Music blares loudly in Millard North’s weight room as athletes, ranging from football, soccer, swim, and basketball programs, converse with their respective teams in 7th hour Weight Training.

Gym teachers and coaches decided earlier this year to modify 7th hour Weight Training class to be more specific and specialized towards athletes. Though they share the same name, the new 7th hour Weight Training is only for these athletes. With this class, athletes can get their necessary training during the school day to decrease the time they have to stay before or after school and get a P.E. credit in the process.

A typical day in Weight Training for sophomore three-sport athlete Alaina Hutchinson looks along these lines:

She arrives and looks on the app TeamBuildr Training on her phone to find out what her workout looks like for the day. Fluctuating between workouts like hang cleans, weightlifting, different sets, and cardio workouts, schedules and activities differing each day always keep athletes on their toes.

In previous years, athletes needed to stay hours after school due to demanding weight training and practice schedules. Waiting for other sports so teams could use the facilities also added to the time spent. Sophomore three-sport athlete in cross country, track, and basketball Alaina Hutchinson has seen benefits as to what this class has done to decrease wait times.

“With having pre-season and other sports [also training after school] it’s usually hard to get a field or get into the weight room. So by having a 7th hour where you can weightlift, kids can actually have free time at night [because we’re not staying at school so late],” Hutchinson said.

Staying late limits athletes’ abilities to join other extracurricular activities, get a possible job, and can even put them behind in completing homework and getting a sufficient amount of sleep. This semester-long class can help students combat these fatigues.

Boys basketball coach and gym teacher Michael Etzelmiller noticed how overworked athletes were becoming after being required to stay until much later times, and decided something had to be done.

“This is the first year that we’ve done [the Weight Training class]. Getting people who are engaged in training and who want to come to class to improve their abilities and their athleticism [is our goal]. We want to gear this class towards benefiting the athlete and the individual themselves,” Etzelmiller said.

Hutchinson has seen an improvement in a multitude of ways, as this class has reached its overall goal of helping her athletically, as well as her as a student and a person.

“I’ve gotten stronger, which is helpful for basketball and shooting, and it definitely helps me mentally,” Hutchinson said. “It gave me time to get my homework done and I have time to relax [and] more time to myself.”

Alleviating students’ stress levels isn’t the only way the class impacts athletes. This class also allows students to attain the necessary gym credits to graduate, while providing additional time for athletes to bond as a team.

Swim coach and gym teacher Andrew Cunningham incentivized his swimmers to join 7th hour Weight Training, has seen how this class improves the team as a whole, and how apparent it is from the perspective of someone who doesn’t teach the class.

“I find it beneficial to have them be able to lift together and build rapport with each other. They motivate each other,” Cunningham said.

Junior Boys Basketball player Major Mosser is affected as an individual and a whole team in the process. By having the same 7th hour, he has more classes with his teammates earlier in the day as well.

“It’s super valuable that before school ends we can also get P.E. credits while we’re also coming together as a basketball team and getting better,” Mosser said.

The physical education curriculum cycles every two years, during which improvements take place and even new classes are implemented, like 7th hour Weight training for athletes this year. Coaches are already planning for the next cycle and have new ideas for classes.

When the curriculum is revised district-wide in a few years, the goal is to have a sports performance class that includes more sport-specific exercises and workouts.

Whilst Weight Training is composed of athletes from across the board, providing a unique opportunity for athletes to train during the school day, it’s entirely possible that teams soon could have their own class and take team bonding to the next level.