Westminster Christian Academy

Strength and Conditioning Class

Teacher: Mr. Shane Goodwin  contact:  wcawildcats@gmail.com


Course Philosophy

Strength training is the cornerstone of any sport or the physical health of any person.  If our students are stronger they can produce more force to increase their ability to produce greater speed and power. That means better performance. Well-conditioned individuals are also less susceptible to injuries or delayed recovery periods following injuries.  There is no such thing as an off season in strength and conditioning. There is not one individual that will be negatively affected by our strength lifts. Lifts will be done properly with good technique (a video will be provided). We will do sport specific exercises for athletes, but not necessarily non-Athletes.  Students will have time for those ego enhancing lifts (body building exercises).  However, those will have no priority over those exercises that will get them stronger and keep them safe from injury. Some examples of the exercises are 10 minutes of abdominal work twice weekly, parallel squats, power cleans, hang cleans, push press, jerk, high pulls, bench press, incline, neck exercises, leg extension, bent row, etc. etc. Lifts not done properly will be done again.  Safety is our biggest issue in strength training.  We will perform plyometrics and agility exercises also to improve speed and flexibility.  Attendance in Strength and Conditioning class is no less important than a particular sports practice or academic class.  Without a strict strength and conditioning game plan our athletic program will not succeed and non- athletic students can not reach optimal health.

Course Logistics

There are three groups in the class and each group will work differently from the others.

Group 1: In Season Athletes
Group 2: Out of Season Athletes
Group 3:
Non-Athletes

Group 1: Will work in the weight room two days per week and will spend non game days outside of the weight room performing speed training, plyometric, and agility exercises.

Group 2:  Will work in the weight room three days per week and will spend two days outside of the weight room performing speed training, plyometric, and agility exercises.

Group 3:  Will work in the weight room two days per week and will spend one day outside of the weight room performing speed training, ply metric, and agility exercises.
The weight room exercises will emphasize less on power lifting and two days will be spent with a cardiovascular emphasis. 

 

Course Goals
Our first priority is for students to become better men and women because they were under our care. The students will participate in strength, speed, agility, ply metric, and cardiovascular activities in order to improve fitness level.  Students will learn the following in this class:

- Proper technique in lifting
- Proper running form
- The biblically responsible interactive behavior before, during, and after an activity

Grading
Participation is expected and comprises 75% of the student’s grade.  Within participation is the proper dressing. The remaining 25% will be graded based on speed improvement(timed), agility improvement(timed), ply metric improvement(measured), and power lifting gains(tested) 

Expectations
1.  Students will show improvement in strength, speed, agility, ply metric, and cardiovascular activities.
2.  Students will respect the “Zero Negativity Policy”
3.  Students will remember the Golden Rule.

 

To Athletes

 Our Athletic programs participate in class 2A of the AHSAA with 3A just over the horizon.  The lack of Strength and Conditioning will not enable us to compete as our school and Athletic Program grows. Because of Athletic Director, Kristn Click, and Headmaster Craig Bouvier’s Commitment To Excellence, weight training classes are offered separately from regular PE classes and that it isn’t just taught by anyone. We have Strength and Conditioning Coordinator, Brian Creel, who has a Master’s Degree in the area along with being a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. We also have the resource of world class power lifter Dr. Fred Rice, a bible teacher, on campus.

 

“Weightlifting is crucial for the development of Rate of Force Production. This often forgotten concept of athletic   development is very important for distinguishing how much "functional" strength an athlete possesses. Rate of Force Production is trained in a very useful manner. Most of the power in sports comes from the hips and trunk. These lifts highly train the muscle systems to perform in an explosive manner.”  (Dr. Fred Hatfield (Ed), FITNESS: The Complete Guide (3rd Edition). International Sports Sciences Association, 1996. It is the ISSA certification textbook for personal fitness trainers)