Strength, Fitness and Speed expands facilities in Monroeville, Pleasant Hills

PITTSBURGH - Oct. 23, 2014 - PRLog -- Strength, Fitness and Speed, Inc. (SFAS) has helped athletes become bigger, stronger and better for more than 15 years.

    Two of SFAS’ sports performance training facilities are following a similar regimen. Strength, Fitness and Speed is getting bigger and better.

    SFAS East in the Monroeville Sports Center, 855 MacBeth Drive, has expanded to 2,500 square feet, nearly doubling the size of the facility, which officially opened in May 2012.

    SFAS South in Pleasant Hills is undergoing renovations and improvements while doubling its size in the Hosmer Supply Industrial Park. The current 2,400 square foot training room will be connected to a new 2,400 square foot facility, which will create a permanent home for SFAS’ basketball hoop and baseball batting cage. A 25-yard, four-lane stretch of turf will be added for workouts, and a pro shop and lobby area will complement the area.

    “The expansion and improvements at the Monroeville and Pleasant Hills facilities will enable athletes and adults to utilize plenty of room during our busiest seasons,” said Ed Wietholder, SFAS President. “These upgrades will help our staff provide a perfect combination of skills training to go with physical performance. We will be having both the physical and skills components being trained onsite.”

    Wietholder is a certified sports strength and conditioning specialist who has been involved in sports performance training for more than 30 years. Wietholder has made SFAS a leading provider of such training since 1998. He also operates SFAS Southeast in Elizabeth and SFAS Latrobe.

    “In Monroeville, we remained in the same facility but relocated to another room with 2,500 square feet, which gives us much more room for strength training and speed work,” Wietholder said. “There also is an upper level, and we are able to utilize the track that circles the inner courts.

    “At Pleasant Hills, the areas will now have more of a strength wing and movement training wing to them,” Wietholder added. “There is much more room, double the size, and athletes really can specialize their training.”

    SFAS also will offer baseball hitting instruction by Chris Winkler, former WPIAL standout and current St. Vincent College baseball player. Winkler has played for the Diamond Dawgs in Pittsburgh and was the shortstop on the 2013 WPIAL champion South Park High School team. He led the WPIAL in RBIs in 2013.

    Additionally, baseball teams may utilize the SFAS facilities to train for strength and speed as well as utilizing the batting cage.

    “During these training sessions we will focus on the field specific aspects of speed such as lateral quickness for middle infielders, out of the box speed, breaking on the ball speed, and first step quickness,” Wietholder said. “We can also focus on the 60-yard dash start and performance, and rotational core power for enhanced bat speed.

    “Regarding the throwing arm, exercises that target the rotator cuff, such as a variety of internal and external rotation movements will be utilized,” he continued. “Scapular strength and stability will also be addressed. Since the bicep also plays a role in stabilizing this joint, it too will be strengthened.”

    Among the success stories of athletes who went through the Strength, Fitness and Speed, Inc. program is Dom DeCicco Jr., a Thomas Jefferson High School product who went to the University of Pittsburgh and was a 6-foot-4, 230-pound linebacker with the NFL’s Chicago Bears.

    Strength, Fitness and Speed, Inc. also measures its success in the number of athletes of all ages who have reached various milestones such as increasing their vertical leap or shaving seconds off their 40-yard dash time, or increasing their bench press.

    “This is an exciting time,” Wietholder said. “We’ve made the expansion and renovations with our athletes in mind. The changes will have a great impact.”