Equip an existing high school weight room on Montreal's South Shore with racks that carry the school's colours and team identity, with room for several groups of students to train at once.
Overview
École secondaire de Chambly is a high school in Chambly whose sports teams compete as the Phénix. The school wanted a weight room that clearly belonged to its teams, built around four full squat racks finished in the school's colours and branded with the Phénix logo. Alpha Fitness supplied and installed the custom squat racks as an addition to the school's existing weight room, along with a functional trainer, adjustable benches, and free weights, so several groups of students can train at the same time.
What Makes This Gym Unique
Racks in the school's colours
Red uprights and black crossmembers, with the Phénix name and two phoenix emblems in white on a black plate across the top of the racks.
Numbered settings
The uprights carry numbered hole positions and the spotter arms are numbered 1 to 10, so students can note their settings and set up the same way every session.
Jammer arms and multi-grip pull-up bars
Jammer arms are pivoting levers mounted on the rack that let athletes push or press in an arc, a movement used to build explosive power for sports. The pull-up bars offer straight, angled, and neutral grips on the same rack.
The Challenge
A high school weight room serves many students with different levels of experience, often within a single class period or team practice. The equipment had to let groups set up and start training quickly, with built-in safety features for less experienced lifters. The school also wanted branded weight room equipment, so the room would feel like home to the Phénix teams rather than a generic training space.
Alpha Fitness's Contribution
Four custom full squat racks
A full squat rack, also called a power rack, uses four uprights to form a cage, with spotter arms that catch the bar if a student can't complete a lift. The racks include jammer arms, multi-grip pull-up bars, and storage for weight plates.
Functional trainer
A black functional trainer with red pulleys as a nod to the school's colours. Its two adjustable cable pulleys and dual weight stacks let students train a wide range of exercises at one station.
Adjustable benches
Several Alpha adjustable benches that move from flat to upright for pressing, rowing, and seated exercises.
Free weights
Bumper plates in green, yellow, and red stored on the racks, iron change plates, and hex dumbbells on a vertical dumbbell rack. Bumper plates are made of dense rubber so they can be dropped from overhead with far less risk of damaging the bar or the floor.
The result is a high school weight room on Montreal's South Shore where the Phénix identity is built into the equipment itself, and where several groups of students can train at once using settings they can repeat every session.
