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Weight Room Upgrade
| “Each day upon entering
the weight room you demonstrate a desire for excellence that makes
you someone special. Special, because few people possess the dedication
and strength of heart required to regularly work hard at something
this difficult. Upon completion of each workout, you can and should
feel proud, for you have just moved one step closer towards reaching
your full potential and the ultimate goal of and being the best you
can be.” — Mike Berry President/Owner of Power-Up USA, Inc. Strength and conditioning has become a focal point for many schools’ athletic programs. By seeing the obvious benefits of having faster, stronger athletes, these schools have created fantastic facilities and added the personnel to meet these demands and stay competitive. Right here in Nebraska, ex-Husker great, Jerry Murtaugh, created the GOAL organization to place strength coaches at the high school level, recognizing this growing trend.
With that said, we have already taken some exciting steps to improve our facility. Over the break, a few of the faculty spent some time knocking down a couple walls to expand into the old woodshop, more than doubling the amount of floor space available. We are also removing the ceiling in the old foyer area to create a more uniform look. Some of the remodeling tasks we have yet to complete include: painting the walls and ceiling, removing the carpeted, plywood floor in the old weight room (giving way to a uniform rubber floor), trimming the rough edges, removing the heating registers and adding a water fountain. And depending on costs, we would like to remove the wall between the old weight room and the equipment room. The second half to creating a fine weight room is the equipment. We have already added a new smith machine, two new free weight benches, two dumbell racks, a full range of dumbells, two more mirrors and accessories. Thank you to all those who donated for this cause–most notably the class of 2006 parents, class of 2003 and parents and the bookstore. Purchasing equipment will have to take place
in stages, depending on needs and cost. A small committee will be
formed to discuss our needs and what will best suit the facility.
A reasonable time line for us to remodel and purchase new equipment
is roughly five years. With the added room and equipment and some
careful planning, we will be able to effectively triple the number
of athletes that can safely train at one time. That is important
for large teams like football, track and field and soccer. In addition,
non-athletes, faculty, staff and monks will be able to use this
facility. Item (qty)
Coach Ridder and I have been running a winter conditioning program for the last few years for those who are interested and Coach requires it for his football players who are not in a winter sport. Jordan Dorsey (‘04), an accomplished track and cross country runner, said it best when he commented, “the season IS the off-season.” Those who spend the time and effort to prepare are the ones who see the most success. When describing the benefits of strength training, I like to use the three “Ps:” PERFORMANCE–reach your potential. Strength training requires regular hard work and student athletes must understand the importance of patience, persistence and proper form. Motivation is key when training for most of the year. If the three Ps are not enough, then hopefully these other incentives will be: Record board: There are eight weight classes for bench, squat and deadlift (est. 2002) 1. Bench press your body weight 10x 1. Bench press your body weight 5x To satisfy all these criteria will be difficult, so it would be nice to reward those who accomplish this with a plaque, certificate and/or a t-shirt. The bottom line is Mount Michael has seen a tremendous amount of athletic success. Just take a look at the east wall in the Palace. With a move to class B and with other schools taking advantage of a strength and conditioning program, it could be easy to fall behind, but we don’t have to. Thank you, Tim Struckman, CSCS P.S. We will have updates on the progress of the weight room every so often,
so visit again and see how we are doing. And also, soon we will post some pictures
of the progress and have some blueprints of at least a couple stages of the
floor plan. And feel free to drop by and take a look for yourself at what is
happening. If you have any questions, I will be more than happy to try to answer
them. |
Here
at Mount Michael, our facility is simply not adequate. The equipment
is falling apart–making it unsafe. Some of it is ergonomically
incorrect–making simple exercises more dangerous than they
should be. The floor is another concern. Over the years it has warped
and formed waves throughout the room. There are even places where
weights have punched a hole in the plywood, making it an unsafe
lifting surface. With limited space in the weight room, we need
equipment to use the space as efficiently as possible and remove
the cumbersome machines. As it was, the weight room could safely
accommodate approximately 12 athletes. 
An
example of what would help fulfill our needs includes:
Now,
the personnel and programs compose the final piece of the puzzle.
Strength and conditioning coaches usually mean an additional annual
expense for schools. Many of you are probably not aware that I am
a certified strength and conditioning coach and have been working
with some of the athletes in more of an informal fashion. I teach
a couple strength classes during the day, but would like to see
Mount Michael make a push towards an official program. It would
not be an additional expense, but would require cooperation with
the coaches. I have already talked with some of them and there seems
to be an interest.