The benefits behind training

As student athletes prepare for their long-awaited seasons, the MCHS’s weight rooms been busy

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Mackenzie Sroka

A student athlete jumps between blocks in the West Campus weight room on March 3 during a training day. As more seasons start, more students are utilizing MCHS’s weight rooms.

Mackenzie Sroka, Staff Writer

An athlete walks into the West Campus weight room to go train. They walk toward P.E. teacher John Beerbower and get their temperature checked, then start to follow the workout for the day. They look around and see other athletes pushing themselves and beating their maxes. The athlete decides to push themselves to their limit that day too. As everyone works out, Beerbower comes around to help if needed and starts complementing the amazing effort and form the athlete has. 

Athletes can benefit from working out and training with their teammates and others in the weight room. John Beerbower, a West Campus P.E. teacher and trainer at MCHS, said that training benefits students in every area, including social, mental, and physical health, and it is a great stress reliever and coping mechanism. It can give athletes an outlet, and somewhere where they can feel like they belong. 

“Working out helps me feel better about myself as well as relieve some stress,” said Zachary Lewis, a senior baseball player. “Being self motivated is one of the best things possible for lifting and life in general.” The athletes that train build an ability to become self motivated from seeing the benefits it gives them and realizing how they got those benefits. 

One of the benefits of training is when the athletes train with their teammates, it helps build the team’s relationship and social life. 

“One of the biggest benefits is getting to build strong relationships with my teammates prior to the season starting,” explained Elizabeth Hying, a senior volleyball player. Working together as a team builds the teams connection and the individual’s social life. 

Luke Anderson, another senior baseball player, said that pushing themselves to the limit together as a team truly benefits each individual and the team, and that it’s fun to bond with teammates and grow together.  

The atmosphere of the weight room helps students continue to push themselves every time they go to work out. “The atmosphere in the weightroom is wild, it’s always high energy and filled with people who actually want to be there,” described Lewis. “It really helps get me in the mood to lift and challenge myself.” 

“My motivation really derives from the people around me.  Being surrounded by hard working individuals inspires me to put the work in as well,” added Hying. Motivation keeps the athletes pushing themselves to train, which ends up benefiting them in every aspect of their life. 

Currently athletes can only train after school due to limited numbers of students allowed in the weight room at once, so the athletes of the school are prioritized. In order for non-athlete students to be able to train now they have to take the strength and conditioning gym course. “Currently, it’s only open by appointment through the conjunction of the head coach and myself,” explained Beerbower. They do hope that they can soon get non athlete students to be able to train after school too. 

Some athletes can turn their athletic career around with the power of training. “I had shoulder surgery in January 2020 and have been cleared to actually lift since September,” described Lewis. “I have seen amazing gains and have been crushing previous maxes. Seeing that success pushes me to keep getting better and expanding my goals.” He adds that training helped him push through the difficulties of getting back into his sports and get even better than before. 

Beerbowers suggests that any athlete or student should train because of the benefits they can receive from training. Training after school or during school is a great way to grow as an individual and an athlete.

At the end of the workout everyone groups together and the leaders share what they saw while working out, and the athletes that pushed themselves that day are called out for doing amazing. The athlete walks out of the weight room proud of themself and happier.