Are you a student athlete who feels like your workout routine hasn’t been cutting it? Well, you’re in luck. Here is some advice from your fellow Scarlets at East High to help you achieve your health goals.

Student Advice

Emannuel Dennis
Emmanuel Dennis is a junior at East High. He plays multiple sports, such as wrestling, football, and track 4×4 400 and 400 hurdles. He shared advice so Scarlets can improve on themselves.
“My usual workout routine starts with a warm up, warming up is very essential so we don’t have as many injuries because sports are usually injury prone. So, we warm up before that and depending on the day it can be light or heavy it just depends on the day,” Dennis said.
That is right, it is good to look after your body before and after exhausting work outs. There is a chance you could get hurt in sports but with good care the chances are low.
“Definitely skipping pop, skipping pop is very important because pop is very bad for you. There’s too much sugar. It is better to have a balanced meal that involves protein and basically everything that you need,” Dennis said.
Avoid pop, consuming too much sugar will cause your energy to be low during work outs. It is a smart choice to try to eat healthy as a student athlete to have good energy for playing.
“It puts me in a physically and mentally better place overall. When I work out, I feel like I’m improving myself and I’m making myself better than I was yesterday, and I think a lot of people can get that out of working out.” Dennis said.
Dennis thinks you will feel confident after your hard work or training. After all the hard work you will be proud of your results.

Michael Chhim
Our student athlete Michael Chhim is a junior, graduate of 2026. He is involved in cross country, swimming and soccer. Chhim believes warming up is essential and does certain warm ups during certain seasons to prepare him.
“My off-season workouts are usually working out three times a week with compound lifting and one day of being active like playing soccer or going on a run, when I’m getting into my season, I add one or two days of plyometrics,” Chhim said.
Off season workouts are just as important as the in-season workouts and training, it builds up your body and prepares you for the next season which is what you need to improve.
“Since it’s hard for me to gain weight, it’s just important for me to eat all the time, breakfast lunch and dinner with some snacks in between, not much soda,” Chhim said.
Chhim believes student athletes should try their very hardest to restrain their gains, as well as not drinking lots of soda.
“The idea of me getting better in my sport motivates me to workout, the only way to get better is to put some time and effort into the gym and developing yourself physically and mentally, also working out can be relaxing for when you just need to let some steam off or coming off of a bad day because at least you know you did 1 thing to improve yourself,” Chhim said.

Coach Advice

Mallory Hammitt
Mallory Hammitt has coached multiple sports; this year she is currently coaching football at East High.
“I think that student athletes should train at least five times a week with their sport or as much as their coaches decide is appropriate which is probably five and I think in season student athletes should train twice a week in the weight room to make sure that they maintain any of the gains that they got in the off season and also to keep their body healthy and strong,” Hammitt said.
Hammitt ensures that keeping your gains stable after off-season is great for when your season is soon to start and to make sure to train for your sport weekly.
“I think that basic skills come first sometimes kids get really distracted by wanting to do what’s really cool or exciting but if you can master the basic skills and make sure that your body is really strong then all those other skills come later,” Hammit said.
Exactly, cool-looking moves can be a great thing to do but if you’re training your sport’s basic skills, then you’re all set and will do even greater things during a game.
“I know that winning on the field is an easy answer for that, but I think sports are so much more. If you are on a team that you are having a lot of fun with even if you’re not getting as many wins but you’re enjoying each other and you’re enjoying your coach and what you’re learning, then that goes far. If you’re winning but you’re having a terrible time and getting yelled at and everybody’s mean to each other then it doesn’t really matter, it doesn’t mean anything. Just find a team that is supportive and fun, it goes a long way,” Hammit said.
Students at East High School are very determined in their sports. Trained their hardest and mentally trained themselves, most would say mentality and confidence is important when you are playing a sport.