Monthly Archives: July 2010
2nd Place is the 1st Loser
It all began with a long-term goal… CP regular Bill Whitney started his mission to claim the title of “CP’s Fastest Client/Staff Member” by challenging current intern Henry Lau to a 100m footrace. While 9 out of 10 people aware of the race assumed that Henry would win convincingly, Bill claimed a resounding victory despite pulling up lame as he crossed the finish line.
Fast forward 28 days (because Bill needed to wait for his sore hamstring to calm down) to the second step along Bill’s rise to greatness. The setting: Hudson High School track…The competitors: THE Bill Whitney, CP Vice President Pete Dupuis*, and Middlebury College Baseball Player Grant Nishioka…
Here’s a taste of some pre-race interviews:
Once Bill had completed his foam rolling on the side of the track, a full dynamic warm-up, a brief bathroom break, the brutal sacrifice of an innocent goat, and a handful of starts/side-shuffles, it was go-time. This time around, the race was shortened to 60 yards to accommodate three athletes who really have no business sprinting 100% for any other reason than running like a bear is chasing them.
As you can see in real-time, the race came down to a photo finish…
Since freeze-frames don’t lie, you can see that the VP took the victory by roughly the length of a toenail. Bill came through the finish just a fraction of a second behind, with Grant (a 19 year old collegiate athlete, mind you) taking up the rear. However, Grant does earn bonus points for slamming his headband on the ground in disgust and eventually going all Bobby Knight on an innocent hurdle at the conclusion of the video.
* The lesson to take away from this result is that it is ALWAYS a good decision to squat, deadlift, push the prowler on the low-setting, and then consume 20oz of chocolate milk immediately prior to any footrace. ALWAYS.
Travis Dean and Keith Landers Featured in Local Press
Here are a couple of interesting pieces featuring Cressey Performance athletes Travis Dean and Keith Landers and their time spent at CP working towards upcoming baseball seasons.
Newton’s Travis Dean weighs options as Yankees’ pitching draftee
Landers rehabbing repaired shoulder
Braves Trade for America’s Best Girl Scout Cookie Salesman
Most of you know Tim Collins as the CP client who puts in more weekly hours at the gym than the average CP staff member from September through February. However, the Atlanta Braves see him as a strikeout machine (73 K in 42+ IP) who could eventually help them during a pennant run in September if he continues to perform at the level he has to this point in the 2010 season.
So, the young man who previously lived in Blue Jays gear has traded up to a Tomahawk. Tim was part of a 5-player deal which will ultimately send him to Atlanta’s Double-A affiliate, the Mississippi Braves of the Southern League. Be sure to read the ARTICLE outlining the details of the trade and watch the interview with Tim from yesterday afternoon where he sets a new record for the most times saying “you know” in a 4:27 span.
Or, on a more flattering note, JP Ricciardi had some high praise for Tim on Sportscenter shortly when asked about the trade.
Congratulations, Tim.
Three Years of Cressey Performance…
Cressey Performance celebrates the conclusion of three years of making people stronger/healthier/more sore today. While we’re all proud of where we are and how we got here, we realize that it wasn’t without some good luck and the assistance of some true CP supporters. With that being said, some thank-yous are in order…
Thank you to the 22 interns who’ve helped to create an unparalleled training environment. Some of you were here before we discovered the entertainment value of watching interns compete for the best time in our “Intern Death Circuit”, while others were not so lucky…
Whether you were forced to coach in a ridiculous Halloween Costume, or clean up vomit after a new client learned the consequences of pushing the sled on a sticky day in the gym, you all brought a good attitude that our clients have appreciated each and every day. CP wouldn’t be what it is now without your help.
More specifically, thanks to: Kyle Arsenault, Matt Cooney, Danielle DelPonte, Phil Gauthier, Wendy Hering, Chris Howard, Sean Lacey, Eric Lagoy, Sam Lahey, Kevin Larrabbee, Henry Lau, Roger Lawson, Ben Markle, Leon Mullaley, Alex Nash, Kevin Neeld, Matt Nickerson, Chris Pothier, Brian Reddy, Mike Roncarati, Connor Ryan, and last but not least, Brian St. Pierre.
Thank you to Lincoln-Sudbury Regional HS head baseball coach Kirk Fredericks and the first few LS athletes and parents who took a chance on the “new guy in town.” Without your appreciation for the value of strength training for your young athletes, CP may never have stumbled upon the ever-evolving niche of baseball strength & conditioning.
Thank you to the significant others of our CP staff members. You’ve always been understanding of the excessive hours and 6-day workweeks and we can’t emphasize our appreciation enough.
Thank you to the inventor of the HD Flip Cam. Without this device, I never would have been able to relive many of the preposterous antics that have taken place within the confines of CP…
Thank you Brian St. Pierre for all that you did for CP. You set a high standard for professionalism and attention to detail during your 2+ years on staff and you can be sure it did not go unnoticed. Plus, you sold the crap out of the CP Microfleece…
Most importantly, thank you to all of our clients from the past three years. We’ve had the pleasure of seeing over a thousand different faces come through our doors over the past 36 months and your support, feedback, and commitment to training hard makes it fun for us to come to work every day.
There are obviously many individuals I failed to mention here, and I apologize for that. I just want to make sure you know that we appreciate all of the support and are excited about the future of CP.
Again, THANKS!
Feedback from a One-Time Consultation Client
Here at CP, we regularly have visitors in town for One-Time Consultations. Ronell Smith came to us in December of 2009 and was kind enough to share the following feedback regarding his experience…
“The term genius is thrown around far too loosely in every field. But to say that Eric Cressey and Tony Gentilcore are geniuses of the strength training and performance enhancement game is anunderstatement. I’m proof that their programming and philosophy are magical.
Before discovering Eric and CP, I was a 30-something desk jockey whose main concern was being lean while developing bigger arms and a solid chest. High reps and medium weights, however, were getting me nowhere. But after spending an entire weekend reading Eric’s articles on tmuscle.com, I saw the light with his philosophy: Get strong first, and all of my other goals will fall into place.
It made perfect sense. I knew then that Eric was the guy I wanted to design my program.
The two days I spent at CP forever opened my eyes. I learned to stop working out and start training, realized what true intensity meant, and the staff helped me shore up (more like overhaul) the technique on all of my major lifts.
I arrived at CP a 6’5”, 204-pound weakling with a ton of structural issues; I left knowledgeable and confident that I could reach my goals, thanks in part to Eric’s “focus on what people can do, not what they can’t do” approach.
In the few short months since that initial visit, I’ve been blown away by the progress that Eric’s programming has provided. My deadlift and squat are up over 100 pounds, my max-rep pull-ups have gone from zero to eight and my bench is up 33 percent. (See? Magic!)
Most important, however, my posture is no longer Neanderthalish, I’m stronger, faster and leaner than I’ve ever been, and trainers ask me who designs my workout. Not to mention, I feel healthier overall and have the added mobility and stability as proof.
Before CP, I’ve never considered being an online client. But these guys are prompt in answering my questions—and there are many — consistent in providing feedback, including positive reinforcement, and are incredibly easy to work with and fun.
I’ve spent hundreds of hours reading various coaches’ training philosophies and programming — and have even tried several well-known programs over the last year — but none gave me the results that Eric’s has provided.
When friends ask how happy I am with my “personal trainer,” I say two things: (a) What Eric and Tony do is more “life changing” than training and (b) CP is the only facility on earth that I would trust to create my programming.”
Ronell Smith
Orlando, FL