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The MSU Denver Strength & Conditioning Program and its coaches are tasked with the training and development of 230 athletes, spread across 16 NCAA Division II varsity teams who compete for the MSU Denver Athletics Department. Daily, 160 athletes utilize our training program, equipment and facilities, beginning at 5:00 am, with our final team leaving the weight room at 6:30 pm. Our program has 1 committed volunteer, part-time assistant and 1 full-time head strength and conditioning coach with a tenure of 4 years in the position, in addition to another 3 years as a human perfomances and sport medicine adjunct faculty member.
It is our vision to become a premiere program nationwide but, we understand that we have to “crawl before we can walk.” In order to achieve our vision, we know that we will have to adhere to our mission statement daily, as well as market our program to visionaries who might consider lending the support needed to obtain tangible resources for premiere program building.
The purpose of THIS project is to create a fully functional and fully equipped weight room within the confines of the current room. MSU Denver Strength and Conditioning wasn’t fully equipped during its inception. Basic everyday needs (ie lifting belts, med balls, bands, etc) where grandfathered from a random mix of previous sport’s supply within the past 5-10 years. Also, due to the bidding process, the higher quality equipment was replaced with cheaper equipment, and that equipment is begging to break after one year. Full funding of this project would provide MSU Denver Strength and Conditioning with the top quality infrastructure to assure the current weight room can optimally, and safely handle our 600+ athlete a week workload.
Lifting chalk allows athletes to safely and more effectively grip lifting bars. $25 sponsors chalk for the full academic year.
Technique dowels allow us to practice proper posture and lifting technique without risking injury. $50 sponsors a brand new set of technique dowels.
Mini-Bands can be used anywhere – on the field, at home, in the gym, or even when traveling. A gifts of $100 purchases a brand new set of mini bands for our gym.
Technique blocks allow for consistency as we learn to lift and achieve our strength goals. Working individual parts of weightlifting movements is accomplished either by using blocks or through the hang position - when using the blocks, the athlete begins the movement from exactly the same position each time, as opposed to the hang which results in varying starting positions.
$250 purchases a new set of power bands for elastic resistance training. One of the most important benefits of elastic resistance is that, unlike free weights, it does not rely on gravity to provide resistance. This increases its potential for use in more functional movement patterns that mimic both everyday activities and sport-specific activities.
Specialty bars that are perfect for working the traps with shoulder shrug exercises or any other exercise where the athlete should be in the center of gravity. We need a brand new set of 10 bars, and with a gift of $400, you can help us purchase them.