No pain, no gain for high school athletes
In January, soon after St. John's 2013 football season concluded, Norton took up powerlifting. He won a meet in February with a 457-pound back squat, but he told his trainer, Ryan Cormier, he wasn't satisfied.
"We were talking and I said I'm not happy with the way I look, I'm not happy with the way I'm performing," said Norton, St. John's starting middle linebacker. Norton and Cormier, a coach at CrossFit EXP in Leominster, designed a crossover program for Norton that includes some powerlifting, some football training and some metabolic conditioning elements, as well as a nutrition component. At 5-foot-9, 214 pounds, Norton has shed 26 pounds since starting the new program, but hasn't lost any of his strength. He recently performed a personal-best dead lift of 507½ pounds.
"I feel so much better," Norton said. While exclusively powerlifting, Norton weighed as much as 240 — "I thought I could eat whatever I wanted," he said. Now, his diet includes a lean protein and green vegetable at every meal. (He has treated himself to a couple of cones at Somerset Creamery, one of Cape Cod's best ice cream spots. It is summer after all).
Norton has been going to CrossFit EXP since it opened four years ago. His workouts this summer are more intense, he said, as he gets ready for the rigors of the football season. "Sam's program helps him all around," CrossFit EXP owner Patrick Lyden said, "with strength, conditioning, stamina, endurance, speed, agility, quickness, power — all the things he needs for football. This gets him more than prepared."
"In years past a summer of video games and donuts would catch up with you," Norton said, "and you're throwing up after doing the first set of wind sprints. Those days are gone. If you show up and you're doing that, you're simply just not going to play."
Check out the full article in the Telegram
WORKOUT Of the DAY:
STRENGTH: None.
WOD: [ Pair of 7’s ]
With a partner complete:
7 min AMRAP at each w/ 1min rest between stations:
10' Tire Drag (90/45)= 1pt
Calorie Row
Wt Sit Ups (53/35)
Double Unders
Team Training: Active recovery day.
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