Practical advice to keep your gym safe and organized

Gentry High School in Gentry, Arizona, features a BFS weightroom that was carefully planned to ensure safety and efficiency.

Checklist Practical advice to keep your gym safe and organized Ijust love it when a plan comes together!” is a famous line by John ‘Hannibal’ Smith, a lead character in the 1980s action television series The A-Team. Although Smith was fictional, his outlook is useful in real life. Start by ensuring your strength and conditioning program runs smoothly by using a maintenance checklist. Of course, the first step before writing such a checklist is to properly design your facility. Dr. Marc Rabinoff, a sports/liability expert who has been a consultant in over 600 litigations, says that approximately half the cases he has worked on were a result of poor facility design.

“One of the major problems is having too much equipment for the space available. Often this is a result of school administrators or gym owners listening to the advice of equipment manufacturers who ignore safety considerations so they can sell as much equipment as possible to increase their bottom line.” A particularly useful service BFS offers is weightroom planning through the use of 3D illustrations. These illustrations are drawn to scale to show you exactly how your weightroom can look at various angles, thereby ensuring proper use of available space and the best design for safe traffic flow.

For example, whereas three feet of space between equipment might be adequate, treadmills might require twice that MARCH/APRIL 2014 One of the services BFS offers is weightroom planning through the use of 3D illustrations. space. Having a 3D illustration is also a great way to help generate funding for a new facility so that potential sponsors can see what they can expect from their investment. For detailed design standards and recommendations for equipment and facilities, the standard reference is the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. Founded in 1898, ASTM International is a nonprofit organization that provides standards for materials, products, systems and services.

In many of the cases Rabinoff has participated in, the recommendations in ASTM’s annual publication provide much of the primary authoritative reference material.

To ensure that your plan comes together, Dr. Rabinoff has tailored the following checklist specifically for strength and conditioning facilities. It’s invaluable to use in the initial stages of planning or upgrading your facility; then, after everything is in place, use the checklist on a regular basis to keep your weightroom safe and efficient.

The weightroom for the Pioneers is designed to address all aspects of strength and conditioning.

Weightroom Design Checklist <(612 6SDFHDOORZVIRUHDV\DFFHVVWRHTXLSPHQW :DOOVIUHHRISURWUXGLQJREMHFWV &ROODUVDQGFOLSV :HLJKWVWRUDJHGXPEEHOOUDFNVDGHTXDWHO\ SRVLWLRQHGHDVLO\DFFHVVLEOH ,QVWUXFWLRQDOVLJQVYLVLEOHDQGXQGDPDJHG 6LJQVSRVWHGHPSKDVL]LQJVDIHW\ 6LJQVSRVWHGVWDWLQJVSRWWLQJUHTXLUHPHQWVZDUQLQJV DQGDFNQRZOHGJPHQWRIDVVXPSWLRQRIULVN :DUQLQJVLJQVYLVLEOHDQGXQGDPDJHGRQHTXLSPHQW :HLJKWPDFKLQHVZHLJKWUDFNVDQGDQFKRUSRLQWV :HLJKWPDFKLQHVVTXDWUDFNVKDYHSURSHUO\ (QWU\H[LWVYLVLEOHPDUNHGDQGXQREVWUXFWHG VHFXUHO\DQFKRUHGWRZDOOÁRRUZKHUHUHTXLUHG $LUH[FKDQJHVDQGYHQWLODWLRQDGHTXDWH /LJKWVIXQFWLRQLQJSURSHUO\ &HLOLQJVSDFHVXIÀ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ÁRRULQJDQGGULSPDWV 5HVWULFWLRQVHQIRUFHGIRUXVLQJDUHD UHJDUGLQJDJHRU +RXVHNHHSLQJSRWHQWLDOVLWHVRILQIHFWLRQFRQWUROOHG 0DFKLQHDQGHTXLSPHQWPDLQWHQDQFHGRQHUHJXODUO\ %UDFHGÀUPO\ 6XUIDFHVFOHDQHGGLVLQIHFWHGUHJXODUO\ GLVDELOLW\HWF GLVLQIHFWHG DQGGRFXPHQWHG 5HFHLSWVDQGDOOSDSHUZRUNDYDLODEOHDVVRFLDWHGZLWK 0DQXIDFWXUHUVҋFRQWDFWLQIRUPDWLRQDYDLODEOH SKRQH &HUWLÀHGZLWKSUDFWLFDODQGWKHRU\FRXUVHV %)6 FHUWLÀFDWLRQ (PDLOID[ 1HZPHPEHUVWXGHQWRULHQWDWLRQ %)66DIHW\3DFNDJH $FNQRZOHGJPHQWIRUPVLJQHG DVVXPSWLRQRIULVN CONCEPT TO COMPLETION™ SUPERIOR WEIGHT ROOMS = For over 35 years BFS has been providing middle schools, junior high schools and senior high schools with the tools they need for VXFFHVV:H·GOLNHWRGRWKHVDPHIRU\RXUVFKRRO:HDUH\RXUIXOO service company for not only all your Exercise Equipment needs, but for safe and effective Exercise Instruction and Program Design.

3D Illustration $250 &EE WAIVED UPON ORDER OF $3000 or more 7KH'LOOXVWUDWLRQLVWKHILUVWVWHSRIWKH&RQFHSWWR&RPSOHWLRQSUR cess. These illustrations are drawn to scale to show you exactly how your weight room can be laid out, thereby ensuring proper use of available space and the best design for safety and traffic flow. ,QDGGLWLRQWR'LOOXVWUDWLRQV%)6FDQDOVRSURYLGH\RXZLWK'LOOXV trations These 3D renderings are drawn to scale to show you exactly KRZ\RXUZHLJKWURRPFDQORRNHQVXULQJSURSHUXVHRIDYDLODEOH VSDFHDQGWKHEHVWGHVLJQIRUVDIHWUDIILFIORZ+DYLQJD'LOOXVWUD tion is also a great way to help generate funding for a new facility.

(BFS must complete a 2D illustration of your facility prior to the 3D illustration)

Ask about installation services!

BFS STEP UP TO SUCCESS PROGRAM BUILDING A GREAT WEIGHT ROOM – ONE STEP AT A TIME, ALL ON YOUR 3 TO 5 YEAR TIME LINE $OWKRXJKLW·VJUHDWWRJHWWKHIXQG ing to build a new weight room as we say, “From Concept to Completion,” the reality is that many schools have limited budgets. The alternative is not to give up on your GUHDPEXWWRWDNHWKHSURFHVVRQH step at a time.

7KURXJKRXWWKLVSURFHVVRIORQJ term planning BFS can help by SURYLGLQJ\RXZLWKDVDIHW\HYDOXD tion and needs analysis. From there we will help you establish an annual BFS provides unmatched, ongoing support. With instructional clinics budget and then show the process, LQVDIHW\DQGWHFKQLTXHDVZHOODVFRDFKHV·FHUWLILFDWLRQFRXUVHV%)6 VWHSE\VWHSZLWK'DQG' provides all the tools for raising your program to THE NEXT LEVEL! image rendering technology.

As an example, during the 1st year you could replace bent barbells with KLJKTXDOLW\PXOWLSXUSRVHEDUVDQG your solid steel weight plates with bumpers. The next year, replace ZRUQRXWEHQFKHVDQGIORRULQJ7KH IROORZLQJ\HDUVWDUWDGGLQJUDFNV %HIRUH\RXNQRZLW\RXUGUHDP weight room will become a reality!

CALL BFS AND TALK TO ONE OF OUR COACHES TO GET STARTED DEDICATED TO HELPING ATHLETES SUCCEED SINCE 1976 ONLINE AT WWWBIGGERFASTERSTRONGERCOM s EMAIL US AT INFO BFSMAILCOM 7EST 3OUTH 3ALT ,AKE #ITY 54 s &AX

From BFS Magazine — March/April 2014. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).