New weight room opens for APS students and athletes
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ALPENA -- The new weight room at Alpena High School has officially opened for use by students and student athletes.
At the Alpena Public Schools Board of Education's regular meeting in April, board members approved the purchase of equipment and flooring from Stray Dog Strength in the amount of $200,810 for use in an updated weightroom.
At the board's workshop meeting that same month, student athletes, APS staff and coaches, and parents packed the room to show their support for purchasing the new equipment and moving the weightroom to a new location in AHS.
During public comment during that meeting, students, staff, and parents described the conditions of the weightroom, which was located in the basement of AHS.
There was poor air circulation, a low ceiling, and low hanging pipes and ductwork. There was at the time some flooding and a sewer odor. Additionally, the equipment was outdated and there was not enough space for whole teams to workout at once.
The new weightroom is located on the main floor of the high school next to the Wildcat Den.
Gavin Ross, a senior at AHS, plays football and baseball. He said it's a great thing to have a new weightroom.
"All the younger kids are going to have a lot of joy with it," he said. "My freshman year we were downstairs and it wasn't really the best and we had to make do."
"This is just a big change for everyone and it’s going to benefit all the sports going on," Ross added.
Jared Phillips, strength and conditioning coordinator, discussed the uses of the upgraded equipment at the opening of the new weightroom on Monday.
He said that there are enough stations for 36 students to workout at the same time, with a maximum of three to each station. Phillips described the convenience of the new location.
"We can warm-up down in the gym, use the locker rooms, come on down here, it takes about a minute, minute and a half to walk down here."
He said the monkey bars can be used for shoulder health. He had Zach Orban, a football and baseball athlete, demonstrate going forwards and backwards on the monkey bars.
"It gives good grip strength, wrist strength, and wrist flexor health," Phillips said.
Phillips showed how the benches at each station can be easily maneuvered and stored out of the way for students to do exercises where a bench isn't needed.
Each of the racks have holes on all four sides.
"It creates all sorts of different places that we can attach different attachments or different sorts of bands," Phillips said.
One junior high athlete demonstrated using bands for a two footed vertical jump. The bands were attached to the bottom of the rack and looped over his shoulders.
In between stations are dumbbell racks with adjustable dumbbells from five to 100 pounds.
"That's just some of the items we can do with it," Phillips said. "I mean, just sitting here you can think of more exercises, more items that we can do."
"We appreciate the investment," he said. "We're going to be the best stewards of this that we can."