Creating a High School Gym (Underground Style) Part I I always thought about how I would transform my old high school s gym. In fact, I think about it more and more since their athletic teams have grown increasingly weaker through the years. How do I know they are weaker besides the fact that they keep losing more than they win? Several reasons tell me why: 1) The varsity football team is on a 4 year losing streak. When I was in high school they won states twice. I used to see the team training in the weight room all the time doing all basics: bench, squat, military press, all heavy. 2) The wrestling team has taken quite the beating as well last time they won a district title was in 1995. Most of their close matches are lost due to weak athletes being dominated by a stronger opponent or out conditioned. 95 % of them don t even strength train in the off season! 3) The boys baseball team won the states and was ranked 2 nd in the USA in 1993, they haven t won the county title for at least 5 or 6 years. Back in the early 90 s, the same kids who played Football also played Baseball, and I always saw them in the gym working on the basics, going heavy.
I have many more reasons why, but the info in this article will hopefully help you build your own gym, help you help your old high school, or possibly help you to build your own gym for a business! If you can help your old high school you ll be giving back a great gift! Let s take a look at the current high school gym. It s not too bad actually. There are two platforms for dead lifting or doing Olympic lifts. It s not a true Oly platform, it s just a 4 large wood platform shaped like a rectangle that separates your area from the rest of the gym. It works and that s what counts. There are two power racks (both with pull up bars), an incline bench, three flat benches, a few utility benches, a dip bar, dumbbells, a back extension and plyo boxes. That was the good stuff. Here s the bad and the ugly, all of which I d trash to make some extra room: Leg extension machine Leg curl machine Squat machine Hammer strength jammer Seated calf raise Neck machine Universal military press Pull down machine Stair climber machine Maybe you didn t want to hear me say how I would trash the above, but this gym is small and needs room for the good stuff. With out hesitation, I would like to see the leg machines and pull down against the wall removed to make room for various weights / sizes of kegs and sandbags, similar to Allen Hendrick s set up at Air Force.
Above / below: The Air Force Academy Set Up! Paradise! I have watched too many athletes sit on that stupid leg extension when they could have been squatting with sandbags or lifting kegs. Why squat with sandbags instead of using the trustworthy barbell back squat you ask? The majority of these athletes are too weak to perform a back squat properly. Their posterior chain can t support the weight and before we even talk about posterior chain, they can t even do 1 correct bodyweight squat! This is a common problem for young athletes. We must BUILD them into strong athletes. Once they master many bodyweight movements such as lunges, step ups, squats, push ups, pull ups, back extensions, dips, leg raises and sit ups then we can start working on some basic sandbag lifts and carries. I watched kids at this high school trying to back squat and the bar would crush them forwards, turning this into a half squat, half good
morning, half break your neck (no such thing as three halves but you get the point)! They had to squat down to the bungee cord that was on the power rack which the Coach set up for some odd reason. I would use the plyo boxes for box squatting to reinforce proper squat technique in the new gym. Start with bodyweight box squats, then regular bodyweight squats, then sandbag dead lifts and carries, then zercher squats with sandbags. Eventually we could do the back squats with a barbell using a box to reinforce proper technique. I would need a good staple of dumbbells as well. Exercises like 1 arm snatches, 1 arm clean and press, 1 arm push presses, 1 arm rows these are all great for high school kids and I have found that teaching Olympic lifting moves with 1 dumbbell is easier than with a barbell. They work great using 1 dumbbell and the other side of the body works hard to stabilize during the exercise. You can find old hex dumbbells or old commercial dumbbells at garage sales, gym closings, and e bay. I snagged some of mine from old gyms in Newark, NJ and gym closings for barely any cost at all. So don t worry, the weights do not need to match in shape, color and size! Above, below: Plenty of rusty iron to make an Underground gym happy
Don t forget, once we progress we can squat with the bag on our shoulder as well. If we really need to progress slowly, we use the sandbag for bent knee dead lifting. If we have kegs we can do the squat / dead lift by bear hugging the keg and lifting it. Round back strength, static strength while squeezing the keg tight, leg strength, upper back strength, lower back strength, grip work the keg bear hug lift works em all! Above, an Underground gym in Yugoslavia. A pair of crappy squat stands works just fine in an Underground gym. It s all about heart here my friends. That s a rock bottom 704 lb. squat pictured above.
Let s not forget about getting the free stuff! We can get tires of all sizes for flipping, military pressing, dragging, rowing, pressing and more. There is no need to buy sleds unless you can afford them. If you can t afford them, simply use tires! Tires = free delivery and no cost most of the time. The tire drags forwards, backwards and laterally will improve lower body strength big time. The lateral drags are great for helping reduce the number of non contact injuries that so many field athletes get from simply changing directions. What about toughness? Who will develop the mentally tougher team? A) The team that uses kegs, sandbags, tires, and heavy free weight basics OR B) The team that does leg extensions, leg curls and concentration curls I think we all know the answer here! The key here is that you must take action to set up a gym like this. Don t let the gym get cluttered with junk machines that do nothing for improving an athlete s strength and overall performance. Some tips for the sandbag construction: Get various sizes / shapes of bags from an army navy store or from e bay. You can often purchase used bags from e bay in bulk and they will do plenty fine. You don t need new bags. Have bags that weigh anywhere from 25 100 lbs, and yes, you can make some monster bags of 125 150 lbs for the STRONG athletes who can use these bags with proper form. Don t worry, I have kids who can do squats and shouldering using the 100 lb. bag who weight 125 130 lbs. They did progress slowly though, starting with only a 50 lb bag. Mark the weight of the bags so athletes know what they are working with. Keep the bags organized, just like a dumbbell rack. Have the bags placed against the wall from lightest to heaviest. Take photos of the exercises and have them laminated and placed on the walls for constant reminders on form.
If your school has the money, do what Ethan Reeve does with the TV s. He plays videos of the Olympic lifting training halls so his athletes can be motivated by the Olympic lifting on TV AS WELL as having visuals for reinforcing proper form on O lifts. Notes for setting up Kegs in the weight room: Kegs require more room when in use than sandbags. The water can throw the athlete around quite easily at first, so to play it safe, start using kegs outside with a safety circle around the athlete. Basically, it s good to have a 6 foot radius all around. Exercises like shouldering, cleaning, rotational movements and snatches can make it difficult to stay grounded in one place. If they need to drop the keg, being outside on the grass allows them to let go with safety. Being inside does not allow this luxury. Emphasize safety!
Use various sizes and weights. Empty kegs might be plenty hard enough for newbees. Use half kegs for snatches and rotations. Use half kegs for anyone who needs to go lighter! Have various keg weights by 10 lb jumps. Line them against the wall from lightest to heaviest. Most schools have storage sheds / trailers. If you don t have room in the gym for the kegs, store them in the shed / trailers. This gives you perfect access to them for the outdoors. Once again, have visuals for these exercises so they are always on the wall or on TV for athletes to see. If done outdoors, have an experienced upper classmen or a Coach shouting out verbal cues constantly. This helps improve and keep proper form. If it s winter time and you re in the cold weather states, you might think twice about tire / sled training outdoors. Mike Boyle gave me a great idea for indoor sled training. Get large beach towels and partner up inside the gymnasium. You can drag by holding the towel (grip work) and your partner sits on the towel. This is perfect for the wood flooring
(doesn t damage floors, sled work indoors / year round) and you can still get a killer lower body work out! In part II of this article I ll be going over how to get the funds for setting up your own gym. I know that not all equipment is free, there are always expenses. So you ll find a way to take your free equipment and use it to get your school what you want / need! Stay tuned! Zach Even Esh is a Performance Coach for Combat Athletes located in NJ. For more innovative training methods with workouts that produce brutal results go to