I don't know I just liked this

This was sent to me in an e-mail today by my good friend Brett Maloley. I think about this everyday when I read the paper or watch Fox News, MSNBC, or CNN and see the ridiculous things people complain about these days. One example being that schools across the country are implementing a "no touching" rule. Little kids are being sent home and suspended from elementary school for hugging their friend or playing tag. I don't know about you but I got married in 4th grade to Lauren Foster and we kissed on the playground, I mean I think today that would cancel my right to an education. Anyway, here is the article and then a little something after that relates it to training. 

This is for everyone born in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's and early 80's

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing...that's why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times,we learned to solve the problem.  We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. If YOU are one of them? CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents are. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

I thought about how this would relate to what we do here in the gym and came up with this. Throw yourself into a workout with reckless abandon. When we were kids, the thought of falling out of a tree didn't cross our minds we climbed it because we had to be the one that got to the top first. Or we would broad jump over brooks risking broken ankles or worse, getting our new sneakers wet and muddy in which case Mom would break your ankle anyway. Looking back on the stupid shit we did now is so fun and I think the same applies to the gym.  Get out of the mindset of thinking about what the repercussions are going to be. Yeah doing 8 broad jumps in a row sucks at the time but you can look back and see that it helped you or even that it was fun. Besides, what else is working out besides a longing and striving to stay young. Every single one of my clients works their ass off when they get in here which is very rewarding to see and I hope we all continue to be kids at heart in here. 

Week 3

As week three of the program gets underway I am pleased to say that I have seen marked improvements in nearly all of my clients. The girls are doing real push ups...something we will continue to work on. Something else we will continue to work on is pull ups. Pull ups are an important benchmark in fitness. If you can't pull yourself over a bar at least 5 times then there is clearly an imbalance in your body. Balance in the body is something of paramount importance, if you can press more weight than you can pull you are likely to develop some kind of back pain. 

Also something that we haven't really been stressing is leg strength. I am going to dedicate a lot of this weeks exercises to building up some strength to the lower half of your body. Which will mean you're really going to have to dig deep on the conditioning exercises. 

Overall, everyone is doing great, keep pushing yourself, and remember "the only easy day was yesterday" - One of the Moto's of BUDs training

First Week

Last week was the first official week of the "Combat Conditioning" classes here at Sullivan Training Systems. For all the clients who came out and really got after it, nice job. I think every night went well and everyone really pushed themselves. 

That is going to be the key to this program is pushing yourselves. I can't make anyone do 15 rounds of a circuit in 20 minutes. I can try and push you verbally but ultimately its going to come down to the individual challenging themselves. I know that people come here to work out and get a sweat in, not to train for war but I often ask myself throughout the day while training the athletes that come to Tom's summer program, "why not think that way?" The ability to push yourself beyond your preconceived limit is something that can be learned and harvested in a gym, and is a skill or I guess, mental state of mind that will transcend into every facet of life.  Working hard at fitness is not just for steak heads and iron man athletes. It is something everyone can benefit from what worth doing in life doesn't require you to be mentally tough? Literally the only difference between the regular gym goer and the people in the fitness magazines is the the later two are mentally tougher than the people who quit when they think they've reached their limit. 

All that being said, that is what I mean when I say "push yourself" during the sessions. I want everyone who walks through our doors to reach their goals, and what Tom and I do is point and coach people in the right direction, its the individual who has to take it the next step. So now that it is midway through the second week great job last week, lets make this one even better. 

Tabata/ Techno Tuesday

Last night was a poor showing for the first ever night of combat conditioning at Sullivan Training Systems. Only Rory Walsh had the balls to show up on a Monday night, so that means the toxic shit you put in your body only sat in there for one more day, rather than sweating it out. No worries we'll take care of that. I anticipate a big turn out for the second session tonight and if anyone is reading this then get ready for a night of tabata sets. See you guys in a few hours ready to work.