ANDERSON, S.C. – In its ongoing efforts to continually upgrade and enhance athletic facilities campus-wide, the Anderson University Athletics Department has completely renovated its weight room with the goal of having it ready to go by the time the first student-athletes arrive on campus in mid-August.
"This will be a huge advantage [for our student-athletes]," said Associate Director of Athletics for Development Mark Vaughan. "People have told me this weight room is probably in the top 10 percent of all non-football NCAA Division-II schools. This is a great investment. I'm excited, thrilled and very proud that we are able to add this piece of the puzzle."
The enhanced exercise weight room features equipment from Sorinex, which works with hundreds of colleges and high schools and more than 90 percent of NFL teams and is in use at Kentucky, Clemson, LSU, Duke and South Carolina. It includes eight versatile power racks and additional free weights that will enable Trojan student-athletes to increase their strength and endurance. The existing treadmills will be accompanied by an assault air bike, enabling student-athletes to improve aerobic capacity and rehabilitate injuries, as it provides safe movement with no impact.
"Each power rack has enough apparatus so that as many as five athletes are able to work out on each rack," added Vaughan. "As many as 40 student-athletes will be able to use the racks. One of the great advantages is that team members won't have to rotate stations when they are working out. Here, you can simply pull a few pegs and reset the apparatus. There are probably 20 different workouts that you can do at each station."
There are also four glute machines, which target hamstring muscle areas and are especially useful in helping female athletes avoid potentially career-ending ACL injuries. AstroTurf has donated turf that will also enable the addition of sleds, which will help athletes train for explosive power in addition to strength, stabilization and balance.
"The ability to have a new weight room is certainly a significant step in moving our entire athletic department forward," said Director of Athletics Bill D'Andrea. "I know our coaches are excited about the new addition and I am sure our student-athletes will be excited when they return. Strength and conditioning are critical to athletic success. Not only will weight lifting prevent injuries, increase stamina and strength for our athletes, but it will also provide an opportunity for our athletes to develop to their full potential. We will certainly utilize it as a recruiting tool to recruit top quality athletes that fit our mission."
The highly-anticipated renovation is expected to be completed sometime during the first week of August.
Vaughan noted that student-athletes will be required to have either an assistant coach or head coach in attendance when working out.
"And we anticipate adding a full-time Strength and Conditioning Coach at the start of the next fiscal year, so we'll begin interviewing for that position early in the spring semester," said Vaughan.
