ROCK HILL, S.C. - This episode of Ever Stand at Home features Ben Abbott, Winthrop's Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. Abbott wasn't at home for this interview but back in at the Coliseum, keeping the student-athletes safe. Him and Alyssa Sconzo discuss his athletic journey, changes implemented in the weight room, some fitness tips and tricks and so much more!

AS: "What sports did you play growing up and how did you know you wanted to be involved in strength and conditioning long term?"
BA: "I started out at a young age playing baseball and then I realized that was definitely not my sport. I switched over to wrestling in high school and pursued a wrestling career in college at a small Division 3 school. After that, I thought I wanted to be an athletic trainer. I went through a whole program up there and learned a lot and realized it was a little too slow for me and wanted to switch over to strength and conditioning to work more on performance, not so much the injury side of things."
 
AS: "You got your Master's at Florida State and even began your career there. How did you end up at Winthrop?"
BA: "I was getting to a point at Florida State where I was wanting a little more of a challenge and wanted to take that next step in my career. One of my mentor's fiancé at the time actually played softball at the time here at Winthrop University. I was at a restaurant one day during lunch and my mentor called me up and asked if I was interested or would be interested in running my own department that he knew of a place. I found out it was Winthrop, threw my name in the hat and it has been a good decision!"
 
AS: "How have things changed around the weight room since the athletes returned to campus?"
BA: "We've had to implement some new procedures with the COVID situation happening. We've implemented masks, athletes are wearing masks. We've implemented some stricter cleaning policies and some guidelines of how long workouts can be. Workouts are normally 45 minutes right now so we have 15 minutes to clean and wipe stuff down, reorganize, make sure everything is sanitized the way it needs to be. We have an entrance and an exit door, so you walk in through the double doors and then exit by the administration office to minimize foot traffic and crossing paths."
 
AS: "Does Winthrop's strength and conditioning staff create specialized workouts for each individual team? How does that process typically work?"
BA: "Yeah! We really try to focus on what the team needs. Every team is slightly different. Each member of our staff has a set of teams that they specifically work with. I specifically work with volleyball, cross country, baseball and women's lacrosse. My programs will be similar but we have to focus on some different things. When I program, I like to look at the high-risk injuries of those sports and that's how my programs become tailored to those sports. For example, baseball and volleyball are overhead sports. We do a lot of shoulder care and preventative exercises, where lacrosse is field-faced. There's a lot of cutting, agility, speed – we're going to work on stabilizing the knees and ankles. Lacrosse, they do all of their conditioning with Coach Paxton, so my job is to get them to feel good, moving well and staying strong within the weight room so they can handle all the mileage and speed work he does with them."
 
AS: "In your role here, what would you say is the most rewarding part of your job?"
BA: "The most rewarding part of my job is seeing these athletes reach their genetic potential in life. What I mean by that is, not every athlete is going to be a pro at their sport. They may want to be a doctor, an architect, an engineer, whatever it may be. So helping them achieve that goal. It's not like I help them study or anything but making the weight room a place for athletes to step away from school, from life and use this as a positive stress to put the world aside and put some good, hard work in. That's what I take away and that's what brings me the most joy in my life, seeing the student-athletes achieve their ultimate desires in life, whatever that may be."
 
AS: "What is some advice you would give to younger athletes, maybe some people in high school, that are looking to make that jump to college athletics?"
BA: "I'm a big believer in playing multiple sports. Play multiple sports, have multiple disciplines, don't focus too early. Don't specialize too early. Playing different sports gives different attributes physically that can be used for your sport. I'm a big believer in playing multiple sports. If you look at some of the best athletes from around the world and in the pros, they played two or three high school sports. So, the best athletes are going to be the best at multiple sports."
 
AS: "What is the number one fitness tip you would give somebody?"
BA: "The number one fitness tip: find something you enjoy. Consistency is king. If running is not your thing, if tying your shoelaces and going out for a five mile run is not your thing, then it's not going to be the best thing for you. Go ride a bike, go lift weights – whatever it may be. You have to find what really sparks the fire in you and just be consistent with it. For me personally, I like to Olympic weight lift. I like to throw heavy weights over my head. Some people like to run. If you tell me to go run, I'm probably not going to do it because that's not what I gravitate towards. The biggest thing is to find what you enjoy and be consistent at it."
 
AS: "I'm sure you know that there are tons of myths and truths on the internet in regards to fitness and exercise. I was hoping you would give us the scoop on some of these. The first is: you NEED a pre-workout supplement to work out?"
BA: "No! You do not need the typically pre-workout of caffeine or any other supplements. If you're saying "hey, I need a banana to get a little more energy" great but you don't need anything."
AS: "Stretching prevents injuries?"
BA: "That is debated. You need to be flexible enough to do your sport. So, if you're not flexible enough to hit those positions, then yes, it's going to help prevent injuries but there's conflict in data. You can't really have a definitive answer on that one."
AS: "People who exercise need less sleep."
BA: "No, we all need a good amount of sleep and I think society, as a whole, needs more. That's one of the biggest things in this field. We tell athletes to do a lot, so we need to make sure they sleep so they can recover. That's where you build muscle, that's where you recover when you're shutting your eyes."
AS: "Skipping leg day is okay."
BA: "No! No, no, no. You can't miss leg day if you want to be legendary."
AS: "Weight lifting will make you bulky."
BA: "Nope, that's another myth. That's definitely a myth."
AS: "Last but not least and probably the most important: the louder you yell, the more you can lift."
BA: "It depends. Sometimes! Some people like it, some people don't. For me personally, if you you and scream I'm probably not going to lift as much but I know some people that like to scream and yell and they'll hit a new PR with it."
 
AS: "Thank you so much for your time today! It was great catching up with you!"
BA: "You as well!