Greatness is within reach at Fluvanna County High School’s weight room as members of the A.M. Crew are working hard to ensure themselves the best possible high school athletic experience.

“We are starting to create strength in the school and that is the whole goal,” said teacher Devin Watkins, who is also a weightlifting instructor and football coach. Fluvanna is one of the few schools in the Central Virginia area with a weightlifting team. The future is looking up for the Flucos, as their ability to out-train their opponents is on the rise with new athletes joining the A.M. Crew.

The A.M. Crew derived its name from the idea that students could take advantage of their time in the mornings to create a healthier lifestyle and confidence. Some students arrive at the school almost two hours early to lift weights and work out.

The weight lifting program is not just limited to male athletes — any student can participate as long as they have a physical on file at the school. Often times the male to female ratio is equivalent. “I’m a female and I am just as strong as males. This empowers me to the mindset that I can do whatever a boy can do,” said Tyler Haislip, a female athlete involved in softball, volleyball, and the Power Team.

The Fluco Power Team is the weightlifting team at the school that creates explosive athletes, run by Watkins as well as teacher Steven Szarmach. The number of young adults interested in joining the program has jumped from 40 last year to about 75 this year. Requirements for the team are simple: all you have to do is lift two days a week and learn the basic powerlifts including squat, bench press, clean and jerk, and deadlift.

Every winter, the Power Team travels to Ohio to participate in the Arnold Classic, which is the largest weightlifting convention in the country, which averages a turnout of over 120,000 people. This past March, the Flucos also competed in the Ultimate Teen Challenge and came home with first, second, and third place awards for the girls, and a first and third place award for the boys.

You don’t have to compete in FCHS athletics lift as a part of the A.M. Crew. Many students are gradually becoming concerned with their well-being during their high school years, which makes the weight room the perfect solution as it is free to use and is a great way to improve physical and psychological health. “Physically, you become stronger and can complete your daily activities with more ease. Psychologically, lifting develops confidence and gives individuals the ability to goal set and become more successful,” said Szarmach.

Students who are timid about working out might want to consider the advice of FCHS football player and wrestler Mark Grooms: “Like Nike said ‘Just Do It.’ You start feeling change and feeling better, and that is my motivation,”