Thomas Welch, Reporter
@twelchcourant
The new changes made to the school fitness center have vastly improved the originally bland room. Though they are quite new, it’s made a big impact on the school community, on the athletics and sports teams and on regular students. The change actually begun outside of the room – the first change made was the flooring surrounding the area. It replaced the standard tile with the adding used in the fitness center. The operation was overseen by Athletic Director Jay Egan.
“The rubber floor has allowed us to use that whole space for the entire winter for dynamic warm-ups. It’s half an inch of rubber on top of the tile floor, which by itself had really no shock absorption and no traction,” said Egan. “That’s one big advantage that we’re not as focused in on as we should be.”
It helped teams like soccer, with captain Julia Ozimek, and track & field, with captain Alex Urbahn. Both teams, among others, use the hall to warm up or jump rope out of the way of those using the fitness center.
“We always warm up in the hall, and the new flooring gives us a better grip than the tiles,” said Ozimek. “It’s helped us with our footwork and our agility.”
“It’s been huge, especially for core workouts. We can’t run outside when the weather is bad, and we don’t have an indoor track to use,” said Alex. “Being able to do striders down the hallway and warm up our legs a bit, even on days when you can’t get outside, has been really useful, especially before meets.”
The opportunity presented by the new slam balls, jump ropes, and kettlebells has brought even more students in during their free time, no longer just athletes. Fitness Center Supervisor Thomas Brown and Assistant Football Coach Jason Miska, who are both often in the room, have noticed changes in the attendance and areas of focus.
“From 2:30 to 5:30, we have anywhere from 75 to 80 students or student athletes working out in here at the same time,” said Brown. “We have 3 or 4 different lifting groups at a time, but we also have kids coming in on their own to get a workout in. We have about as many female athletes as we do male athletes, which is really important and great to see.”
“With the new equipment we’ve brought in, we’ve implemented a lot of band series workouts. The kettle-bells have improved movements with hip swings, and slam balls have helped with workouts involving that equipment,” said Coach Miska. “The new bars and clips also help to get more kids working out at once, so groups of 36 are able to fully integrate all of their movements and training due to what we have to offer in here.”
The dumbbells are a vast improvement from the previous ones. Every team that has used them has noticed the benefits of having newer weights, and more of them. One of the most of the most noticeable changes is the weights and Olympic bars, along with their corresponding benches. All new Rogue benches have been put in place, as well as new Olympic bars and color-coded weights. This offers a more convenient experience, as well as a safer one.
“Before, we would mostly have to go to the YMCA to do our workouts, because there was only one set of weights. It’s made it a lot easier for us to get in as a team, especially with football and other teams in here. Now everyone has weights and space to use them,”said Urbahn. “With the freshman, it’s helped to be able to get them on the bench press, which we weren’t able to do before. Having the newer bars and plates have made it a lot easier to get more kids in and get the work done quicker.”
“With the old barbells, we had clips that were bent and broken. If it wasn’t perfectly balanced, a plate could slide off, and it had happened a couple of times. The bolts holding the dumbbells together were falling apart and had to be constantly tightened,” said Supervisor Brown. “The new dumbbells are a single molded piece, so it’s better safety-wise.
“With having heavier weights and more equipment, some of the less-experienced kids can look onto those who are familiar with the items and understand the proper way to exercise and the proper form. It helps a lot with safety and injury prevention, making sure they have proper form and others to look onto,” said Miska.
Along with the changes came the student response. So far, it’s been very positive, with more students coming in to use the fitness center every day. A handful have given great feedback as to their experience.
“It’s sent a message to the students that the fitness center is something that is really important to coaches and other staff involved in athletics here at the high school,” said Director Egan. “It’s energized them, and sent the message that it’s an important part of the school, and an important part of their development.”
“It’s new and it’s shiny, and everyone loves something new and shiny. The colored plates give the room some color, and we replaced the broken-down dumbbells. Everybody comes in a feels better about the place, and it gives it a little sparkle,” said Brown.
“The color-coded plates allow for easier identification of weights and are much more stable on the bar,” said Ozimek.
“The team as a whole as developed a new intensity and excitement. With that new feel in the area, it’s driven everyone and added an excitement to the lifting,” said Football captain Quintin O’Connell. “It’s too bad the lacrosse team doesn’t lift in this spot. It’s an incredible thing to have in the school. With the new equipment, maybe change could come and the team would start lifting here, which as a lacrosse player I’d love to see. I think these changes could help move that process along.”
“It’s kind of like an arms race. Everything starts at the pro level, which trickles down to universities, which you see mimicked in high schools. St. Joe’s just built a $1.5 million athletic center, and Trumbull is also looking to make some changes,” said Coach Miska. “It’s important, and if you want athletes competing at a higher level, you have to challenge them. The more equipment you can use and the more movements they can do, it can open their minds and bodies to perform more athletic movements.”
One detail that often goes unnoticed was where the old equipment went. Coach Miska was with the football team while they helped with Harding athletes to move the equipment onto a truck.
“My dad coached at Harding, and my grandfather coached there for 30 years, so I have a great relationship with Coach Santiago and other people there. We went this summer and trained with them one day, and saw their facility wasn’t quite up to some of the equipment we have,” said Miska. “I talked to Mr. Egan and some other coaches about helping out a school that doesn’t necessarily have the same resources we do. I talked to Coach Santiago and he said it would be great, so one day they came up with about 10 of their kids and some coaches. We had 15 of our own boys and some more coaches, so we just loaded it up onto the trucks and vans, and they were very appreciative. It was cool seeing the kids to work together to get some of this heavy equipment out of here.”
Though there has already been a lot of progress made, a number of aspects in the room, including unused machinery and worn benches, can still be improved on.
“We will continue to work on renovating the cardio equipment. The area of functional training is something we’re going to continue to expand on,” said Egan. “We feel like that’s something we can do in season with our athletes and something that’s important to the athletes.”
“Around the leg press, there’s a lot of stuff that isn’t primarily used, if at all, by most teams, including track. All of those machines could be newer and the space could be better utilized,” said Urbahn. Better treadmills and running equipment would help the team a lot when we can’t practice outside. A long run treadmill would be great and some newer ellipticals would be good.”
Regardless of change, the room will always serve as a place for athletes and regular students alike to better themselves and take advantage of this opportunity. Mr. Brown finished with a heartfelt comment on the diligence of the athletes. “I’m really proud of the fact that we’ve had very few injuries in here. For the amount of students coming in and out of the room, it’s remarkable. Maybe we’re lucky, or maybe it’s our consciousness of safety, but maybe it’s hard work.”
