First off, I want to apologize for the delay since our last newsletter.  Since the high baseball playoffs and school year ended, the athletes have practically been kicking the doors to the gym down!  Of course, I’m not one to shy away from a motivated athlete – and to that end, I’ve brought work home with me as well.  Right now, a member of the US Skeleton Team is crashing on my couch for the week while she gets some training in here in Boston!  Toss in the final edits and photo shoot on our book deal with Avalon Publishing (to be released early next year), and it’s shaping up to be a busy summer.  But, the Cressey Performance Newsletter show must go on – even if it means I’m sending it out on a Sunday afternoon!

Congratulations to Kevin Scanlan

Cressey Performance athlete Kevin Scanlan of Lincoln-Sudbury capped off his state championship year by winning the Massachusetts State Player of the Year from the Boston Globe.  Additionally, Kevin was selected to the Boston Herald All-Scholastic team, and has been named a Louisville Slugger All-American Honorable Mention.  Kevin finished the season 12-0 with nine shutouts and 0.14 ERA – and he’s already hard at work preparing for fall-ball at the University of Maine.

The Lincoln-Sudbury baseball team finished the year at 26-1 with a #6 ranking in USA Today East Region.

Muscle Gaining Secrets

Given my crazy schedule, I think I might be the last guy in the world to review Jason Ferruggia’s newest product after he sent it my way last week, but I wanted to throw Jay a quick thumbs-up on a job well done.  Muscle Gaining Secrets is a product that absolutely every beginning lifter should be required to own.  When I think back on all the money and time I wasted on silly supplements, garbage muscle magazines, worthless exercises, and terrible training programs, I can’t help but want to beat my head against a wall.  Among the items I liked the most about Jay’s e-book and the several accompanying bonuses:

-Easy-to-understand approach to carb cycling

-Very thorough Q&A

-Good individualization for those everyone from the absolute beanpoles to those who tend to store fat easily

-Cuts through a ton of supplement hype and tells you which few are worthwhile

-Excellent Interview with Keith Scott about preventing and correcting imbalances

-Fantastic Interview with Jim Wendler on everything from training techniques, to programming strategies, to attitude adjustments

Jay includes a ton of sample programming and a straightforward approach to explaining the why and how instead of just the “what.”  If you’re just getting started and are in need of direction – or you’re trying to get from that intermediate to advanced stage – this e-book is a great option for you.

Muscle Gaining Secrets

Perform Better Tour Wrap-up

Last Sunday marked the final stop on the 2007 Perform Better Tour: Providence, Rhode Island.  It was a great opportunity to catch up with various friends in the industry and dozens of longtime readers.  I want to take this moment to thank everyone who made the trip out for my speaking engagements in Atlanta, Chicago,and Providence.  Chris Poirier and the Perform Better crew earn my highest praise for putting on some tremendous events with outstanding attention to detail.  I highly recommend you checking out the tour next year; I know that I can’t wait to go back on the road with it!

Also on the Seminar Front…

I’ll be giving a one-day program design workshop at Equinox in New York City on Sunday, July 22nd.  Limited spots are available, so don’t delay in contacting Geralyn Coopersmith for more information at Geralyn.Coopersmith@equinoxfitness.com.  Hope to see you there!

New Article and Contribution

For those of you who aren’t looking to pack on slabs of muscle, here are a few other options for you:

Weight-Room Movements for Cyclists: Part 3 (by me)

You Can’t Run in These, Girl! (great review of what high heels do to your body, by Yael Grauer)

We’ve also been updating daily with the blog at www.EricCressey.Blogspot.com, so be sure to check in frequently for Q&A, updates, training videos, and random diatribes!

All the Best,

EC