Imagine 30 sweaty people shoved in a classroom space.  Sounds like an uncomfortable situation.  In our weight room this seems to almost be a daily occurrence.

Our school’s weight room has been around since 2001.  In this space, Sports Spectrum Performance (SSP), trainer Cal McLellan helps students work out after school.  McLellan puts athletes through physically taxing workouts that usually include one or two primary lifts accompanied by complementary exercises.  These primary lifts tend to be Olympic lifts such as the hang clean, dead lift or squat.

SSP hosts open workouts available for anyone who wants to use the weight room and sport specific workouts exclusively for school athletic teams.  In-season teams get first priority and reserved times on the calendar.  The time remaining is assigned to open workouts.  These workouts are open to anyone, including out-of-season sports.With the constant demand for training from teams, the calendar always seems to be booked.  At times, the weight room is overbooked because multiple teams want time to train during open workouts.  Unfortunately, the number of people who can train at one time has had to be limited.  Only the first 30 people can work out during open workouts.  As a result, McLellan has had to turn people away.

“[It’s] unfortunate because we have people eager enough to take the initiative to work out and to turn people away is tough.  [I] don’t want to hamper someone’s ambitions,” McLellan said.

One solution to the problem is simply more space. Athletic Director Kathy Finnucan had been considering an expansion to the weight room for about three years now, but our budget is currently being used elsewhere.

“It’s not a high priority need right now… [We’ve] got the middle school building and other things [to worry about],” she said.However, Finnucan said that there is room to expand it towards the pool, and if there is a demonstrated need for more space, then there would certainly be justification to expand it.

McLellan thinks that the limited space is a major problem.

“The only piece of equipment you need is more space; the more space you have the more you can do,” McLellan said.

Logistically, to work out specifically with the Olympic style lifts that Cal uses, one needs an entire lifting platform.  With space for only 5 platforms, the weight room forces groups of people to split time.  With a max of 30 people, this limit can force groups of up to 6.

Prem Kumar, a frequent attendee at open workouts, thinks that there is a definite need for an expansion.

“The groups are too big, and we waste half of our workout just waiting for others,” Kumar said.

For a group as large as six to complete a primary lift, it can take around 20 to 25 minutes.  Since open workouts run only an hour long, sometimes even 45 minutes, it puts serious constraints on what an individual can accomplish.

McLellan thinks that the time limits paired with the number of people take away from the strength program as a whole.  Now that more students have been coming, they are only able to get through the primary lifts, so the complementary barbell regime had to be cut.

Not only does the large number of people at open workouts affect the flow, but it also raises safety issues.

“It’s a little tight given the space we have,” McLellan said.  “I’d love to have more space between individuals doing the exercises.”

Space in between individuals doing exercises is very important.  A few more feet in between platforms could be the difference between getting hit from a free falling bar and just watching.  He added that safety is the number one priority.  Luckily, there have been no issues so far, but McLellan thinks that more space can only help with the safety issue.

The expansion of the weight room doesn’t seem to be right around the corner.  However, the idea is definitely on the athletic department’s radar.

McLellan expects the attendance this year at open workouts to rise higher than that of last year.

“I think people are catching on to the fact that I have things that I can offer.  People [are learning they] can really benefit, so I think I’m building more of a buzz,” McLellan said.