Eric Sorenson
It’s a common theme this time of year at high schools not only here in Arizona, but all across the country.
An increase in volume and energy as you approach, maybe down a hall or neighboring campus sidewalk, the sound of clashing metal plates, blaring music, and overflowing teenage testosterone.
The high school weight room serves as a football sanctuary – just a couple months removed from their last on the field chapter, and seven long calendar turns before the dawn of a new season, this is a valuable window for players, as well as coaches.
The Foundation
Let’s start from the top.
Off-season strength and conditioning sets the tone, and for nearly all teams, the standard moving forward. It’s a single-agenda focus for the entire program. It can be as humbling, as it is gratifying. It exposes weaknesses, but builds strength – both physically and mentally.
“I believe that a team’s culture is built in the weight room,” Brophy Director of Strength & Conditioning Kyle Vanden Bosch explained to the “Zone Read.” “It’s about creating an environment where attitudes, habits and behaviors align with the team goals. They hold each other accountable, push each other and take pride in how they train.”
Congrats @Kvandenbosch93 on this honor. Strength state coach of the year! pic.twitter.com/XpadsRzkxp
— Brophy Football (@FootballBrophy) February 10, 2026
For the coaches, it serves as an off-the-field opportunity to get an ever greater finger on the pulse of their roster. Who can they depend on when things get sideways? Who will be the player-led voices in the room? Who are the coveted alphas?
“Roles are defined long before the season begins,” Vanden Bosch continued. “Leaders step up and followers do all they can to keep up. We have clear standards here at Brophy.”
The Calendar
Like AZHS’s on-the-field football evolution over the past two decades, the on campus brick and mortar spaces have seen their own transformation. Not only are many high school weight rooms bigger and better, so too are strength coaches’ blueprints for peak success. There’s more than just a method to the madness, there’s a science to help maximize goals, both in strength and speed, in relation to key dates.
“We want to ‘peak’ at certain times of the calendar year, specifically the start of spring ball and then the start of the season,” said Vanden Bosch. “At the beginning of the offseason, we want to build a base strength and emphasize proper technique with our lifts. Then we enter a strength and power phase, with an emphasis on maximizing strength and increasing power. Next we enter a speed and power phase…lastly, our in-season lifting is geared toward maintaining our strength.
“We are building the armor of our players to prepare them for the rigors of a football season.”
The Bond
Unlike a packed stadium for a big game in the fall a high school weight room, for the most part, is a space reserved for private, in-program blood, sweat and tears. More focus than flash. More steak than sizzle.
It tests teenagers during their most vulnerable, and fragile, window of growth and maturity.
It also fosters hope, builds relationships, and sets “hold the rope” standards of expectation which frequently carry over into the season.
“[The weight room] is a very important component,” Pinnacle head coach Dana Zupke said to the “Zone Read.” “Football is so different…football players spend more hours lifting and training than they do playing their sport. The football demands make it unique that way. You simply can’t play it year round.”
The weight room provides the bridge towards togetherness when they’re not on the field.
“We have our players hold each other accountable,” Zupke continued. “We believe in ‘sweat equity,’ meaning if you are not working alongside your teammate, he cannot trust you.
“We talk about OUR standard. Everyone must be accountable to that standard.”
The Impact
Consistent off-season scheduling isn’t only important for coaches, but players, as well.
Student-athletes keep busy schedules – academics/school involvement, spring sports, position training, family commitments, even part-time jobs can all be part of the equation. For all Arizona big-school programs, football, in one way or another, is a year-round commitment.
Juggling all the above can be difficult and, for some, taxing but blending off-season workouts seamlessly into the schedule, can have a positive long-term impact well into the fall.
“I balance training by staying disciplined with my schedule and making sure everything I do has a purpose,” Pinnacle star sophomore defensive end, and accomplished powerlifter, Ian Fullmer said to the “Zone Read.” “Lifting with my trainer and school lifting, speed work, and recovery all connect so, I treat it like one system instead of separate things.
Extremely grateful to have taken bench state champion for my weight and age group. Looking forward to taking squat and deadlift. Bench 297lb, deadlift 500lb, squat 500lb with comp standard form. The video posted of squat was 455. pic.twitter.com/0Ujc1wBwn1
— Ian fullmer | C/O True 28 (@Ianfullmer99) January 28, 2026
“Football is always the priority, and everything supports that.”
The Misconceptions
One school’s off-season workout program may look different from another.
Sure, there are likely similarities but, much like game plans in the fall, each staff has their own influence on weight training. Length of workouts and theories on programming, seem to be consistent talking points.
“I once got told you can’t get strong in an hour, meaning kids need to spend two to three hours a day in the weight room to improve,” Zupke said. “I don’t think that is supported by science.
“Kids, and many adults, think more is better and often don’t think about the importance of nutrition and recovery.”
Another frequent misnomer is lifting stunts growth in youth.
Nonsense according to Vanden Bosch.
“Kids don’t stop growing because they lift weights. They stop growing because of genetics.”
One thing all can agree on is this window on the calendar may not make splashy headlines or trend on social media, but the impact of strength, speed, team bonding and accountability can’t be underestimated.
