Weights class is an essential part of Andale athletes day to day lives. Almost everyone that is out for a sport is involved in at least one weights class per year. The training done in these classes is vital to the growth and development of any athlete’s strength, build, speed and skill at what they do. These student athletes have five days of training that prepares them for any games or events they may have.
For Monday, students in weights will play volleyball to warm up. On the side you will do a bar complex and the box routine. The bar complex we do is the clean complex, which is 5 movements we do with a light bar to improve our form. We also do the box routine, this is 5 jumps we do over or on a box that increases height every box. After we warm up for 20 minutes we go to the weight room. On Monday we do Hang Clean and then on the other side we do Jerk. Then after about 50 seconds we will rotate to either the main lift, a spotter or the lift on the side. Which can range between, dumbbell jerk, rdl’s, ham roller etc. Then after 3 reps we switch sides and do the same rotation but with different workouts.
On Tuesday, we do our warm up card then we do a med-ball workout, after that we will do a squat complex then our push up complex after all these are done. We will play volleyball for a couple minutes if we have time. We then will go into the weight room and do our 2 main lifts, which on Thursday are Squat and Bench. We rotate in the same way we did the day before with about the same time on the clock. One main rule we have is you either go 2 seconds before or 2 seconds after the clock sounds to be on time.
On Wednesday, we will do a circuit style warm up. This consists of mini hurdles, hurdle mobility, box jumps and our vertical test pad. If we get lucky we will get to play volleyball and do our circuit on the side. After this warm up we will go to the weight room. On Wednesday our 2 main lifts are either Rack Clean and Jerk or Floor Clean and Jerk. The same rules apply as all other days. After our main lifts we will do a set of auxiliary lifts where we do 9 reps on each side. These Aux lifts are on a faster clock than usual. We will do aux lifts every day after our main lift and do them until the end of the class.
On Thursday, we will do our change in direction workout. This workout is designed to help with fast twitch muscles and short burst speed. We will do between 6-8 reps of this workout then if we have time we will do a couple games of dodge ball. Once we get into the weight room our 2 main lifts for the day are Incline bench and Front squat. Same rules apply as all other days like our rotation and time limit. We will then move to aux lifts as usual and do as many reps as we can before the end of the class.
On Friday, we will start with a warm-up then move into our long range med-ball workout. This med-ball workout helps build explosiveness, with the 2 most notable throws being underhand forward and overhead back. Once we have finished this warm-up and med-ball workout we will play volleyball with our remaining time. We then go and do our 2 main lifts for the day which are split jerk and hang snatch. These days are usually pretty light on the weight and fairly low rep ranges. Like all other days we do our aux lifts after our main lifts and do them till the end of the hour. We will then clean up any changes we made to the equipment so that the other class can start faster.
Look at Andale Athletics and one thing is clear the consistent success years upon years. You may ask what’s the “secret sauce”, some would argue that being in the weight room day in and day out proves to be just that! Athlete’s who are willing to put in the extra time in the weight room both semesters pays off in the long run. The best thing is that these lifts, exercises, schedule are all prepped by teachers and coaches who are certified and wants what’s best for athletes.
