After years of pushing for strength training, senior Savannah Romero finally received the chance to participate in this new kind of exercise with the gymnastics team.

“(Our old coach) only liked doing the body weight and endurance stuff,” Romero said. “She didn’t like the lifting because she didn’t think it was that beneficial. So (this year) I finally convinced our new coach.”

According to Jessica Gust, building strength is a necessity when it comes to improving at a physical activity such as gymnastics.

“(Strength training) is a critical component of athletic development. Especially for something like gymnastics,” Gust said.

Romero said they have only had one session so far, but more weight training practices are scheduled for their upcoming practices.

“(The one session we had) was kind of an intro, so we haven’t really done much, but I’m excited to see what we will do in the weeks to come,” Romero said.

According to sophomore Maddie Olson, gymnastics, like any sport, requires strength and training.

“Gymnastics requires so much strength and (the sessions) will give us more strength and endurance,” Olson said.

Romero said she was excited to see where the training would take them and that she believed the coaching will be extremely beneficial to them in the long run.

“In order to get a lot of these new skills, we need to be able to have that body strength. So doing lifting and getting stronger will definitely help us,” Romero said.

Olson said the training presents other opportunities as well.

“I think it’s a good team building experience because we’re doing it together and it’s just us,” Olson said.

According to Gust, the girls’ gymnastics team will train for 30 minutes once a week in the strength room.