In This Issue:
FEATURED INSTALLATION: Fernando R. Ledesma High School - El Monte, CA
FEATURED ARTICLE: How to Determine Free Weight Quantities in Your High School Weight Room
FEATURED INSTALLATION
Fernando R. Ledesma High School
El Monte, California
In 2018, Fernando R. Ledesma High School was recognized as a Model Continuation High School, a designation awarded to schools that provide exemplary programs to at-risk youth, enabling them to develop into successful, productive citizens.
They are no less exemplary in their physical education as they work to complete their new multi-purpose gymnasium & fitness center. “We wanted to maximize our resources, keeping in mind that our most important resources are our students and our history,” said Freddy Arteaga, FRLHS principal. “This building will be important to the continuation high school, but also to all five comprehensive high schools.”
While in the early stages of planning the center, Principal Arteaga toured the weight room of a Texas high school that had Dynamic Fitness & Strength equipment. He was amazed, so he contacted Dynamic and started to work with Territory Manager Tor Lee.
“We started the project last summer,” Tor explained. “The rooms have all kinds of Dynamic pieces. It will probably be the greatest showcase of Dynamic equipment in southern California.”
What a great opportunity FRLHS is giving to their students, and what a privilege it is for Dynamic Fitness & Strength to have been a part of it!
Recent & Upcoming Events
Our Dynamic Fitness & Strength team will be hitting the road and the virtual highway with a lot of upcoming conferences, clinics and events. Here are just a few that either just passed or are coming up:
VIRTUAL PFSCCA Education Series – In Lieu of the NFL Combine was Last month, the Professional Football Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association held a virtual education series which Dynamic helped to sponsor and virtually attended.
MFCA Virtual Clinic – The Minnesota Football Coaches Association held their spring clinic virtually April 8-10 and Dynamic attended as a major sponsor of this association.
NHSSCA Great lakes Regional Conference – Great speaker lineup at this April 23-24 event with coaches from Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois. Joe Kenn, our VP of Performance Education will be the Keynote speaker. His talk will focus on strength training protocols to reinforce neck and head support.
FHSAA Girls & Boys Weightlifting State Championships - As a sponsor of the Florida High School Athletic Association, we were proud to support the girl’s state weightlifting championships back at the end of February, and just as excited for the boy’s championships taking place April 23 and 24. Dynamic also provided the benches and plates for this event.
CSCCa National Conference – Super excited to get our team and our equipment down to Fort Worth, Texas for this incredible event that we’re helping to sponsor! If attending, make sure to check out our area. And save time to to see our VP of Performance Education Joe Kenn’s Thursday morning presentation on 10 career lessons of a veteran strength coach.
WFCA Summer Clinic – It’s probably no surprise that we’re a top sponsor of our state’s Football Coaches Association. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Summer Clinic is LIVE this year and we’ll be there where they have a great line-up of speakers, exhibitors and activities. Our own Coach Joe LaBuda, a legend of Wisconsin high school coaches, will be there representing Dynamic.
NHSSCA National Conference – In late June, this conference will be hosted in our neighbor state of Minnesota! We’re a proud sponsor, so check out our area. We can’t wait to meet up with all the high school strength coaches!
THSCA Conference – You bet we’ll be at the July Texas High School Strength Coaches Association conference. Among our team will be our very own Coach Kevin “Yox” Yoxall, so make sure to stop by and meet the legend!
FEATURED ARTICLE
Free Weight Quantities in Your High School Weight Room
By Coach Kevin "Yox" Yoxall
Territory Manager
Back in our February issue of Dynamic Times, Joe Kenn took you through a list of things to consider as you plan your weight room installation or renovation. In this and coming months, we’ll help guide you through layout and equipment choices, flooring considerations and additional features so you can customize your weight room to your program.
In this article, let’s focus on high school programs and identify your core student or athlete who will be in the weight room. This will help determine what quantities of plates, dumbbells, kettlebells and other accessories you should invest in during your space’s build-out.
One thing you can count on, regardless of the population your weight room serves, is that you will need a sufficient inventory of plates and dumbbells, and likely a selection of kettlebells, medicine balls, and the like. Now, here’s an obvious yet crucially important fact:
Weight = $$$
You can roughly anticipate an average cost of $2 per pound for free weights. If you happen to be on a restrictive budget, you’re going to find that poundage—in the form of free weights—can eat up a significant amount of your funds if you don’t determine appropriate quantities. The last thing you want to see is a stack of untouched 10s in plate storage while your athletes are fighting over the 45s. Not only have you over-spent, but you’ve bottle-necked your strength program.
Your weight room needs to be equipped with different weight categories based on the population you will be training. The options could be boys only, girls only, or a hybrid model. Of course, this is a generalization—if you are training a girl’s Olympic weightlifting team, that is different than planning for, say, a boy’s general PE program. Common sense dictates, but there is no denying that generalizing your audience by program and gender can guide your inventory decisions.
Here is a useful guide to quantities based on your lifters:
High school girls only or girls/boys middle school weight room –
1. Per Squat rack – Bumper plates – 45lb x 1 to 2 pair / 35lb x 1 pair / 25lb x 1 pair / 10lb x 1 pair.
Small Plates – 25lb x 1 pair / 10lb x 2 pair / 5lb x 2 pair / 2.5lb x 2 pair.
Bars – 45lb x 1 / 15lb x 1 / Hex x 1.
TRX Strap x 1.
Belts – xs x 1 / sm x 1 / med x 1 / Lrg x 1.
Bands – 1 to 2 of each tension.
2. Dumbbells – 2 sets of 2.5lb to 60lb in pairs. Appropriate Rack Storage.
3. Kettlebells - 3 each of 9lb / 13lb / 18lb / 26lb / 35lb / 44lb. Appropriate Rack Storage.
4. Med Balls (suggest slam balls or soft med balls) – 2 to 3 each of 6lb / 8lb / 10lb / 12lb / 14lb / 18lb / 20lb. Appropriate Storage.
High school boys only weight room –
1. Per Squat rack – Bumper plates – 45lb x 3 to 4 pair / 35lb x 1 pair / 25lb x 1 pair / 10lb x 1 pair.
Small Plates – 25lb x 2 pair / 10lb x 2 pair / 5lb x 2 pair / 2.5lb x 2 pair.
Bars – 45lb x 1 / *15lb x 1 (suggest at only ½ total # of racks) / Hex x 1.
TRX Strap x 1.
Belts – sm x 1 / med x 1 / Lrg x 1 / XL x 1.
Bands – 2 of each tension.
2. Dumbbells – 2 sets of 2.5lb to 100lb in pairs. Appropriate Rack Storage.
3. Kettlebells - 3 each of 9lb / 13lb / 18lb / 26lb / 35lb / 44lb / 53lb / 62lb / 70lb / 80lb / 88lb. Appropriate Rack Storage.
4. Med Balls (suggest slam balls or soft med balls) – 3 each of 10lb / 12lb / 14lb / 18lb / 20lb / 25lb / 30lb. Appropriate Storage.
High school girls and boys weight room –
1. Per Squat rack – Bumper plates – 45lb x 3 to 4 pair / 35lb x 1 pair / 25lb x 1 pair / 10lb x 1 pair.
Small Plates – 25lb x 2 pair / 10lb x 2 pair / 5lb x 2 pair / 2.5lb x 2 pair.
Bars – 45lb x 1 / 15lb x 1 / Hex x 1.
TRX Strap x 1.
Belts – xs x 1 / sm x 2 / med x 2 / Lrg x 2 / XL x 1
Bands – 2 of each tension.
2. Dumbbells – 2 to 3 sets of 2.5lb to 100lb in pairs. Appropriate Rack Storage.
3. Kettlebells - 3 to 4 each of 9lb / 13lb / 18lb / 26lb / 35lb / 44lb / 53lb / 62lb / 70lb / 80lb / 88lb. Appropriate Rack Storage.
4. Med Balls (suggest slam balls or soft med balls) – 3 to 5 each of 10lb / 12lb / 14lb / 18lb / 20lb / 25lb / 30lb. Appropriate Storage.
As always, work with your territory manager to help determine appropriate quantities to suit your program's needs.
Most of the time, a standard commercial-grade bench such as our ladder bench will serve anyone fine. If, however, your lifters are large in body mass and/or capacity, or if your program includes competition lifting, you may want to explore any of a variety of specialty benches, which include Olympic and competition benches, or benches featuring wider pads.
In conclusion, although determining your free weight inventory can seem elementary at first glance, giving this the proper time and attention can drastically affect your budget, and perhaps more importantly, your program’s overall success.