It used to be that fall two-a-days marked the start of the new athletic season for high schools across Texas.

But the times, they have a-changed, and through the years, athletes – not just football players – have started earlier and earlier as they prepare for a new year. Many schools have adopted summer conditioning programs, including Westlake, which is wrapping up its Summer Circle of Champions conditioning program this week.

The Summer Circle of Champions, one of the various camps offered through the Eanes school district this summer, gave district students, many of them athletes at the middle or high school level, an in-depth look at conditioning, how to get in peak shape and how to retain that level of training.

“Our program is a seven-week progressive program designed for athletes,” said Steven Womack, Westlake High School’s strength and conditioning coordinator. “It focuses on the whole body, physical strength, mental strength, holistic and functional training. Our goal is to allow all of these kids to become leaders.”

Participants from all sports and from across Eanes have spent either their mornings or late afternoons pounding the track at Chaparral Stadium or moving iron inside the weight room at the high school. They were divided out by age and gender. The largest group of high school boys worked out from 7-9 a.m. Girls and middle school boys worked out from 9:30-11:30 a.m. High school boys who couldn’t work out in the morning attended a 5-7 p.m. session.

Approximately 200 students ranging from middle schoolers to WHS varsity athletes paid for the opportunity to spend four days a week for seven weeks working harder than they’ve worked before. In two-hour workouts, they’ve run laps around the track and up and down the bleachers of Chaparral Stadium. They’ve pushed blocking sleds, worked on plyometrics and listened to lectures about nutrition. They’ve sprinted, sweated, lifted and stretched.

“We’ve focused on different muscle groups each day to allow for full recovery between workouts,” Womack said. “Each day has started with an extensive warm-up and stretching program that is designed to reduce the risk of injury and enable the body to move faster.”
The instructors have been impressed.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to find another group of kids who have worked as hard this summer as these kids have,” said Larry Embrey, who teaches and works in athletics at Hill Country Middle School.

“It’s been amazing to see how the kids have adhered to what we’re doing,” said Womack, who ran a similar program at Odessa Permian before joining the staff at Westlake last spring. “These are very smart kids, and they are very enthusiastic about what we’re asking.”
The work is all part of a plan that should help them hit their fall season – no matter the sport or the school – in top shape and armed with the basic knowledge of how to stay in shape.

“The program allows the kids to come into their sport of choice with a better understanding of their conditioning,” Womack said. “Taking care of conditioning in the summer allows everyone to start in shape and means athletes are less likely to suffer an injury. They are more likely to be quicker, stronger and faster.

“And it allows the individual coaches to focus on their sport and not so much on conditioning.”

The primary seven-week session ends this week with a celebration at Deep Eddy Pool catered by Abel’s on the Lake, Womack said. He was quick to point out that he’s worked with the restaurant to plan a healthy menu, taking one more chance to reinforce the nutrition aspect of the program.

“We’re going to have fun and celebrate what we’ve accomplished,” he said. “But at the same time, we want to reinforce that it is possible to make good choices even when you’re eating at a restaurant.”

Womack said the program has been such a success this summer that he’s opening up a shorter three-week August session up to all students who want to register. Previously, that had been planned for middle schoolers only.

Registration forms can be found on the Westlake High School web page at whschaps.com.