Merced High graduate creates online video workouts athletes can do at home
Marcello Martinelli wanted to find a way to help out high school athletes from his home town of Merced.
Martinelli, 33, has spent the past four years working as a strength and conditioning coach for the San Jose Barracuda, which is the AHL affiliate for the San Jose Sharks.
With all high school sports suspended in the Sac-Joaquin Section and elsewhere, schools closed, public gyms shuttered and athletes stuck at home, Martinelli has created a series of workout videos that athletes can do at home with no equipment. The videos have been posted online by the Merced Union High School District.
“These workouts aren’t there just to get a good sweat,” Martinelli said. “A lot of the stuff focuses on key areas to be a solid athlete. The focus is on speed, power and isometric strength.”
Martinelli, who worked as a strength and conditioning coach at Golden Valley High School prior to working with the Sharks, created one warm-up video, two core routines, four different workout videos and a stretching routine.
“I had to create the videos assuming the kids at home have no equipment or weights to use,” Martinelli said. “They’re designed to use body weight. If they have equipment, weights or a kettle bell, they can incorporate that stuff into the workouts. The workouts are really core specific and work on speed and power.”
Martinelli said if the athletes do the warm-up exercises, the two core workouts and one workout video, it should take about 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the rest periods.
With high school sports on hiatus due to the coronavirus, many athletes don’t have access to workout equipment.
“The big areas are strength and power that begin to drop off after 10 days if you stop training,” Martinelli said. “So if athletes aren’t training until they get back to school, they are going to see a significant drop off.”
Golden Valley track and field coach Jacqueline Wooding says many of her athletes have already started accessing Martinelli’s videos to work out from home. Wooding has given her athletes access to the workouts through Google Classroom.
“At least half of my kids are using the workouts,” Wooding said. “The other half don’t have Twitter or haven’t logged on to Google Classroom. A lot these workouts they can do in their living room while watching TV.”
Wooding says her track team still uses the weight training and workout program Martinelli put together while working at Golden Valley four years ago.
“Marcello is the kind of person who will do anything to help the kids,” Wooding said. “He put these videos together for us in his garage. It’s great the kids have actually something they can see. We asked Marcello if we could compensate him for the workout videos and he said, ‘Nope, I just want to do right for the kids.’”
Martinelli says he’s just following the lead of his parents, who have a history of giving back to their communities in Merced and Los Banos.
Martinelli’s father, Reno, has been instrumental in helping find donors for the scoreboard at the Merced High baseball field and the building of the school’s football stadium.
“A lot of this stems from parents and seeing what they have done back in their hometowns,” Martinelli said.
With the school closures possibly lasting longer, the chances of any sports returning this spring is slim. However, these workouts will help keep athletes in shape if there is a shortened season.
In a sport like track, athletes will have to hit the ground running to extend their seasons to the big meets at the end of the year.
“Absolutely, these videos help athletes maintaining being an athlete,” Wooding said. “I’m optimistic. I hope we can have a little track season after April 20th. I have to feel like that because I have to serve our kids.”
