In preparation for the upcoming state championships in January, members of the powerlifting team are taking on a new and tougher workout routine.

The girls’ team has already tried out the regimen to great success, so much so that it has won the state competition two years running.

“[The girls] have done really well with it in the past, they are so good now that they are going to enter in the adult competition instead of a teen division,” Coach Spero Tshontikidis said.

Boris Sheiko, Tshontikidis’ former mentor, developed the system.

“I have been doing the new workout for a while now, and at first I was dying,” Tshontikidis said. “It really is very strenuous, but our guys are ready,”

The workout is designed to increase the lifter’s endurance while also maintaining good form and can be modified to suit the lifter’s age.

“The important thing is to have perfect technique, because it is a high volume workout,” Tshontikidis said. “We do bench press everyday, and squat twice a week.”

Sophomore Stone Kershaw said the new routine provides an opportunity for the boys’ team as a whole to improve.

“It is probably going to be really difficult, but I know it will help me get better and I’m excited for that,” Kershaw said.

By Matthew Jones