Quote of the Day 3/17/08

"Good luck is a residue of preparation."

-Jack Youngblood

-Pro Football Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 3/14/08

"I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying."

-Michael Jordan

-Basketball Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 3/13/08

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

-Wayne Gretzky

-Hall of Fame Hockey Player

Quote of the Day 3/12/08

"If you're a champion, you have to have it in your heart."

-Chris Evert

-Tennis Champion

Quote of the Day 3/11/08

"Sport and life is about losing. It's about understanding how to lose."

-Lynn Davies

-Olympic Gold Medalist

Quote of the Day 3/10/08

"Bravery is believing in yourself, and that thing nobody can teach you."

-El Cordobes

-Famous Matador

Ullucci Sports Medicine Minute Episode #1

This is the first episode of the Ullucci Sports Medicine Minute which airs on the program Varsity Life on Cox Channel 3 in Rhode Island.

Quote of the Day 3/7/08

"My biggest opponent has been the injuries."

-Michael Chang

-Tennis Champion

Quote of the Day 3/6/08

"Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise."

-Kobe Bryant

-NBA All-Star

Quote of the Day 3/5/08

"If you're afraid of losing, then you darn't win."

-Bjorn Borg

-Tennis Champion

New Ullucci Sports Medicine Web Page

We are proud to anounce our new and improved website. www.risportsmed.com. We have updated information and videos. Check it out and see what we are about.

Quote of the Day 3/4/08

"If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.

-Yogi Berra

-Baseball Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 3/3/08

"I'm not a role model. Just because I dunk a Basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids."

-Charles Barkley

-NBA Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 2/29/08

"I think someone should explain to the child that it's ok to make mistakes. That's how we learn when we compete, we make mistakes."

-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

-NBA Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 2/28/08

"Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence."

-Vince Lombardi

-Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach

Quote of the Day 2/27/08

"Winners, I am convinced, imagine their dreams first. They want it with all their heart and expect it to come true. There is, I believe, no other way to live."

-Joe Montana

-Pro Football Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 2/26/08

"Life is about obstacles, endeaveors in life are not to be overlooked."

-Wade Boggs

-Baseball Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 2/25/08

"Forget about goals. Value the process."

-Jim Bouton

Quote of the Day 2/22/08

"It's not how fast you get there, but how long you stay."

-Patty Berg

-A founding member of the Ladies Professional Golf Assoc.

Ullucci Weightlifters Compete & Win at Atlantic States Open

On February 17th Myself and on of the Lifters I have help train competed at the Atlantic States Open Championships in Lynn, MA. The lifter whom I am the second coach for is Brian Partington and he competed in his first ever Olympic Weightlifting Competition. He placed first in the 56 kg weightclass. He was able to successfully lift all three of his Snatch attemps and all three of his Clean & Jerks to go six for six. Going six for six is quite an accomplishment for any weightlifter in competition but to do it in your first meet is truely remarkable. Also Brian cam 3 kg away from qualifiying for the Collegeiate National Championships. Brian is a student at Bridgewater State College and is currently competing for their club team. I competed in the 105+ Kg weightclass. Although the class was depleated because many of the lifters skipped this competition to prepare for the US Nationals in a little over a week. I posted my lowest total in competition to date but was able to lift just enough to take the 105+ first place trophy.

I was very pleased and excited for Ullucci Weightlifting Clubs first competition under my tutalige. I hope that these championships are just the start of many. If you are interested in lifting for Ullucci Weightlifting please email me a jprice@risportsmed.com.

Next up for the Ullucci Weightlifters is a competiton on April 13th at Sacred Heart University in Conneticut.



Picture at the right is of Brian Partington in the rack position of his final clean of the day. He is a 56kg lifter and finished with a Personal Record 68 kg Clean and Jerk. Which is almost 1 1/4x Brian's body Weight.

Quote of the Day 2/21/08

"One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes."

-Benjamin Disraeli

-Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Quote of the Day 2/20/08

" The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within ourself - the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us - that's where it's at."

-Jesse Owens

-4x Olympic Gold Medalist

Quote of the day 2/19/08

"The superior man blames himself. The inferior man blames others."

-Don Shula

-Hall of Fame NFL Coach

Quote of the Day 2/15/08

"If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."

-Jim Valvano

-Famed College Basketball Coach

Quote of the Day 2/14/08

"Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination."

-Voltaire

-French Writer and Philosopher

Quote of the Day 2/13/08

"Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time."



-Arnold H. Glasow

Quote of the Day 2/12/08

"What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110 percent all the time."

-Don Zimmer

-Long time Baseball Player and Manager

Quote of the Day 2/11/08

"Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something."

-Morihei Ueshiba

-Founder of the Martial Art of Aikido

Do I Need to Supplement with Protien?

A question I get a lot with the individuals I work with is this, “Should I take a Protein shake?” . Adding supplements to ones diet has gotten out of control. People are supplementing when they don’t need to and people that need to don’t. There are so many different types of supplementation out their it can be confusing even to the professionals. A lot of times we get away from the basics of nutrition and make things much more difficult than they need to be.

Being that this is a strength and conditioning newsletter and protein is the building block of muscle, we will focus on it. Now lets get simple, the Recommended Daily allowance for protein is .8g per kg of body weight. To figure out your body weight in kg divide your bodyweight in pounds by 2.2 and this gives you your weight in kgs. So for the average 200 pound person you would need roughly 73g of protein a day. Now some people achieve this and some don’t. So to make it simple you need to follow your diet by writing down everything you take in over the course of the day. When possible take down the serving size information from the food packaging. If you don’t know that information do a google search for “nutritional information of food” and several sites will come up that will give you info on the nutritional composition of food. Then total up the grams of protein you are taking in. Do you meet the recommended allowance, are you under or over. Now .8g per kg of Body weight is the allowance for the average person. If you are an athlete or an active adult you need to increase that amount to 1.2-1.7b per kg of BW. Take that same 200 pound person and they will need a range of about 108-155 g of protein.

So do the math, track your diet, and answer your question. If you are not getting enough protein and you are an athlete or active adult then yes you may want to consider protein supplementation. If you are getting enough through your diet alone than you don’t need to supplement with protein. Yes, it is that simple.

Quote of the Day 2/8/08

"What does it take to be a champion? Desire, dedication, determination, concentration and the will to win."

-Patty Berg

-Founding Member of the LPGA Tour and winner of 60 events

Quote of the Day 2/7/08

"If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can."



-Ivan Lendl



-Tennis Champion and Former World #1 Ranked Player

Quote of the Day 2/6/08

"Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you."

-Arnold Palmer

-Golf Champion and winner of 7 Major Titles

Quote of the Day 2/5/08

"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success."

-Dale Carnegie

-Writer and Famous for Lectureing and writing on self improvement

Quote of the Day 2/4/08

"Success is a lousy Teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose."

-Bill Gates

-Founder of Microsoft & One Rich Dude

Quote of the Day 2/1/08

"There are no shortcuts in life. Only those we imagine."

-Frank Leahy

-College Football Hall of Fame Coach from Boston College and another Jesuit College in the Midwest

Quote of the Day 1/31/08

"A winner is someone who recognizes his god-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals."

-Larry Bird

-Basketball hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 1/30/08

"It is always possible to improve."

-Bill Toomey

-1976 Olympic Decathlon Gold Medalist

When Parenting and Sports Goes Wrong

My wife called me this morning to tell me about a story she watched on "Good Morning American". This story was about a father who gave his son a cocktail of performance enhancing drugs as early as the age of 13 to aid in his son's persuit of being a champion speed skater.

As a new parent myself I can't wait for my daughter to participate in sports. Both my wife and myself both grew up on participating in Athletics and being a part of a team. We both agree that the experiences we had while playing sports growing up help shape us into who we are. We can't wait for our daughter to have those same experiences.

Now, I have to be honest when I say that I can't wait to share with my daughter everything I have learned about performance enhancement. We all think our children have the potential to get college scholarships, be a champion, make it to the pros, etc. But, there are healthy and non healthy ways to go about it.

Here at Ullucci Sports Medicine I work with many youth athletes and some of them want to be here and some are here because of pressure from Mom and Dad. But, What I notice is that most of these athletes are over training and most of them don't have the time to be a kid. Now, I fully understand that to excel at a sport it takes hours of dedication and practice. But, kids these days are participating in the same sport year round. There is no diversity and no "off season". When people think about rest they think of a negative impact on training. But, it should be though of as a positive impact. If you coach or if you are a parent think about how much time you put into focusing on rest. Not much time. Coaches you probably think 4 and 5 times as much on what to do in practice than what you instruct the kids to do when they are not practicing or on a off day. Think about it do you focus on rest and what to do on a day off at all?

Rest or Off season should be viewed as a period of Active Rest. Even on days off active rest should be emphisised. Time off or an offseason athletes need to be active. They should go for a easy jog or play a different sport. For example if you are a soccer player. Instead of spending your off day working on foot skills or going for a distance run to stay in shape. Play some basketball or go for a swim. This will work other muscles and help you from falling into a rut of over training.

Now, what does this have to do with the dad who gave his child performance enhancing drugs. Simple, RECOVERY!!!! Young athletes don't take the time to recover. They just go and go and go. We have to remember they are YOUNG ATHLETES not professionals. They are going to school, doing homework, doing stuff around the house, and some may even hold a part time job. Add thoses stresses with the practice and training time. When do they sleep and when do they recover. Burnout hits many athletes when they reach high school and this can have a negative impact on their whole life not just there life as an athlete. These athletes will look to rebel. They will lose intrest in not just their sports but in school, socializing and etc. They become withdrawwn and can show signs of depression. Think about what got you involved in sports as a kid. It was fun, it was to be part of a team, and it was how you built confidence in yourself. As a parent or coach you may not outwardly pressure your kids to win or get a scholarship or be the best. But, kids are not dumb they have instincts that you and I have lost. They read people extremely well. So they will sense the need to win they will sense the need to be the best. A quote by Paul Brown the former coach of the Cleveland Browns was this:

"You can learn a line from winning and a book from losing."

As a coach and a parent it is your responsibility to teach kids the life lessons from athletic because they won't understand some of their feelings. Be a guide to them. Don't push your feelings or your needs on them. Help them understand that losing is a disapointment. Teach them that winning is great success and that it shows that good things come from hard work. Help them learn that sometimes you can work hard and prepare well but sometimes you just fall short and that is ok as long as you gave your very best. These are just some of the lessons to be learned from athletics. Athletics are supposed to build character not destroy it.

I think about this family and how this father has destroyed this family and this young athlete's future in his sport. It is just a terrible sign of were we are heading as a society. To learn more about this story this is the link: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/ESPNSports/story?id=4211036&page=1

Quote of the Day 1/29/08

" More men fail through lack of purpose than lack of talent."

-Billy Sunday

- 19th Century Baseball Player

Quote of the Day 1/28/07

"Practice puts brains in your muscles."

-Sam Snead

-7x Major Tournament Champion in Golf

Quote of the Day 1/25/08

"Only fools live in the past or carry envy to the present."

-Chi Chi Rodriguez

-World Golf Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 1/24/08

"My past is my wisdom to use today... my future is my wisdom yet to experience. Be in the present because that is where life resides."

-Gene Oliver

-Former Major Leaguer

Quote of the Day 1/23/08

"Cuase there's only one reason for doing anything that you set out to do. If you don't want to be the best, then there's no reason going out and trying to accomplish anything."

-Joe Montana

-Pro Football Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 1/22/08

"It's just a matter of understanding what's necessary and discipline yourself to do it."

-Arthur Lydiard

-lauded as one of the outstanding Track coaches of all time & credited with popularizing jogging for non track competitors

Quote of the Day 1/21/08

"If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it."

-Ronnie Lott

-College & Pro Football Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 1/18/08

"Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional."

-Chili Davis

-Former Major League Baseball Player & 3x All-Star and World Series Champion

Quote of the Day 1/17/08

"A champion is someone who gets up when he can't."

-Jack Dempsey

-Boxing Heavyweight Champion 1919-1926

Quote of the Day 1/16/08

"Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."

-Winston Churchill

-Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII

Quote of the Day 1/15/08

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

-John Wooden

-Basketball Hall of Famer as Coach and Player

Quote of the Day 1/14/08

"Hard work has made it easy. that is my secret. That is why I win."

-Nadia Comaneci

-5x Olympic Gold Medalist

Quote of the Day 1/11/08

"Life is very interesting if you make mistakes."

-Georges Carpentier

-Boxing Light Heavyweight Champion 1920-22

Quote of the Day 1/10/08

"There is a syndrome in sports called "Paralysis by Analysis"."

-Arthur Ashe

-Tennis Champion

Quote of the Day 1/9/08

"A winning effort begins with preparation."

-Joe Gibbs

-Hall of Fame Football Coach

Quote of the Day 1/8/08

"You can learn a line from a win and a book from a defeat."

-Paul Brown

-Football Hall of Fame Coach

Revelations on Resolutions

Happy New Year!!!!

2008 is well underway and most people set New Years Resolutions to kick of the year. But, setting resolutions is not necessarily the best way to kick of a year. Lets be honest a large majority of all resolutions never are completed. Whether its to start working out, eat right, stop eating fast food, lose 20 pounds, or etc. we set resolutions to start the year of right. Now, I ask how is it setting the year off right by setting a resolution which we most likely will not be able to stick too? Does this not set the year of on a bad note when you break down and miss a workout, eat that donut, gain 2 pounds, or drive thru Micky D's.

So my suggestion is to set goals. Have some short term goals and some longer term goals. If your goal is to lose 20 pounds have a goal to be losing between 3-6 pounds in January and Ten by March and the full twenty by the end of June. If it is beginning a new workout regiment start slow and build. Most workout plans fail because of people starting out to hard to fast and either injury or fatigue kicks in and the compliance to the plan fizzles. Plan on working out two to three times a week for 45 min then build. For any resolution there can be a goal set. Goal setting is a valuable method to changing your lifestyle and succeeding in making the changes that seem like a great idea leading up to the New Year but once the New Year arrives execution may be hard than thought.

After setting Goals you should have a reward system. Now when I say reward system that does not mean if your goal is to stop eating donuts and you make it a month go and get a donut. A reward system should be something you want to do or have than is a luxury to you. For short term goals have something simple like buying some new clothes or a CD or DVD. For the long term goals splurge on a day at a spa or going away for the weekend.

Goal setting is a rewarding method to achieve the resolutions in the New Year. But, what is more rewarding is seeing your hard work pay off and sticking to goals and changing your lifestyle.

Quote of the Day 1/7/2008

"People who live in the past generally are afraid to compete in the present. I've got my faults, but living in the past is not one of them. There's no future in it."

-Sparky Anderson

-Baseball Hall of Fame Manager & first Manager to win World Series with a team from both the NL & AL

Quote of the Day 1/4/08

"Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play."

-Mike Singletary

-Pro Football Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 1/3/08

"Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory."

-Bill Russell

-Basketball Hall of Famer