Strengthening the weight room
NUHS has been approved for a grant to install new technology in the weight room
May 12, 2022
Opening the door, you take a step into the room. It hits you, the humid air, the sound of weights clanging together, and the sound of the bass pumping.
Welcome to NUHS’s weight room.
Mr. Lieser, the NUHS strength and conditioning coach, is working on integrating technology into the weight room and strengthening the programming. Lieser’s equipment includes 2022 Apple IPad Airs, Vmaxpros, and Team Builder software. The total cost of all of the equipment is around $16,500.
Lieser applied for a grant through the ISD 88 Foundation. The foundation awards money to employees who applied in the fall and early winter to pursue projects in the school. Lieser applied for a $5,000 grant but was granted $9,000 after donors stepped in and gave more because they saw the benefits of Lieser’s request. The district will pay the remaining costs of the software over the next 4 years.
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The technology will be implemented in the weight room over the summer with Lieser’s strength and conditioning program during the week. Each lifting rack will have an Apple IPad with a case. The IPads will be equipped with the software program Team Builder. This program will allow athletes and students to sign in and track their workouts. They will also be able to track their progress over the course of their time at the high school.
Each rack will also have a Vmaxpro. Vmaxpro tracks the velocity of the bar. Which means it tells you how fast you can move a certain weight. This will help athletes train performance. Lieser will be able to set the range of velocity, and the Vmaxpro will tell athletes if they need to take the weight off to move it faster or if they can add more weight.
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The current 8th-grade class will be the first to be able to track all four years of growth. “I am excited about the new technology and how it can track your progress,” said Spencer Drill, an 8th-grade athlete who workouts in the middle school gym. Drill also said: “I think it will help with sports because we will be able to look at our progress which I think will help kids see areas they could improve in.”
Lieser has been working hard for the past three years at NUHS to grow the athletic department. He teaches multiple gym classes, including a strength and conditioning class and a women’s strength and conditioning class. For his gym classes, Lieser programs towards more athletic performance. This focuses on working on agility, power, and strength. Lieser explains that with the new technology, “I will be able to program for different styles and goals of the students.” For example, he will be able to post on the IPads a program geared toward athletes and a program geared more towards people wanting to become more fit. “This will make it easier for me to see what people accomplished because they will have to put in their sets and reps.”
Lieser also puts a lot of extra time and energy into working with the sports teams. “We focus on moving well, having mobility in the knees. Moving strong and fast, having speed and agility, and maximizing lifts,” said Lieser. He continued to say, “the number one goal is to create the best combination of power speed, etcetera, not aesthetics.”
Lieser also focuses on working with off-season athletes. The off-season is where athletes can build more muscles instead of just maintaining like they do in the season. “They see much more growth over the off-season than in-season athletes,” Lieser said. This helps with performance and with injury prevention.