New city, new house, new garage, but the same weights Physical Education and Weight Training teacher Jeffrey Thomas has been lifting since fourth grade. Thomas says every time he has moved, he has carried this hobby with him, making it an integral part of his life and his career.
Thomas says he’s always used weights because of his general interest in sports. After starting middle school in Los Angeles, he says he was fortunate enough to be athletic, which helped him fit in with his peers. He started weight training in high school to help him become stronger as a safety standard while playing football, continuing the habit at Washington State University.
“Football really started my journey,” Thomas said. “Football is a collision sport, and if you don’t have connective tissue to withstand a hit, it’s going to do some damage. If you want to actually perform well, it’s in your best interest to be stronger than the guy across from you.”
However, in college, his journey advanced in weight training due to his access to professional strength coaches who helped tailor programs for him.
Although Thomas started his career as a general physical education teacher, he soon specialized in teaching weight training and emphasized the importance of consistency through habits. Senior Noora Kiiski utilizes his advice of consistently eating healthy to make her strength training more efficient.
“He has given a lot of advice in weight training, and also in healthy eating,” Kiiski said. “I remember last year he had a couple classes in which some people were interested in how to lose weight specifically. For example, he said to remember that it’s just ‘calories in, calories out,’ along with how body weight works.”
Moreover, the connections Thomas built through talking with his students has helped them better understand their goals in weight training. MVHS ‘18 alum Om Khandekar recalls his experience in weight training and how Thomas’ advice helped him express his need for weight training.
“There was a lot of room for exploration,” Khandekar said. “My brother took weight training and that inspired me to take it too, and the way Mr. Thomas runs it, it is a great way to introduce yourself to weight training.”
Thomas built a sense of trust and helped Khandekar become more comfortable in the weight training room and explore weight training outside of the classroom. Similarly, this trustworthiness has also helped Kiiski experiment with new exercises outside of the training room.
“He just allows you to do whatever you want, to grow however you want, whether it be calisthenics or with weights,” Kiiski said. “Even though the main focus of the class is weight training, he doesn’t stop you from doing the things you want to do as well.”
Once Khandenkar gained knowledge of the fundamentals of weight training, he was able to further progress in his journey creatively.
“It definitely set the foundation for a lot of my classes.“ Khandekar said. “If I seemed confident enough, I could pitch ideas related to weight training to other teachers, and see if they’re OK with it. During my senior year in my physiology class, I did a project. And I was like, ‘Hey, can I just go do something weightlifting related? They were like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ I felt very comfortable in the weight room and with the weight training class for the rest of my years in MVHS. I would routinely go back whenever I needed help.”
Thomas’ main setback in weight training has been his relationship with food, as it diminishes his consistency in the gym. Even though his struggles with eating habits have stifled his progress in weight training, he is consistently trying to improve by being more self-aware of his appetite. Thomas specifically mentions willpower as a key component in changing habits to benefit his own training.
“We all have habits, and if you’ve got the habit of snacking late at night or staying up late at night, then you’re going to see the results based on that habit,” Thomas said. “To change habits, it takes willpower. You need to gradually shift your mind to ‘I’m going to try this for a week.’ There is a factor of willpower where you just have to say ‘I’m going to try this new thing. I’m going to do this differently.’”
Despite these challenges, he has enjoyed his teaching weight training for 30 years. He describes his experience at MVHS as something he wants to stay with until he retires.
“I love it, I’m here and I’m not going to leave,” Thomas said. “When I retire, I’ll retire from MVHS, I’m not ever going to go anywhere else. I love it here and the kids are great.”
