Weight Training is a class offered during normal school hours at PHS. The weight room is also open after school for anyone. To get started you don’t need much: just some workout clothes and a workout attitude. But now things have been taken a step further.
Coach Steve Smith and Mr. Justin Smiley have formed a club aimed toward football players for the upcoming season. The idea is to make sure everyone is constantly working out, while maintaining organization. It brings the members together for more than a club, but as a team.
Sophomore John Mitchell said the club is full of members that show “hard work, dedication, and encouragement, a lot of encouragement.”
Each day members will work on one of three different core lifts: push, pull, or legs. Members will be assigned to groups depending on the color of their workout card, not only for organization, but for support and encouragement.
Although the group is aimed toward football players for the upcoming season, anyone may join the club, including ladies. Female participants will have a slightly altered routine though. No matter what a member is in the club for, their progress all comes down to one moral.
“The weight training club is meant for people who want to work hard and get big,” said sophomore Bryant Weaver. “The harder you work, the more results you’ll see.”
Everyone has their own reasons for joining the club and everyone has their own their own abilities. Myron Buchanan, known in the club for shouting “Get Money!”, said, “It’s good, it just needs more Myron, because I hype it up and spice it up.”
On the members’ first attendance day, they are encouraged to max out. Every eight weeks, students will max again, so they may observe their progress. Because of these groups and maxes, students are only allowed to be absent a few days. Too many absences will result in a temporary suspension that will last five days. Upon return, if more absences toward a student is marked, then they will be permanently suspended from the club. “Suspension does not mean you may not attend the weight room, it just means you may not workout with the club members,” Smiley said.
The three main core lifts involve auxiliaries which help to focus on each muscle even more.
Push: The main objective in push is to work your shoulders, chest, and triceps. On the day students are assigned push, students will start with a bench press and an incline. After that students will expand their workout with auxiliary lifts.
Pull: The main objective in pull is to work your shoulders, back and biceps. On the days of pull, students will perform hang-clings and shrugs. The expansion for pull involves the use of dumbbells or free weights, and pull-ups.
Legs: Obviously, the name pretty much sums up what muscles you’ll be working on. Leg exercises focus on squatting. The auxiliary lifts for legs will work the calves and the thighs.
The club officially starts at 2:30 p.m., although stretches begin at about 2:20 p.m. Most groups will finish their workout at about 3:30 p.m., and at that point in time, students are free to leave or stay to continue working out. The weight room will close at 4 p.m.
