“73 percent of high school students regularly do not get a healthy amount of sleep,” (healthline). A majority of students are negatively affected by a lack of sleep. Many of these students included last year’s early bird lifters. However, with the new changes to the Advanced Lifting schedule, these high numbers may decline.
While the lifting schedule has remained the same for many years, it is changing this year. In previous years, advanced lifting occurred around 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. Now early bird lifting classes start at 7 a.m. and 12:05 p.m.
“I have noticed like athletes getting worn down a little bit more, so that was kind of like my big thing is why we wanted to change it,” said Pleasant Valley’s strength and conditioning coach Ryan Arnold. Making the schedule changes allows the athletes more sleep, which is beneficial for improving the quality of their lifts. Sleep releases hormones that help repair the muscle fibers in the body. It is especially helpful to rest the body after any amount of physical exertion.
Students hold mixed opinions about the new advanced lifting schedule. Many appreciate the extra half hour of sleep they are getting with the new schedule. “I like how I don’t have to wake up early anymore, but I like to be able to go home after lifting,” said Will Dekezel, a varsity football player.
Due to the little amount of time between first period and early bird, athletes are forced to bring their school bag and clothes to school as well as shower in the downstairs locker rooms.
With the issue of a lack of sleep being solved, a new problem arises; athletes are not able to go home and shower or get ready for school after early bird lifting. Varsity Shot Put Thrower Mackenzie Fah voiced her issue with the new schedule, “Your daily routine is more jam packed and stressful in the morning.”
As a result of the changes made to advanced lifting, athletes either stay in early bird lifting or are moved to fifth period lifting. After being moved from early bird to fifth period lifting, Dekezel states, “[Last year] I would wake up and have no energy for the lift and I would feel so weak. [Now] I feel like I’m stronger, more energized and get a better lift.”
Lifting later in the day gives the athletes a chance to benefit more from the lift from being more focused and being able to eat after. Eating lunch directly after a lift will help the athletes develop their muscles from the intake of protein. For many athletes this is seen as another positive to the changes made to advanced lifting.
Changes to the advanced lifting schedule have spurred split opinions for both athletes and the lifting staff. Many enjoy the extra sleep, but others miss being able to have the time to prepare for school. While sleep is very important and provides much needed rest, athletes still have different outlooks about changes to their daily routine.
