Weight room offers equipment suited for a variety of goals

Photo by Nika Svizhenko

The weight room contains rows of benches and weight racks

Every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 p.m., members of the cross country team rush into the Ray Goni Fitness Center — more commonly known as the weight room — to begin their 30-minute circuit training as a warmup for their run. 

The plethora of equipment available in the weight room helps students and players work toward a variety of fitness goals, ranging from improving physique to working out for fun. Machines such as bikes and rowers improve cardiovascular fitness, while yoga mats can be used for improving flexibility. The focal point of the weight room are the rows of benches, weight racks and weights, all of which are suited for training both strength and resistance. 

“The weight room has everything needed to build muscle,” sophomore Rishaun Sharma said.

The cross country team mainly uses the weight room for leg and core exercises such as Bulgarian split squats, bench dips, Russian twists and planks. Because running doesn’t require large muscles, members tend to lean toward endurance training by completing a high number of repetitions with a low weight. 

The opposite is true for football players. Due to the physical nature of the sport, weight gain, particularly muscle gain, is beneficial to members of the team. Though some exercises like bench presses are shared with the cross country team’s routine, they are done at high weights for a low number of repetitions to gain muscle rather than endurance.

“My goal is to turn Saratoga into a powerhouse and [to make] everything as professional and as high-level as possible,” said Darrel Adams, athletic trainer of the football team. ”I want to train the kids not to be high school athletes but to be collegiate athletes.” 

Although the weight room is regularly occupied by various sports teams and PE classes, it is also available to the staff. Statistics teacher Seema Patel uses the weight room during third period on red days and follows  a CrossFit program.

“Exercise helps me mentally reset my day and it helps me clear out my thoughts,” Patel said. “I worked out hiking wise and that only works my legs, workouts that she does work out the body top to bottom.”

The weight room was originally open to students who aren’t on teams after school, but it was closed following a loss of equipment in 2021 and has not reopened to serve those needs. 

Soon, however, the weight room is set to open to the general student population for strength and conditioning classes after school starting November, with Adams supervising the course. A similar system existed for students and parents in 2010, supervised by athletic director Rick Ellis and retired teacher Peter Jordan.

“The strength and conditioning classes will be a great opportunity to improve my weightlifting technique,” Sharma said. “I hope to get to know some people who have the same goals as me.”