Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Rapid RIver’s James Gillmer performs a deadlift at the Rapid River High School weight training facility in Rapid River Thursday.

RAPID RIVER — The Rapid River Rockets have a trick in their repertoire that has positively impacted their athletics program across the board: a year-round weight training program.

The program has been overseen by Scott Larson for the last few years.

“It’s been a couple years since we’ve really gotten people going,” he said. “It kinda started with Gunnar (Larson). We started coming in here with him as a freshman, and then it just grew. We kept at it and eventually coach O (Steve Ostrenga) just told me to give it a shot.”

The program started as something informal, but it has grown into a beneficial pillar across all of Rapid River’s sports programs.

“I’ve been coaching for 28 years as far as within the program,” Rapid River football and track coach Steve Ostrenga said. “The program’s been up or down, but if you ask any kid or do any research, if you want to get better as an athlete, the weight room is one of the keys. The difficult part is getting all the athletes to buy into it. Some years you get more and some less, but the years you get people to buy into it, normally we do better as a program. Not just football, but (our whole program). This weight room will benefit anybody and everybody.

“I can’t preach enough how important the weight room is to be an explosive athlete and just a better athlete.”

With the number of participants increasing, the club settled on a training formula.

“We break up the muscle groups into four sections,” Scott Larson said. “We focus in on legs. Legs, obviously, are the root of the flower, so we focus on one, if not two, leg days a week. Some kids like and some hate it, but it’s the most important. Then we do a chest and back and a bi(ceps) and tri(ceps) day. On one of those days we work on speed work, too.

“We kind of cater to what the kids want to improve on, too. It’s not just all weight training. It just depends on their goals.”

The program took its first trip to the Upper Peninsula State Championship in powerlifting last March in Newberry, taking numerous places.

“It was the first time we’d ever gone, and we were real successful,” Scott Larson said. “Gunnar won his division and was second overall. Ahna (Larson) was second overall and won her division as well, and we had several seconds and some thirds. For the first year, they did really well.”

Another huge bonus to members of the club are the intangible benefits of participating.

“I think the program itself builds character, but I see that it gives the kids more confidence overall,” Scott Larson said. “And confidence helps overall.”

Ishmael Hernandez took second in his division and felt that lifting has had a positive impact on his life.

“I’ve been involved about nine months now and I’ve really been getting into it,” he said. “Honestly, it’s been life changing for me. It feels great, and it’s really helped improve myself with sports and in life.

“You can just come in here and it’s a place you can be yourself.”

One of the female regulars, Myah Paulin, echoed those sentiments.

“It’s good to get in shape over the summer,” she said. “I think it’s going to improve my athletics and other sports. The people here are nice and they accept you.”

Daymn Smith made his way to the weight room through a love of football.

“After this football season, I decided I just love football and I found out I loved this too,” he said. “The weights have been going up crazy and I’ve really been able to see my progress.”

The benefits of weight training are hard to overstate in athletics, in mentality and in general. It’s just a matter of getting started.

“Everyone’s worried when they come in,” Ostrenga said. “You just have to get over it and not worry about what you can lift or what someone else can lift.”