Tips to Weightlifting

Students at Fluvanna County High School have been lifting in the weight room at the school for years. Lately, many of them have been getting injured. While many students have been lifting under supervision to help prevent injury in weightlifting class or after school for sports, these students should understand how to lift correctly to further prevent accidents.

A tip to help students not get injured in the weight room is by not using heavy weights. Although it is not bad to use heavy weights all the time in the weight room, it is more about how comfortable you are with the weight. There’s a saying that many people use saying “More reps less weight” and most people agree with this statement because the less weight you use the more comfortable you are and the more confident you are to be able to lift that weight, being comfortable in the weight room helps reduce the amount of injuries.

All things considered, using less weight will not reduce all injuries because at the end of the day things happen, but it will reduce the amount of injuries tremendously. After school, the Fluvanna football team is lifting and some of the students have been pulling muscles and injuring themselves. Stretching before a workout helps stretch your muscles out and warm them up before a workout to prevent pulling a muscle and hurting yourself.

Lifting in the weight room is good for students to interact with teammates and grow a bond with teammates. “As a rising senior on the football team I like lifting because it helps me push myself to get better and become much stronger while also growing my relationship and bond with my teammates as well,“ said Dylan Pardue. Growing a relationship with your teammates in the weight room is good because you have trust and can rely on them to support you and spot you while you are lifting while it also helps when the season starts and on the field.

While lifting in the weight room it is important to always be aware of your surroundings and always be aware of everything that is going on. Most athletes get injured by pulling a muscle or by not paying attention to other people lifting around them. While paying attention would help prevent some injuries, things do happen so you could still get hurt. “It’s just a bar, it’s not that heavy ” said Ava Goodfield, meaning that lifting weights is all in your head and it’s not about the muscle it’s all in the mindset.

“If you are stronger than the person in front (the opponent) of you the game becomes easier as you have a physical advantage,” said Assistant football coach Brandon Townes. Which means the weight room is important not only for you but for your team, if everyone on your team is physically stronger than the person they are trying to guard or beat then it is a lot easier to win and help your team. Therefore, working in the weight room will help your team win and advance throughout the season while also keeping you healthy and some people even say lifting helps with their mental health.