This winter, athletic director Mark Hough and athletic trainer Tiffany Jeffers decided to begin a free after school conditioning program on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for all STA students who were interested.

“I am hoping to provide different activities to help meet the specific needs of all students,” Hough said. “This includes athletes looking to increase strength and stamina and those individuals looking to stay in shape.”

According to Jeffers, one of her main goals is to help girls with injury prevention by incorporating a lot of muscle exercises.

“I talked to the soccer coach about injuries,” Jeffers said. “We wanted to encourage off-season athletes to stay and get in shape when they aren’t in season.”

However, the program is not limited to only off-season athletes.

“Anyone is welcome to come [to conditioning],” Jeffers said. “But I do limit the group size to 18 on a first come first serve basis.”

According to Jeffers, she has toyed with the schedule but it currently includes strength training on Mondays, speed and power training on Wednesdays, and muscular endurance and training on Fridays.

Sophomore Allison Hogan attends after school conditioning twice a week and believes it is a positive addition to STA’s extracurricular oppurtunites.

“I started doing [conditioning] to get in shape for lacrosse season,” Hogan said. “I feel like my endurance and strength has improved since starting the program.”

According to Hogan, conditioning does more than just prepare her for the spring lacrosse season.

“I feel like [conditioning] helps me feel healthier after eating so much bad stuff at school,” Hogan said. “And it’s easier for me to focus on my homework after I’ve worked out.”

Jeffers agrees that conditioning has many benefits for students that attend regularly.

“Exercise is good for everyone,” Jeffers said. “We hope to get more students in shape and help the sports teams by having less injuries.”

Hough believes that the addition of the conditioning will help all students, whether or not they play sports.

“[Conditioning is] being taught by professionals on our coaching staff that will help our athletes be in peak physical shape when competing against the top schools in the state,” Hough said. “[Conditioning] will also help the girls that are just interested in getting in shape and staying healthy both mentally and physically.”

Coach Jeffers favorite exercises:

squats

pushups

planks

leg lifts

What’s your favorite exercise?