The Pleasant Valley weightlifting program is renowned for developing athletes into the best person they can be. This reputation has been led by head lifting coach Ryan Arnold.
PV athletics have seen incredible success in recent history. During the 2022-23 school year, PV sent 18 out of 21 sports to the state tournament, and PV’s weightlifting program had a big role in this success.
Weightlifting builds muscle, improves bone strength and stabilizes connective tissues such as ligaments and tendons. When athletes take weightlifting seriously, they improve their performance in their sport and decrease the likelihood of injuries.
“In my experiences here at Pleasant Valley, the athletes that buy in turn out to be some of the best athletes on the team…If athletes want to maximize athletic potential and reduce injuries, the weight room is going to help them with that,” said Arnold
Drew Geerts is a varsity football player that has never endured a serious injury from sports. He believes his dedication to the weight room has allowed him to stay healthy through four years of football. “I think that lifting has helped me to grow a lot, especially for sports purposes,” said Geerts.
Coach Arnold creates the lifting program that has developed so many dominant athletes. He uses the TeamBuildr app to make and track workouts. This app allows him to monitor how much athletes are lifting every workout.
Arnold has also adapted to using “stoplight” lifts. This schedule is used for in-season athletes to ensure they continue to build muscle while staying relatively fatigue-free on game days.
On “green light” days, when the athlete is two or more days away from competition, the athlete is responsible for completing every set and rep. On “yellow light” days, when the athlete is lifting a day before competition, athletes will do half the reps of every set of their main exercises. On “red light” days, when the athlete competes that day, they do half the reps and skip the last set of their main exercises.
Geerts likes the addition of stoplight lifting. “I thought the stoplight system was super beneficial. It primed us for games without tiring out muscles. During football I think it was super helpful in retaining muscle and feeling good on game day,” explained Geerts.
These recent changes are only the tip of the iceberg on the level of adaptation Arnold has implemented over the years. “We evaluate athletes every year and look at what the needs of certain athletes or sports might need for that year. This is something we’ve tried to add more of every year to get athletes to buy into what we are coaching,” said Arnold.
With years of success under their belt, the PV weightlifting program continues to develop high quality athletes. These efforts are clearly demonstrated in the limited amount of injuries PV athletes have suffered.
