Darkside Strength Experience.

By: Alexa Zimney

Hello readers! My name is Alexa Zimney, and I had the privilege of being an intern this past summer at Darkside Strength for Brian and Louie. A little bit about me, I graduated from Two Rivers High School in 2023 and am currently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, majoring in Exercise and Sport Science and minoring in Nutrition. I am also a part of the amazing Women’s Track and Field team on the throws squad. I first got into lifting thanks to Coach Micheal DeRoehn. He now works as the Head Wrestling Coach and Strength and Conditioning Coach at Lakeland University, but a few years prior he was at Two Rivers, and I have him to thank for everything that’s led me to where I am today. He’s the one that said I should look into Strength and Conditioning.

I first want to start off by saying how lucky these young athletes are to have Darkside Strength as a place to grow their athletic careers at such a young age. If I had this opportunity when I was younger, I would have been all over it.

At the beginning of the summer, I was nervous about this internship. Because let’s be honest, Brian and Louie are kind of intimidating when you first meet them. And if you ever watch them lift together, you realize how much weight they can move casually. But once you get them talking, especially about lifting and athletics, it’s hard to make them stop and you quickly realize that they have so much information that they want to share with anyone and everyone. But I was so nervous about this internship because I’d never felt like I’d been in an authoritative position where I’m coaching and not participating too. Sure, I’ve coached my teammates, but I’m sweating bullets right next to them. This was all new territory for me, and I was worried that I wouldn’t have the “coaching touch” that my past coaches have had for me. But as the summer

progressed, my confidence grew thanks to Brian and Louie. They’d help break down and explain why similar exercises had different and specific benefits that they were looking for. This made coming up with lifts for the athletes for the day feel like a breeze. I got to know the athletes better and developed good interpersonal relationships with them too.

Brian and Louie are very good at applying their training programs/exercises to their athlete’s sports. There would be these exercises they’d have the athletes do, and I’d ask, “why do you want them to do it that way? Why so specific?” And the answer would always start off as, “Because when they’re on the field...” or “When this happens to them during a game...”. It’s all for the athletes to be their best selves both on and off the field/court.

Even as an athlete myself, I’d never put much thought into what I was doing in the weight room. I’d just see the workout and do it with as much weight as I could. But more than ever now I understand how these movements cross over into my sport; especially this summer when Brian taught me how to make programs for other athletes. I now ask myself what I can be added to benefit them in their sport?

I really enjoyed my time at Darkside Strength this summer. It’s a very fun environment to be in with great people that are all trying to make themselves better in some way. And the connections that I was able to make this summer I hope will stay with me for a very long time. I would highly recommend Darkside Strength to anyone that is interested in changing their lifestyle to be more active and seeing what limits they can break.