The Battle Ground High School football team has taken advantage of their newly renovated weight room in preparation for the upcoming season.
The main weight room at Battle Ground High School received a fresh new look and new equipment over spring break last school year.
“I think the kids were really excited, as soon as they came in and saw it, you know,” Tiger strength and quarterback coach Jayson Maddux said. “I think being a strength coach, everything starts in the weight room, and I think if kids are excited about the weight room, they’re going to be excited to be in there. I think that’s been shown. We’ve got a lot of people coming in and getting after it.”
The football team has been working out all summer for two hours in the morning Monday through Thursday. Maddux said about 40 athletes have attended every workout session.
Maddux referred to his routine as the “Bro Science Split” where he divides the week into exercises targeting different areas of the body, starting with hips and finishing with legs.
“We get our four main lifts in: deadlifts, bench, hand cleans, squats, all that stuff and just our accessory movements throughout the day and then conditioning,” Maddux said.
For conditioning, either a coach or a player leads the group in sprints or agility work or a competitive game of sharks and minnows, to make conditioning fun. Maddux said the aim of conditioning is to get the players to breathe as hard as they can.
With the team building up muscle strength, agility, flexibility and endurance, the Tigers are gearing up for the official start of their season as practices begin Aug. 16, and coaches hope the weight training will pay off this season.
“I think we’re going to have a lot of success. I think that’s the biggest thing,” Maddux said. “Battle Ground has been in a slump for a little bit, and I think we’re ready to burst out of it. I think that these kids have been getting after it … I think now it’s going to come to fruition, and we’re going to see some pretty crazy stuff happen on Friday nights.”
Battle Ground will begin its season unofficially with a jamboree slated for 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25. The first game of the season will be Friday, Sept. 1.
