After the final bell on any given school day, the weight room is full of students working hard to improve their strength and skills.
The Laker Athletic Center, the fieldhouse that opened this fall on the high school campus, is buzzing with activity this winter as all students are welcome to stop in after school and use the equipment. With the supervision of physical education teacher Seth Hoonhorst, students are showing up for all kinds of reasons – to stay fit in the offseason, or just to stay healthy.
“Strength, speed, and overall athleticism play a massive role in performance across every sport, directly impacting both team success and individual development,” Hoonhorst explained.
Junior Macy Subka, a multi-sport athlete, has taken advantage of the after-school training. She said it helps prepare for basketball in the winter and track and soccer in the spring.
“I liked them because they were planned, whole body workouts, and it helped with endurance,” Subka said.
In the past, coaches faced the challenge of scheduling weight room time and coordinating with athletes to keep up the training in the offseason, Hoonhorst said.
Students aren’t randomly putting weights on and risking their safety, as the new PERCH technology in the weight room provides individualized programming for each student to ensure they are lifting properly. The equipment delivers each athlete’s daily workout directly at the lifting station, tracks their sets, and provides notes on tempo.
Hoonorst said, “With this information, the focus shifts from simply adding weight to emphasizing how quickly and powerfully the bar moves. This approach helps athletes train with true purpose, targeting fast-twitch muscle fibers, improving athleticism, and accelerating strength gains more effectively than traditional ‘grind-it-out’ lifting.”
If you are new to lifting, Hoonhorst recommends enrolling in the Intro to Fitness class. “This course teaches essential lifting fundamentals, proper technique, and the confidence needed to succeed and stay safe in our training environment,” he said.
