How a Great Weight Training Program Helped Turn Around an Entire Athletic Program
The Rebel weightroom is comparable to what you’d expect to find in a college facility. It’s over 6,000 square feet and includes eight squat stations, six lifting platforms, five glute-ham developers, three plyo ramps and 12 dot drill pads. Wow!
Revolutionary Weight Training at South High School How a great weight training program helped turn around an entire athletic program BY MIKE BORDEN What a difference three summers of daily workouts have made in the physical strength and character of the Rebel football program at South High School in Bakersfield, California. The thousands of hours of training our players have put in since our outstanding weightroom was constructed three years ago have made our varsity players cumulatively stronger than any South High School team has been in decades. Three years ago South High didn’t have a single athlete who could power JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009 clean 225 pounds.
This weakness showed up in a dismal win-loss record: We had won only one league game in six years. Most disappointing was the fact that we had lost five straight homecoming games. Then, three years ago Coach John Wren was hired as our head football coach. It was our turning point. This season 50 percent of the varsity team could clean at least 225 pounds, and six players could clean 275 or above! Further, 15 kids placed in the top three in their weight classes at the Kern County Powerlifting Championships, and three athletes set Kern County records in the process.
On the gridiron, we went from a Division III program that had won only five games in four years to a 5-5 season in a predominantly Division I league. Our five victories included a first-ever triumph over a strong Division I league opponent in Centennial High School. We had a 4-1 record at home this year, scoring an average of 31 points per game, and we’ve won five league games since the weightroom was built. Further, we’ve been competitive in all our games – in fact, each of our five season losses was decided by 14 points or less. We also have won our last two homecoming games.
Both the girls and boys athletic programs have excelled in recent years.
Jose Ramas, Levi Chavez, Blaine Davidson and Richie Muro #11, Jose Ramas #22, Levi Chavez Head football coach John Wren Although our athletes play as a team, we’ve had a lot of individual successes. We placed six players on the All-League first team, including senior quarterback/defensive back Jose Ramos, who was selected as League Offensive Player of the Year. Last year 40 percent of the team placed on the honor roll, and we’re all working to increase that number.
One memorable acknowledgment of our achievements came after a tough first-round loss in the playoffs this year when a game official sent Coach Wren an e-mail complimenting him and the program for “the best show of sportsmanship he had witnessed in his 17 years of officiating.” The growth of physical strength and character within the Rebel football program over the past three summers is a direct result of having a superb weight facility, which has brought huge gains for the other athletes on campus as well.
The Rebel female athletes have been working out diligently for the past three summers, using the BFS computer program for a tough plyometric training regimen that includes the box routine and core workouts. Everyone has made great gains, and we actually had one volleyball athlete who increased her vertical jump from 18 inches to 30! The time and effort our girls have spent in the South High weightroom have led to tremendous growth in physical strength, selfesteem and confidence. Girls who had never competed in any athletic activities prior to their weightroom experience are now trying out and helping to build a new tradition of effort and character in Rebel athletics.
The weightroom has made a permanent change in the culture of our athletic programs, and we are looking forward to adding to our successes. At South High School we make a point of challenging our Rebel athletes to “leave the program better than when you started,” and during the last three years their commitment and efforts have done just that. Editor’s note: Mike Borden is trainer/equipment manager who also works with the girls programs at South High School. BFS clinician Lance Neven was involved in the development of the school’s new weightroom and gave a BFS clinic at South High in May 2006.
Much of the success of the Rebel athletic program in recent years can be attributed to a new weightroom and a focus on strength and conditioning the BFS way!
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From BFS Magazine — January/February 2009. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
