People decide to start working out to gain strength, speed and stamina or attain a certain body image.

Junior Jack Sullivan is on the boys’ varsity basketball team and works out to give himself a competitive edge in his sport. “My workouts are primarily speed and power training, but I occasionally include cardiovascular exercises and flexibility work. I follow a structured four-day workout program that balances all major muscle groups with a focus on progressive overload to steadily increase my strength and endurance,” Sullivan said.

In basketball, athleticism is one of the most important qualities required in order to be successful. For that reason, Sullivan specifically does plyometric exercises which an athlete exerts high amounts of force in small windows of time. Examples include pogo hops or seated jumps. “My gym training includes plyometric exercises for explosive power, agility drills, and a lot of full body and core strength work. I also focus on endurance training to keep my stamina up for long games,” Sullivan said.

Although notoriously hated, Sullivan enjoys leg workouts. “My favorite exercise is probably Bulgarian split squats as it works on my strength and explosiveness in my quads but is very difficult to maintain balance so it also works my core making it a compound exercise,” Sullivan said.

People may associate working out with a commercial gym. However, Sullivan gets successful workouts without depending on a gym membership. “I often workout alone in my basement gym but I occasionally work out with teammates at school,” Sullivan said.

Junior Abhinav Tare is an avid gym-goer at Onelife Fitness. However, he goes to a gym for a different reason other than lifting weights: He enjoys the social aspect. “I go around searching for my fellow friends. I don’t lift too much,” Tare said.

Tare spends the majority of his time in the gym using the basketball courts. “I play at the gym with my fellow friends,” Tare said.

Although he doesn’t lift weights often, his “favorite exercise is tricep pull down because it works my muscles well and I can lock in with my friends,” Tare said. “I might change my workout split to target my legs more because my legs are small,”.

Junior Maddie Zincke plays on the soccer team. She suffered an ACL injury before her sophomore season. “I go to the gym everyday and I rotate through push, pull, and legs. In the beginning, I worked out for soccer and healing my ACL injury, but now I do it out of habit,” she said.

She was introduced to this method of training by her physical therapist and her friends. She currently works out at Onelife Fitness. Zincke said her favorite exercise is “split squats because it targets a lot of muscles in [her] leg that help strengthen [her] knee.”

Working out with partners is something that Zincke looks forward to in the gym. “I find [working out with partners] more motivating and it is just fun to do it with someone else,” Zincke said.

Sophomore Bryson Filbert is on the track team. Similar to Sullivan he also finds it necessary to lift weights to give him an advantage in his sport. He spends most of his time running and doing core exercises, which are more popular among track athletes. “My favorite exercise is running because it’s a full-body workout,” Filbert said.

Similar to Tare, Filbert also utilizes the social aspects of working out to his advantage. “I work out with partners sometimes because it helps with motivation,” Filbert said.