Randy Moore was hired as Allegheny College’s first director of Peak Performance and fitness through the NCAA Strategic Alliance Grant. Each year only a few schools are chosen to receive the grant to aid with funding a director of fitness. Schools can apply for the grant and are evaluated based on the need for safety, expertise and dedication within the weight room.

“The NCAA Strategic Alliance Grant is designed to help grow the number of ethnic minorities and women in athletic administration and aids in funding for the positions,” Portia Hoeg, director of athletics and recreation.

Hoeg said Moore was chosen because of his expertise in the field and his dedication to strength and conditioning coaching.

“This is my dream position,” Moore said. “It’s what I have wanted to do. I want to start from scratch and watch a program develop and see the vision fall into place as people grow and reach their peak fitness.”

Prior to coming to Allegheny, Moore was at Gallaudet University, a school for the deaf and hard of hearing, as an intern strength and conditioning coach and an assistant coach for the track and field team.

“It was the greatest experience for me with the culture and learning [American Sign Language] everyday. It really prepared me for where I am now,” Moore said.

Moore will work with the athletic teams in season to help athletes reach their potential in their sport and with non-athletes and staff to prepare workout routines and fitness plans that will help them achieve peak fitness.

“I have two goals. For athletics, I want all athletes to change their mentality and become as strong as possible within their sports. For the community, I want to maximize potential, change mindsets and switch up routine,” Moore said.

Injury prevention and proper technique are important aspects of weightlifting that Moore will be teaching all individuals using the weight room.

“In the case of our student athletes, we want to be very mindful of injury prevention and make sure you are working the appropriate muscles then you’re more able to perform at a higher level. For those that are recreationally looking to work out, [Moore] has an expertise in his field so he can provide them with appropriate training methods and assist them with their workout goals,” Hoeg said.

Tyler Smith, ’16, said Moore’s program is helping the football team maintain the strength and power the team developed during off season training.

“He is a different approach to training than what we have been a part of in the past,” Smith said. “I’m really looking forward to the new lifts that he has introduced to us as well as the stretching and warm-up routines that help us prevent injury.”

When Moore works with athletic teams in the weight room, the room is closed to other individuals at the gym.

“We have always had student athletes lifting in the weight room together… we are trying to be more transparent about what that schedule looks like. To have a group together allows them to be focused and allows Randy to be more efficient with his time because he can focus on the group at hand. Also, anyone who does utilize the facility is aware that they are using it during that time frame and know what is going on,” Hoeg said.

Changing the weight room’s hours of availability has raised concerns from nonathletes about access to the gym. The weight room will be closed during Moore’s athlete training sessions but is otherwise open for all gym patrons.

“The reality is this is a space for all individuals. We do not have the benefit of a varsity only or faculty and staff only workout room and we have about a 1,000 square feet where we are trying to meet the needs of students, staff and community members,” Hoeg said. “The schedule has on average three and a half hours a day dedicated to student athletes and the gym is open for 16 1/2 hours a day. Change is never easy for anyone, however I do believe that this is a template that has been successful at other institutions and if given a chance, I believe it can be successful at Allegheny.”

Moore will be offering a variety of classes ranging from beginner introductory classes to advanced lifting classes. The beginner class will be an introduction to working out with a focus on medicine ball and body weight lifting. The next level will be an intermediate conditioning class that will be total body weight training with full body movement and general fitness.

“My favorite workout game to play is a card game where you pull a card and do an activity for each card, for example hearts would be jumping jacks and diamonds would be burpees, then you do twenty five cards in ten minutes,” Moore said.

The beginner and intermediate classes will tentatively start on Sept. 7. More details can be found on MyAllegheny.

The advanced conditioning class will be Olympic weightlifting and have some of the same workouts as the sports teams. During fitness classes, the weight room will be open for use but some equipment will be used specifically for a class.