frequently. So today I will just rattle some things off that are on my mind:

1. "You can't out train a shitty diet." I forget where I heard this originally but a lot of fitness pros throw around a variation of this. Recently I have started dialing the diet in because we are fast approaching shirts off season, and with some focus, fat will fall off you. Here are some tweaks I have made.

a. Less booze. I have cut back the frequency of how much I drink and it has made a huge difference. I still have one night where I let the wheels rattle off the bus because I enjoy the hell out of it.

b. Except for Sundays, almost zero grains and starches

Just these two have made a huge difference.

2. A book I read by Nate Green called "Built for Show" may have nailed it. A seasonal approach to training seems to really be paying off for me. I didn't follow Nate's program but I spent the winter with a laser focus on increasing my lifts and really pounding the weights. I cut way back on "cardio" and plyos and watched my weight go up to about 210. As the weather warms up I have added back some conditioning at the end of a lift along with a couple of days per week where I perform fast paced, intense circuits. As my abs start to resurface, I find that I am about 205 lbs and lean. At 200 pounds I think I can get my bodyfat to where I usually am at about 190 or so pounds.

3. As the weather gets nicer, attendance has been up at "Saturday Sweat". Here is some footage from last week's session. If you have been thinking about coming down, here you go:



4. I have been eating "Ezekial Bread" with breakfast for the past couple of weeks and love it. It is made from sprouted grains and is a complete protein. Swap this out for your bread products and you will look and feel better. It can be found in the health section freezer at Stop and Shop, bottom shelf. It is kind of hidden and is in a bright orange package. I think it is on the bottom shelf because its not popular with the general public/land whales.

5. With the weather starting to get nicer, you need to start today building the physique you want to unveil when you take your clothes off. What will people say about you? Because they are definitely judging you.

2010 Spring Session for Middle and High School Athletes

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

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.