Many high school athletes turn to strength and conditioning to keep them in shape and injury-free for their high school sports while in the off season, according to head coach Jessica Gust.

Gust said she has been running the program since 2010 and helps students reach their fitness goals while in the off season of their high school sports.

“Our goals with this program are to improve strength levels specific to their sports needs, to increase stability, balance, functional range of motion and work on injury prevention,” Gust said.

Junior Emma Breyak said she joined strength and conditioning to compete at a higher level in synchro.

“I joined to get better at my sports and build up specific muscles for them. It’s nice because in the program we break up into groups based on our sport,” Breyak said.

Student athletes are sometimes forced to sit out games or meets due to injuries. Gust said her coaches aim to rid student athletes of this problem with prehab.

“Prehab basically means as students go into their sport the things they’re at high risk for, in their sport, we’ve protected them from the best way we can for those types of injuries,” Gust said. “So hopefully when these athletes go into their season they’re a little more unbreakable.”

For example, swimmers and baseball players have a lot of shoulder issues due to the repetitive motion required in the sports. Gust said Strength and Conditioning strengthens the muscles around the areas to reduce the risk of injury during their sport season.

The last part of practice is prehab. It lasts about 20-40 minutes depending on the day according to Gust.

“We do lifting for about 50 minutes followed by 20-40 minutes for what we call our sports specific workouts, which includes prehab and any exercises based on the sport the kids are getting ready for,” Gust said.

To get involved in Strength and Conditioning, sign up in the Athletic Office. Practices are held Monday through Thursday.