For high school athletes, a fundamental part of sports is offseason training when teams gather for workouts to prepare for their upcoming seasons, as it promotes team bonding and physical health and fitness.

Offseason workouts often include weight lifting and cardio exercises to help keep players in shape. The basic goals of offseason trainings are to provide a base level of conditioning, prepare the body for more intense training and combat muscle imbalances to reduce the risk of injuries, according to an April 2016 LinkedIn article.

Many teams have preseason workout schedules that can range from a couple days a week to every day. To prepare for their most recent season, varsity football started workouts as early as Jan. 2 in which they trained nearly every weekday and then up to five days a week over the summer.

“[We have these workouts] to get [the players] acclimated to what they’re going to face as soon as they get the helmets and pads on and everything they’re going to have to do as soon as they get here so that when they get here, it’s not a shock to their body or anything,” varsity football head coach Jason Lomax said. “They’ve been working out all along so it’s just second nature to them.”

Aside from muscle building and endurance training, these workouts reveal the players’ dedication to the team, even if they had not played last season. Regular attendance to the offseason workouts sets a precedent for students to be committed to all activities associated with their team.

“It really [made me excited for the regular season]; I was ready to put on the pads [and] it showed my commitment because I was there for the team every day and I still am,” said sophomore offensive tackle and middle linebacker Luke Hill, who attended 96 percent of all football workouts (122 workouts) since January.

An essential part of any team, whether it is sports related or not, is the strong relationship among teammates. In sports, players must build trust between each other in order to have a cohesive and powerful team to face opponents competitively. These offseason workouts often promote early team bonding which is meant to translate to the regular season.

“You get to know each other before you’re actually on the team,” junior softball player Kelly FitzGerald said, “and junior varsity and varsity get to know each other better so they’re more supportive during the actual season.”