Strength & Conditioning
At Seattle Prep, strength and conditioning is at the forefront of everything we aim to accomplish in athletics. We believe that a strong student-athlete – mentally and physically – is one who is better prepared to reach their full potential in and out of competition.
Year round—morning, day and night—you can find student-athletes working to develop the best versions of themselves in the Merlino Center, which houses the Peter Feldsine Fitness Center.
Program Overview
Program Head AJ Middleton emphasizes full body mobility, speed and explosion in all that he does. Whether designing flexibility workouts for our in-season student-athletes or building strength programs during the summer months, we have a variety of options available for all interested students to develop themselves physically and mentally through strength and conditioning.
In HEX classes, our students have the ability to work out during the school day through individualized workout plans that help each student reach his or her own goals for the class.
Coach Middleton works with both in- and out-of-season athletes during Window Class and after school to help our programs come together as a team to build strength, mass, explosion, flexibility or whatever other goals that are established collectively by their coaches. Finally, morning or ‘zero period’ workout groups are traditionally designed to help in-season student-athletes carve time out of their busy schedules to focus on body maintenance that can help our kids stay strong and healthy over the course of a long high school season.
PROGRAM HEAD
AJ Middleton comes to Prep with over a decade of experience at the collegiate level, demonstrating success working with high performing programs, elite academic institutions and faith-based communities alike.
Most recently, Middleton served as the Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach for football at the University of Washington, helping the Huskies reach great heights, culminating with an appearance in the National Championship game in 2024. Prior stints at both Stanford University and Brigham Young University allowed him to demonstrate diversity in his approaches to strength and conditioning while working with a wide range of collegiate student-athletes.
A Washington native, Middleton grew up in in Lakewood, WA attending Clover Park High School before moving on to University of Puget Sound where he competed in football and track & field. From there, Middleton attended graduate school at University of Redlands.
Middleton lives in Auburn, WA with his wife, Jessica, and their two sons, Max (4) and Bronson (1).