Around this time of year, many students are worried about final exams, final grades, and many other factors as the end of the spring semester is approaching. For student-athletes, it is also a time to better themselves, both physically and mentally.

The student-athletes who participate in sports during the fall and winter seasons are currently participating in offseason lifting programs. This time of year is a chance for student-athletes to achieve physical goals of gaining or losing weight. It also gives them chance to work on improving any weaknesses from last year and improve those skills in the upcoming seasons.

“The offseason is a crucial time for us, especially in the spring,” said sophomore running back Paul Martin. “We have been focusing especially on our conditioning with our football coaches: we go over plays almost every day, and since we’re in spring ball right now, we lift light in the weight room.”

The workouts are set up and monitored by strength and conditioning coach/fitness coordinator Coach Keith Klahold, with the help of his assistant, Coach Chris. Even if a student is not an athlete but goes down to the fitness room (located in the basement of the Arnaud C. Marts Center), these two coaches will almost always be seen together.

Student-athletes are signed up to a website called TeamBuilder. Through this app/website, there are certain workouts that must be completed throughout the week.

There are two days when a student-athlete can come in on his/her own time to complete the workouts. On the other two days, student-athletes are supposed to lift with their teammates at a certain time in the morning or in the afternoon.

Sophomore swimmer Michael Henne said, “The team usually works out together, and since the guys and the girls have the same workouts, we can all lift together, which makes us even closer as a team. We always work out Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, as well as being able to swim at the local YMCA.”

The sport a student plays will determine how often a student-athlete will have to work out. While sports like swimming work out three days a week, other sports, like wrestling and basketball, work out four days a week

Sophomore wrestler Billy Bici said, “Since this the second offseason I will have under my belt, I already know what to expect and what I need to work on. The goal is to just get better and better, year after year.”

The offseason is a crucial time for any sports team. It is the time of the year that can pre-determine a team’s success, depending on whether a team just slouches around as a whole, or collectively works hard together to ensure a chance of having a successful season and ultimately bring home championships.