Cut-offs and ponytails

September 29, 2009 • Kadi Suarez, Online Editor  
Filed under Opinion, Sports

Girls are completely different from boys. Can I get an Amen? Physical differences would have to be the most obvious. If you were told to look at group of people and group them into a female group and a male group it would be an easy task, am I right? Even the occasional cross dresser would not cause you trouble because of how men and women are built. The muscles and make-up of their bodies are different. So why is it that boys and girls should have the same workouts?

Holton High School is commonly known for its football program, which I’m not criticizing at all; it’s a great program that coincides with an outstanding weights program. Thanks to a new weight room, numbers enrolling in lifetime fitness have increased, causing the number of girls in weights to go up as well. So far, all classes are coed and every girl and boy do the same workout.

For senior Carlene McManigal, the coed classes have benefited her as well as hurt her in her sports career. She has become a very strong athlete because of the weights program, but has developed an injury that is common in girls. If there were an all girls’ weights class, teachers could target on how to prevent injuries specifically common in girls.

“Weights keeps me in shape and makes me a better athlete, but because of the amount of weight from doing so many squats, my outer thigh is stronger than my inner thigh causing my knee cap to be misaligned,” McManigal said. “I don’t think there should be combined classes. Girls and boys have different needs and bodies. I don’t know much about it, but what we do seems to focus on the boys becoming buff rather than helping the girls become toned. Maybe we should have an all- girls’ weights class, specifically targeting girls’ needs.”

Senior Shelby Duncan was a first year weights student this year. “I wanted to try to get back into shape and to lose weight,” Duncan said about her reasoning for joining up. “I realized that girls are at a low importance when in the weight room. I think that an all girls weights class would be beneficial. We could lift weights, but not do the same workout as the boys. It would have different criteria and would include more people who don’t want to lift weights as much. More girls would do it if it was designed for them.”

Locker rooms before weights class are the same everyday, people moaning and groaning because they just flat out hate it, girls self- conscious about their newly- acquired guns and traps.  I have yet to speak to a girl who is in love with weights. Boys are a different story. It seems as though they like it a little more, at least when they benefit from it. Senior Mitchell Hampton is a guy who loves to lift.

“It’s amazing. The facility is great. We have different routines everyday and it really helps us in sports,” Hampton said with much enthusiasm. “I think the program is more designed for the boys. There should be a separate program for the girls. I think girls should have different workouts. They might not benefit the same way. If they had their own class they might benefit more.”

This editorial was not meant to bash the Holton weights program; it is a wonderful program that allows athletes to strive for success. My only wish is that the weights program would benefit girls as much as it does the boys. I do not think that girls at Holton High School will be able to reach full potential if we are not training the correct way. We have different needs and would benefit greatly from a separate weights program.

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