The Perch system provides immediate feedback. As many as 1,800 students in Glenbrook South currently have access to the system on the 14 shelves in the weight room. Provided by Glenbrook South High School

In addition to "awesome", one of the most frequently abused expressions is "bigger, faster, stronger".

For high school athletes, improving their physical fitness is certainly great. It's not that Epic is becoming exhausted, nervous and injured.

This school year Glenbrook South installed a new device in its weight room designed to monitor and improve training results without assaulting others.

The Perch system developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology consists of a 3D camera strapped to a weight frame and a computer application-it is located on all 14 shelves in the Glenbrook South weight room.

A mobile application is downloaded to a tablet, which is also connected to the weight frame so that users can see real-time results. A web-based application stores information so that coaches and athletes can customize future workouts and compare results over time.

The athlete logs on to the tablet and starts exercising. The camera tracks movement and displays information such as settings, repetition, speed, and power output on the tablet.

"I always say that it can transform a power rack into an intelligent power rack," said Ryan Bretag.

Bretag used to be an Arena League football player, and is now a crossfit master-level crossFit player. He is the Director of Teaching Innovation for the 225 School District. He handles "anything that may affect students and teachers," he said.

A key to the Perch system is that it centers on speed-based training, rather than traditional models that maximize power.

Bretag likes speed-based training (VBT) for several reasons. Apparently others do the same, because Perch is used by professional football, basketball, baseball and football leagues, as well as sports franchises for some college football programs.

"They are working hard to protect their millions of dollars worth of assets. We have more important things. We are working hard to protect a child and make our student athletes progress," Bretag said. He said it will also be used in Glenbrook North after a full evaluation by Glenbrook South.

One thing Perch does very well is not only to measure effort and fatigue in the present, but also to compare with past exercises. Bretag said that sleep and various daily stress factors can change a person's exercise capacity by as much as 30%. Coaches and athletes can monitor this.

Bretag prefers the inherent strength and endurance building abilities of VBT to the almost static method of weightlifting. Emphasizing repetitive power at a faster speed can increase endurance and reduce "plateau". The measurement of barbell speed can produce what he calls the "minimum effective dose" of weight training.

Before working with Perch, Bretag and Glenbrook South Sports Director Tom Mietus discussed the health of athletes during training. Not emphasizing as heavy lifting as possible can reduce the pressure on the athlete's body and can reduce training injuries.

"This creates a way to protect and improve them is just as good. If I make you bigger, stronger, and faster, but you can't play because you are all defeated, that's not a good sign," Bray Tag said.

"...It is trying to maximize your ability for a day, rather than digging into a deeper pit in order to reach an arbitrary number."

Jack DiSano, a senior at Glenbrook South, likes several aspects of the system.

He likes the immediate and long-term feedback provided by Perch. He can judge how his sleep and nutritional intake affect his training based on numbers and percentages.

The tensions of the Titans football team, he said that throughout the season, a player may "loss of strength due to consumption." He said that the VBT method can preserve muscle mass.

Also a baseball player, he plans to see how he can recover from a fall while maintaining strength before entering baseball.

"It just keeps you under control," Disano said. “Obviously, exercise is important for high school athletes and college athletes, so it’s good to have this information and not just lift weights. It actually has a certain meaning.”

For Bretag and Mietus, it is important that the system is not only suitable for Titans athletes.

Glenbrook South students participating in physical education classes can use a weight frame equipped with a Perch system. Bretag estimates that as many as 1,800 Glenbrook South students use it through sports training or Weights I and Weights II courses.

"I think it really brought my entire class together," said Tyhan Harris, lifting weights for the Titans Women's Hockey and Weightlifting II in the preseason.

"We all come from different sports, so when we can compare the speed and speed of other people, we can encourage each other because we can see how far we have gone," she said.

Harris is working hard to strengthen her legs to improve her performance on the court. She gains strength by pushing less weight more frequently and faster.

"If I am overweight, it is not good for me," she said.

"It is beneficial on a competitive level. From a social point of view, it is fun to meet new people I have never met before."