Pushing yourself to finish that last rep, legs pumping to complete the drill in good time, listening intently to the coaches instructions. Sound familiar?
It should to many athletes at the high school who condition for their sport.
Conditioning is a regular activity for the many athletes at school who participate in a sport.
The main goal of conditioning is to get athletes ready for the upcoming or current season by improving their playing performance according to a fitness and conditioning website.
Fitness-Training-Solutions says it is crucial for an athlete to keep up with regular exercise or risk losing any improvements they may have made in earlier conditioning. They also say this is why it is so common to see teams conditioning months before a season.
Junior Michael Zacks, who plays on the boys varsity soccer team, said he and the team conditioned before the start of the season.
“We started June 4, so we’d be well prepared for the season,” Zacks explained.
Sophomore Alex Delap plays on the football team and conditions with his fellow teammates.
“We start in the winter to make sure we’re ready by the time the season starts,” Delap said.
Fitness-Training-Solutions claims conditioning has always been a major part of athletics because of how it is designed to improve the players’ skills and physical capabilities.
Players say the results from the conditioning don’t go unnoticed.
“Conditioning makes you a better player,” Delap said. “It makes you stronger, faster and increases your reflexes.”
Sophomore Katie Grady, who plays on the girls varsity soccer team, agrees with Delap’s opinion on conditioning.
“You really get in shape and ready for the season,” Grady explained.
The conditioning is tailored to the sport and what the players need to work on the most to benefit themselves on the field, WebMD said.
Soccer players like Grady direct their attention to their lower bodies because speed and agility are important aspects of the sport.
“We had to do a lot of drills and running during the practices,” Grady said.
Football players, on the other hand, exercise both the lower and upper body.
“We lifted weights for our upper body and ran sprints for better speed,” Delap said.
The website WebMD claims that conditioning can sometimes be hard on the players, both physically and mentally.
Fitness-Training-Solutions said if the exercises are done incorrectly, players can lose much needed strength and energy that is important for players over the course of a season.
“[Conditioning] was really hard,” Grady said. “I didn’t enjoy it very much.”
No matter how grueling or hard the conditioning is, Delap, Grady and Zacks can’t deny that it has had a large impact on their performance as athletes.
“I believe conditioning gives me an edge over other players,” Delap said.
Zacks said he also sees the results when it’s time to compete.
“The conditioning makes you fit and really benefits you on the field,” Zacks said.
Published September 2007. Digitized 2025.