Strength Training Arrives

PULLMAN, Wash. — According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association,
Washington State University now offers the country’s first known program leading to a minor in
strength training. The minor is offered through the WSU Athletic Training program, with 12
students already enrolled for the fall 1999 semester, said Carol Zweifel, program director.
Strength training is a course of study for students who want a professionally-supervised,
clinically-based education in strength and conditioning, Zweifel said.
Douglas M. Kleiner, chair of the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s
education committee, explained that while universities across the nation include or emphasize
strength training within various preparation programs, “as far as I know, Washington State
University is the first in the U.S. to offer a degreed program in strength training.”
WSU’s strength training program is a cooperative partnership between the Department of
Kinesiology and Leisure Studies and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at WSU. The
program incorporates three consecutive semesters of classroom and clinical work. Its goal is to
offer an integrated and practical course of study involving strength and conditioning that is not
bound by variances in gender, age or ability.
Most of the clinical education is performed in the Cougar Mania Varsity Weight Room, a
14,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility.
The strength training program was founded by Julie Chevillet, former instructor for the
Department of Kinesiology and Leisure Studies and a member of the Varsity Weight Room
Strength Staff (1995-99), who is now pursuing doctoral studies in osteopathic medicine.
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