Weighing your options: what every prospective strength training facility should know. (Facility Focus).

The adage of, "If you build it, they will come" was popularized in the Kevin Gostner film, Field of Dreams. To the uninitiated, the movie centered around one man's obsession with forging a baseball diamond in the middle of an Iowa cornfield. Sure enough, the ghosts of baseball past showed up en masse, as did thousands of visitors.

A similar philosophy holds true today as high schools and colleges build or improve upon their respective strength training facilities and/or weight rooms. If a school goes about it the right way and takes the necessary measures to ensure a positive experience, the results will pump new life into the student body, literally and figuratively.

Professional sports teams have been at the forefront of strength training and colleges have quickly followed suit. Now, high schools are flexing their collective muscles. The impact of strength training reached the masses when Sports Illustrated wrote a short piece on Arizona State University's 16,000-square-foot Lawrence Strength and Conditioning Center in its Aug. 12, 2002 issue. If a picture is indeed worth a thousand words, then the Sun Devils 'cathedral of muscle' should draw even more strength-training apostles.

"Weight training is in vogue and it's recognized as being a big benefit," says Chet Groskreutz, VP/sales and marketing, for San Pedro, CA-based Ivanko Barbell Company. "It's carrying down from the universities to the high schools. When you see articles about strength training in SI, that's just going to have such a huge impact."

Says Eric Kittel, associate marketing manager for life Fitness/Hammer Strength: "Some of the bigger high schools are starting to really dedicate space -- almost as if they were a small college. They're going for durable equipment. They want the best. They aspire to be like the colleges and pros. It's all part of the current evolution of sports: how the best are better even when they are younger.

"Back when I was in high school, all we had was a squat rack and a Universal Gym. The attitude was to work out if you wanted to. It's more of a strategic process today. Athletic directors and coaches know that if they want to compete and draw the best athletes to their schools, they had better promote their strength training program."

Rich Gray, who currently manages the York Barbell Company's commercial line, has had his hands on the pulse of strength training for more than 12 years.

A former strength coach at Boise State and the U.S. Olympic Training Center, Gray has revamped several high-school weight rooms, including a 6,000 square-foot facility at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, GA. He has overseen similar projects at the Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga., Marietta (GA) H.S., and The Marist School in Atlanta.

"Weight training at the high school level has made significant strides in the past eight years," says Gray. "We are seeing the strength conditioning at the collegiate and Olympics levels filtering down to the high schools, and more and more schools are bringing in top-quality equipment."

While high school programs have seen the light on strength-training benefits and equipment, perhaps the most important addition has been the hiring of certified strength coaches to run the facilities. As Gray pointed out, high school strength programs once consisted of a coach or someone unqualified who would sit in an office or monitor a weight room with sub-standard equipment. More often than not, the end result would be a free-for-all. Nobody structured technique. Nobody structured programs.

"The individual who oversees the facility is 80% responsible for making it work," Gray says. "It's not the equipment."

How much of a difference can a top-shelf facility and qualified strength coach make?

Within a year of the opening of The Westminster Schools' facility in Dec. 2000, it won seven state championships, the most in school history. Sports injuries also declined dramatically.

Laying the Foundation

Gray estimates that a base high school weight room should run about $15,000. That figure includes eight 11-gauge racks, eight lower tier platforms, at least a four to six rack minimum with a four to six platform minimum, and 0 to 90 degree benches. This configuration allows for multiple function training, with three to four people being able to work out on a rack at one time.

The most expensive aspect of a weight room is the space. While some schools may have the luxury of an expansive field house or are the lucky recipients of parent booster club coffers, many schools are limited to an area about the size of a classroom.

According to Gray, the size of a high-school strength training facility really hinges on the overall size of the school and the coach who runs the program. A 40 x 40 room is about 1,600 square feet of space. If space presents a problem, try holding weight classes throughout the day: morning groups, after-school groups, and post-practice groups. This will negate scheduling difficulties and help avoid an overload at assorted workout stations.

An ideal space-saver is the MegaTuff Power Gage package from MegaFitness.com. Constructed of 11-gauge steel, product features include: F.I.D bench, leg-extension attachment, lat attachment, butterfly attachment, arm-curl attachment, heavy-duty foot bar, dip attachments, lat bar, revolving straight bar, chain extension, and clips. Best of all, it takes up minimal room, about 8 x 6 feet of user space.

"The Power Cage has a better application for a school system," says Tom Eggers, owner Kansas City-based Impact Fitness Systems, manufacturer of the MegaFitness.com school line, MegaTuff. "It's all encompassing. I've learned that coaches don't want a whole bunch of things going around them. They prefer just two or three things going on. It helps kids train more efficiently.

Remember: Make your facility a weight room, not a waiting room.

If you're seeking a superior quality rack, ProMaxima, which has been designing, building, and servicing high-quality and affordable fitness equipment for 36 years, is touting its Deluxe Double-Sided Multi Rack. Featuring an 8 x 8 power lift platform, adjustable incline/flat/ shoulder-press bench with wheels, chin ups, and weight storage racks, the product also offers an optional school logo.

As for plates, York, Ivanko, and Troy Barbell are three of the more logical choices.

York's Grip plates, available in urethane and iron, are functionally designed for maneuverability and multiple uses. Ivanko's E-Z Lift colored rubber plates -- available in red (45 lbs.), blue (35 lbs.), and yellow (25 lbs.) -- are aesthetically appealing and drawing rave reviews.

Troy plates, distributed by Houston, TX-based USA Sports, offer three distinct options: the rubber-encased Quiet Iron plates, the Machined Grip plates, and the VTX training plates rubber-encased bumper plates available in green, yellow, blue, and red).

David Varnum, national sales and marketing manager for USA Sports, says there are several things to consider when choosing rubber plates: ease of use, longevity, safety, and "the fact that rubber plates are also going to protect the floor as well as the equipment they are being used on."

One facet of a strength facility that is sometimes overlooked is a dumbbell area, a place where athletes can do a lot more dynamic lifts. It is also an agility area where they can concentrate on lunges and medicine ball work. Speaking of medicine balls, Minneapolis, MN-based OPTP (Orthopedic Physical Therapy Products) has introduced its Gymnic Swiss Balls and Gymnic Plus "Burst Resistant Quality" ball, a collection of heavy duty products, in assorted sizes, designed for rehab and high performance workouts.

Form and Function

Machines do have a place and a purpose in any strength-training facility. (Not to mention what a great benefit they are for rehabilitation and treating injuries.)

The most important machines for functional training are designed for high-low pulls (lat pull-down seated rows), cable-column pulls, leg presses, leg extension/leg curls, and calf muscles. Everything else can he done with free weights. As a secondary option, a weight room should have a chest press, incline press, decline press, a rotary torso, and an abdominal machine.

"There's a lot of discussion surrounding functional training," says Steve Suchanek, director of the Gybex Institute. "Functional training has a place. The machines have a place. Free weights have a place. It's all in the balance of what you are trying to attempt.

"There are times when you need high motor skills and functional training will help you with that. You can be very functionally fit but that won't make you a good lineman. You need to be strong and develop force. That's why our selectorized machines have validity."

Cybex International's new Eagle selectorized line is a collection of 11 pieces (chest press, overhead press, incline pull, row, arm curl, arm extension abdominal, back extension, leg press, leg extension, and leg curl). The line will increase to 20 pieces by 2003.

Life Fitness/Hammer Strength has a mix of products that runs 70-30, strength to cardiovascular. The Hammer Strength plate loaded equipment, with independent arms, a company hallmark, has 25-patented innovations encompassing 51 pieces of equipment that utilize converging and diverging arcs of motion.

Its MTS (Motion Technology Selectorized) Line offers 14 separate pieces of equipment specifically designed to work various portions of the upper and lower body using what the company calls its Iso-Lateral technology. Life Fitness has three new Lifecycle upright bikes and three novel independent stairclimbers.

According to Hoist Fitness Systems, the drive system technology in its Composite Motion Leg Press creates a dual action movement that blends the natural movements of the torso and lower body to work in conjunction with the effects of conventional strength machines, in which only one portion of the body moves.

In this instance, when the user engages the foot plate, the support frame moves upward and forward in an arcing motion while the foot plate simultaneously moves in a forward and downward arcing motion. The end result is full leg extension.

Pro Star Sports, Inc.'s Reverse Hyperextension Machine has gas-assisted arm rest adjusters, molded split pads, and a range of motion dial that permits 10-degree weight arm increments.

Yet another exceptional functional training product is the VersaPulley from Heart Rate, Inc. The high-low pulley system enables the user to perform functional movements with unlimited speed, unlimited compliant force, along with complete free range of motion.

When it comes to designing your school's strength training facility, perhaps no muscle is more important than the brain. Use your head. You'll be amazed by the lift it will provide.

"If one area can change the life of a campus, it's the weight room," says York's Rich Gray.

RELATED ARTICLE

WEIGHT ROOM DESIGN: AN EXPERT OPINION

Prior to building the Michigan State Spartan Weight Room in late 1996, we spent several weeks with the architects detailing the type of structure we sought Following is a summary of the primary points of the discussions.

* The paramount consideration in he design of a weight room is the amount of usable floor space. Our room is just over 9,000 square feet. Regardless of the room's total size it should be as square as possible to allow for the maximum utilization of the main body of the floor, as well as the areas near the walls.

* Rectangular rooms severely inhibit both the available floor space and efficient traffic flow. In other words when constructing a weight room avoid the "chute" design Even if the room isn't a perfect square, make it more square than rectangular.

* We wanted the main body of the floor to be void of any support structures (i.e., beams), which detract from floor space and are an eye sore. All of the support beams in our room are positioned around the perimeter and blend right into the walls. Trusses run across our ceiling for additional support.

* Our 22-foot high ceiling adds dimension and "airiness" to the room.

* Our office does not jut into the main body of the weight room floor, but rather away from it. Again this helps give us the maximum usable floor space.

* Natural light was a priority for the facility, and our entire west and south walls are lined with large windows for this purpose. We have an "inbirect" lighting system that provides plenty of light without the glare. Basically the light is directed upwards and reflect off the ceiling before traveling down Ward. The walls and ceiling are painted in bright white, which helps illuminate the room while and to its aesthetics and sense of size.

* The east wall is adorned with large murals of our stadium and game action shots which are both eye-catching and indicative of the hard work that takes place in the room.

* All of our walls are lined with 6-foot mirrors giving the room more depth and utility.

* The flooring is comprised of black Tuflex panels, which are both durable and easily maintained.

* The room was purposely built adjacent to out indoor football facility complete with a full "Astro-Play" football field) and has doors and windows along the entire east wall hat connects to it. We consider the indoor facility to be an extension of the weight room and we use it on a daily basis for a variety of purposes (e.g., warm up/flexibility work, speed development, agility, and numerous "finishing" activities for he strength-training workouts).

* Our sound system consists of five speakers mounted above the windows and spread the length of one wall. It has compact disc, cable (DMX), and AM/FM radio capabilities.

EQUIPMENT CONSIDERATONS

We have all kinds of opinions, philosophies, and personal biases about the effectiveness of various types of strength-training equipment. Most types of equipment have merit, and just about everything out there can be productive when property used.

Variety, a key constituent in our program design, and we tend to focus on the strengths that, each piece of equipment can offer, as opposed to dwelling, on its inherent weaknesses.

A fairly inclusive list of equipment on our facility.

Machines: We have over 60 masculature and are used in a variety of body postures. All of our machines incorporate a variable resistance system (via a cam or leverage mechanism), which is importat in creating and maintaining constant tension in the targeted musculature.

Free weights: We have a full complement of free weight equipment, including a variety of benches (i.e., supine incline, upright, and adjustable, multi-purpose) barbells, dumbbells, power racks, and "strongman" implements (farmer's walk bars log bars, tractor tires, and various types of sleds for pushing and puling).

Functional Training Modalities: The term "functional training" has inundated the sports medicine and strengh/conditioning literature -- focusing on the concept of training the proprioceptors (neuromuscular pathway receptors) and what are known as stabilizer and/or synergistic muscle complexes.

While some controversy exists about their advantages over more traditional approaches we feel that many of these exercises have a place in the program and we implement them liberally. Some of the modalities used in this type of training include medicine balls, "swiss" balls, core boards ab wheels, stretch cards/bands, and weighted vests.

Cardiovascular Equipment: We also have a wide array of cardiovascular pieces -- both weight bearing and non-weight bearing -- for a variety of special needs and rehabilitation procedures. These include treadmills, stair steppers bikes, and upper-body ergometers. Our sports medicine room, which is in close proximity to our weight room, has a small swimming pool with an adjustable current for low-impact training and rehab.