Outside the Robinson High School weight room is a TV displaying a wide range of results and leaderboards showcasing the hard work inside the weight room. The small school in Illinois has made it a point to highlight students’ success because they want to reinforce the importance of strength and conditioning. Scott Rawlings, athletic trainer and strength coach, says that the strength and conditioning program has become a great source of pride for everyone at Robinson High School,
“We have made a big push over the years to create a unified strength and conditioning program that supports all our student-athletes at the school. And now we have hit our stride and are seeing the rewards of our unified system.”
When Scott says unified, he means that the athletes, coaches, and teams are all working together towards a common goal. As a result, they have more buy-in, better results, and a system that supports everyone involved. Here is how Robinson High School has transformed its strength and conditioning program.
Robinson High School’s Push From Clunky To Coordinated
Robinson High School has always tried to emphasize the importance of strength and conditioning. But in the past, Scott says that the program was relatively disjointed,
“Our different sports teams were all over the place when it came to training. It just wasn’t working for our school, which has so many multi-sport athletes. We were missing out on maximizing results.”
Beyond the silos of teams training separately, Scott says that their ability to manage and track everything was also proving to be rather clunky,
“We had everything in spreadsheets and printouts. And so, it became rather complicated when students were transitioning from in and out of season. It just wasn’t an effective way to run a program for an entire school.”
As a result, Scott pushed to create a coordinated approach for all athletes and coaches at the school.
Unified Strength and Conditioning – The High School Dream
When Robinson High School set out to create a unified strength and conditioning program, Scott says that the goal was to create a cohesive approach that would benefit everyone involved,
“There are many different benefits to creating a unified strength and conditioning program. First, students see the importance of strength and conditioning, no matter what sport or sports they play. Second, coaches don’t have to compete for athletes’ time.”
More importantly, Scott believed that athletes would benefit from a well-rounded approach to training, regardless of what sports they played,
“A football player needs to develop speed and agility just as much as a basketball player. And vice versa, a basketball player will benefit from strength and power work in the weight room. We want to build and develop the complete picture of athletic performance.”
To help support the goal of a unified strength and conditioning program, Scott also wanted to add a training platform that would help coordinate all the different components,
“We went with PLT4M because it allowed us to manage everything that went into our strength and conditioning program. And, it still gave us the freedom to tweak and modify workouts to fit our specific needs and goals at Robinson High School.”
PLT4M In Action at Robinson High School
As Robinson High School started to push towards a unified strength and conditioning program, Scott says that PLT4M had a wide variety of benefits for everyone involved. For coaches, Scott explains how it created a common ground for training and expectations,
“With PLT4M, the coaches could trust and know what was happening in the weight room. It also helped many of our coaches who didn’t have much experience in the weight room get comfortable with being in there with athletes.”
For students, Scott describes how PLT4M helped make the workouts flow like a well-oiled machine,
“Students have everything they need for a workout right on their phones. One of the biggest benefits of PLT4M is the instructional videos that come with every exercise. It helps build confidence, answer questions, and get everyone speaking the same language about form and technique in the weight room.”
Bonus Content: Every exercise assigned in a workout comes paired with an instructional video.
Reaping The Rewards of Unified Strength and Conditioning
Now, during a typical day at Robinson High School, upwards of 70 or more athletes come to the weight room to work out. As a small school of just 450 students, Scott says that a crowded weight room is an excellent problem to have,
“The buy-in from our athletes has been incredible. Just this past summer, we had over 85-90% attendance from our male and female athletes.”
And beyond attendance and participation, Scott highlights the impact the strength and conditioning program is having on athletic performance,
“The focus on speed, strength, and the total development of our athletes has translated to the field, court, and track. You can see how our athletes compete at a higher level now that the strength and conditioning program is paying off.”
Better yet, one of the biggest benefits to the unified approach is the way it has brought everyone together,
“Our kids work hard and are committed. They also get excited for each other as they start to make progress. But because we all work together as coaches to be mindful of schedules, students still get the freedom to be kids.”
Key Takeaways From Robinson High School’s Unified Strength and Conditioning Program
Robinson High School set out to make strength and conditioning a part of every student-athlete’s schedule. And with a coordinated approach, the school has seen the impact in and out of the weight room. Scott reflects on the power of a unified approach,
“It has been amazing for all our different coaches and athletes to unite. And it has more benefits than I can even describe.”
Now, as the school continues to evolve the strength and conditioning program, Scott says that new additions will continue to develop the approach,
“We are getting tablets to go into the weight room. Phones and PLT4M work great, but adding new technology can help us push this even further within places like physical education.”
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