A Wall of Fame for the Strength Room.

A way to motivate your strength builders both academically and athletically

ANYONE LOOKING FOR A way to motivate and honor the hard-working kids in the weight room will be interested in the way it is done at Rich South High School.

The idea isn't exactly new, but it remains a stimulating way to motivate your students both academically and athletically. At least the way we go about it.

Our Wall of Fame is composed of seven different clubs, with specific criteria for each. Upon meeting the required standards, the athlete is awarded a T-shirt that identifies his accomplishments and salutes him as a club member. He has his picture taken and mounted on the Wall of Fame.

The criteria for the seven clubs are as follows:

Bronze: Bench-press 50 lbs. over your body weight, with perfect form and proper technique, keeping the feet on the floor, the bar touching the chest in the descent phase, and the arms fully extended at the conclusion of the press phase.

Silver Club: Bench-press 75 lbs. over your body weight, using perfect form and technique.

Gold Club: Bench-press 100 lbs. following the aforementioned procedure.

1,000 Lb Club: Collectively lift 1,000 lbs. with four designated lifts--bench, squat, hang clean, and military press.

Bench: Same bench technique as previously mentioned.

Squat: Use classic squatting form, maintaining a head-up position with straight back and feet shoulder-width apart, with thighs relatively parallel to the floor.

Note: Students must wear a back belt and wrap their knees whenever squatting more than 50 lbs. over their body weight. They must also have two spotters, one at each end of the bar.

Military Press: Sit in the upright position, with the bar held at mid-sternum and press up to a complete extension.

Hang Clean: Let weight hang momentarily at mid thigh prior to the descent phase. Then bend knees, lowering the weight and keeping it close to the shins. Then shoulder-shrug the weight up with a rapid wrist flick, clearing the weight to chest support level.

Twenty Times Club: Bench-press your body weight 20 times, using perfect form and technique. Feet must remain on the floor, bar must touch the chest on each descent phase, and arms must achieve complete extension on each press phase. A steady rhythm must be established and the movement must be continuous, displaying muscular endurance.

1.5 Club: Bench-press one and a half times your body weight five times, following the same procedure as in the Twenty Times Club.

Academic Honor Roll Club for Varsity Athletes: based on a 5.0 cumulative grade point system.

Gold Club: 4.0 to 5.0

Silver Club: 3.5 to 3.99

Bronze Club: 3.0 to 3.49

The honor clubs recognize achievement in both the classroom and weight room-an outstanding tool with which to motivate academic achievement among the athletes.

Note: Safety should always be observed and students should be encouraged to follow the safety expectations established by the school. Spotters should always be available when the students are attempting Wall of Fame status.

Students should be encouraged to wear the appropriate weight-training clothing and protective gear such as back belts, knee wraps, wrist straps, and gloves.

We recommend that only one or two coaches oversee and record the efforts while maintaining a high level of consistency and impartiality.

                          EXAMPLE: 1,000 LB. CLUB
Bench          225
Squat          425
H. clean       175
M. press       175
Total    1,000 lbs