Director of Strength and Conditioning Mr. Erik Miller has started a new training group, but it’s far from your average workout

When you hear about strength training in the weightroom, you probably think of bench pressing, squatting, and other traditional workouts. But Miller is offering a new type of workout during community time: grip strength.

The workouts happen every day during community time, and they are open to both the students and faculty of Malvern.

“I talked to a few kids about it and they said they liked the idea and they would come, so one day I pulled the trigger and sent an email to everyone about the grip group,” Miller said. “It’s during community time at 10 o’clock and anyone can come if they want.”

Miller said that his own grip strength was the motive to start the group in the first place.

“I wanted to get my grip stronger, so I knew I could hold myself accountable by having a group of people coming over and doing it with me,” he said. “When I started school, grip group kept popping into my head, and I didn’t do it for a few weeks, but I kept thinking about it and it wouldn’t go away.”

Grip strength isn’t often important to everyone, but it has noticeable effects on day-to-day life.

“You can’t lift what you can’t hold, and your grip is your first contact with an object,” Miller said. “As people get older, their grip strength goes and they aren’t as functional around the house.”

Other faculty members and students have also seen this as a great opportunity to increase their grip strength. Senior Ashton Canavan loved the idea when he heard about it from Miller.

“I go every single time during community time,” he said. “I’ve gone over twenty times and have done over twenty different exercises, just for the tiny muscles in your forearms.”

Canavan was first part of a small group, but more and more people have joined over time.

The first day there was only a handful of students and Mr. Rogai, but the group has been slowly growing since then,” he said. “I think we all go because a strong grip is important for almost every single activity we do.”

English teacher Mr. Jay Rogai found out about the group from Miller’s email, and has been regularly attending ever since.

“For the last couple years I’ve had some tendinitis in my elbow and I’ve had to wear braces,” Rogai said. “I saw this as an opportunity to work through some of that.”

The workouts have been successful, as both Canavan and Rogai both said they have noticed an increase in their grip strength.

“All of us that go often have noticed changes in our grip,” Canavan said. “We’ve each gotten stronger already, and our forearms are much more defined.”

“I’ve already noticed I don’t have pain in my arm,” Rogai stated. “Holding my coffee mug and grabbing my steering wheel I’ve even noticed a stronger grip.”

Miller encourages everyone to come to the grip group, even if they haven’t gone in the past.

“Like everything here in the weightroom, you can just show up,” he said. “Showing up and putting in the work is what makes you stronger.”