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Student workout plan takes commitment, yields results

Ben Quinlan 20 reps out dips. Dips are one of the five required exercises for Elite Knight.
Ben Quinlan ’20 reps out dips. Dips are one of the five required exercises for Elite Knight.
Ben Quinlan ’20 reps out dips. Dips are one of the five required exercises for Elite Knight.

Winter, a time when gung-ho amateurs, fresh out of their fall sport, intend to hit the weight room. Most have the same goal: to get large. It is tough to find anyone who would not love a chiseled body with popping pecs, washboard abs, and massive biceps. But why does not everyone at Mount Michael have the physique of a Greek god?

That freshman in the weight room has pumped iron for three straight days, where are his guns?

Thoughts of quitting start to materialize, the excuses multiply, and, before long, he is whipping a can of Pringles out of his locker and plopping it down on the couch. So much for getting swole. If only there was something he could do, some secret formula for the perfect body.

In the past year, Ben Quinlan ‘20 has gained 30 pounds, increasing his bench by 90 pounds and his squat by 150 pounds. Around five students have adopted his plan, affectionately dubbed the “Quinny Plan.” And the secret to success within the plan is one that many eager first-time lifters might not like to hear… long term commitment.

“I really got dedicated to lifting at the beginning of sophomore year, but I didn’t really pick up my intensity until the following spring, and by that point, I was lifting two hours a day,” Quinlan said

Other students began to see his results, and, later that same spring, Kaleb Stavneak ‘20 asked Quinlan how he built his body. Thus, the “Quinny Plan” was born.

“I talked to Ben about lifting for the first time during a soccer practice. We went into the weight room after practice, and he walked me through the first day of his lifting plan. And the next day, he walked me through the second day of the plan,” Stavneak said.

At this point, the plan that Kaleb followed consisted of one day for chest, shoulders, and triceps; and a second day for back and biceps. A third piece, legs, was later installed. The three days rotate, allowing for a daily routine that works fresh muscles.

“Now I have probably five people on the plan, and there are a ton of kids who ask me for advice. I always try to encourage people as much as I can because lifting is so constructive,” Quinlan said. “It builds confidence, mental strength, and dedication. It also helped me a lot with academics because it gave me an opportunity to relieve stress so that I could come back and study with much more focus.”

This October, Quinlan earned his Elite Knight. This award is earned by bench pressing one’s body weight ten times, squatting and dead-lifting 150% of one’s body weight five times, and doing twenty dips and ten pull ups.

On Nov. 7, Kaleb Stavneak earned his Power Knight, an award earned by benching one’s body weight five times, squatting and dead-lifting 125% of one’s body weight five times, and doing fifteen dips and five pull ups.

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