Gaven plays baseball for an elite travel team, as well as Eastlake High School, and aspires to play at the collegiate level and beyond. He and his parents wisely recognized early in his career that training with weights would be an excellent and effective way to improve his performance on the field. He is developing strength and size using the squat, bench, press and deadlift, working on untrained and undeveloped areas of the body with creative accessory work, and gaining speed, explosiveness, and agility by practicing the Olympic lifts. This is a wonderful age to learn these challenging movements, while the athlete’s nervous system is most impressionable.
In May of 2017, just before his 14th birthday, Gaven started out with a 40 kg squat. In July he was up to 80 kgs for sets of five (see left-side photo below). It is now November, and Gaven’s squat is over 100 kgs for multiple sets of three (see right-side photo below). He says his ultimate goal is to squat 227 kgs before he graduates high school.
Not only is Gaven developing the physical skills and capacity to achieve his athletic goals, but the Training Hall environment offers a unique exposure to the world of high intensity athletics that not many young people have the opportunity to experience. Gaven trains alongside Olympians and national level competitors in a variety of sports. Each person he comes in contact with provides, often subconsciously, a template of some skill or attribute that a young athlete can learn from. He is able to take the learning experiences he needs, and leave what may be beyond his current capacity to process. Some things may not make sense to him now, but will be useful to draw on later in life - both as a baseball player and as a growing young man.
Gaven's level of enthusiasm and focus is impressive to see out of a fourteen year old, and he grows in this area each and every training session. In a world so full of immediate gratification experiences, many people get wrapped up in things directly in front of them. Having the presence and foresight to celebrate where you are today, while simultaneously holding a big future goal in mind, is a wonderful skill generally seen in people well beyond Gaven's age. Gaven approaches each training session with a big smile - he seems excited to do the work it will take to reach his far-off dreams. We are thrilled to be supporting Gaven on his long term journey to growing into the best possible version of himself!
