Washington Weight Room

The Washington Weight Room was given to Brown University's athletes by the Washington, D.C. Sports Foundation Committee, and is located in the Pizzitola Memorial Sports Center. Encompassing 4,000 square feet, the weight room is recognized as one of the premier collegiate athletic weight training facilities in the Northeast. Under the direction of strength and conditioning coordinator Roger Marandino, the Washington Weight Room has taken on a new look. Six new weightlifting platforms and eight new power racks have been added and the new room now resembles an Olympic-style training facility. Brown athletes train with multi-joint Olympic-style movements geared to meet the biomechanical and physiological needs of their sport. Varsity teams train with goals of increasing performance, preventing injury and reconditioning after injury. The Brown Bears Football Strength program consists of multi-joint Olympic movements designed to increase athletic power, mobility, and overall sprint conditioning. Testing in the weight room consists of the power clean, squat, and bench press. Each athlete is tested a total of nine times during a full training year. Testing frequently develops team competition and short-term goal setting. During the competitive season, training focuses on increasing strength levels throughout the season with weekly goals of peaking on game day.

Entering his eighth year as strength coach at Brown is Roger Marandino, who is responsible for the coordination of all strength and conditioning programs for Brown's 37 varsity sports. Marandino utilizes a hands-on approach to assure that all players maintain peak physical conditioning to be able to play at the highest level possible. A 1993 graduate of Kean College of New Jersey, Marandino earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Exercise Physiology. He completed a strength and conditioning internship at the University of Pacific in Stockton, California after graduation and then enrolled in the graduate school at the University of Connecticut in 1993. While working towards his Master's degree in biomechanics, he served as assistant strength and conditioning coach for two years. He designed, developed and implemented the comprehensive strength and conditioning programs for several varsity athletic teams at Connecticut, including the football and men's and women's basketball teams. Marandino, who was named the NSCA Collegiate S&C Professional of the Year in 2000, was a three-time, drug-free national power-lifting champion and is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS). In 1997 and 2000, Marandino was chosen as the NSCA Strength and Conditioning Professional of the Year in the Ivy League. He has been a NSCA National Conference speaker. In addition, he is certified by the United States Weightlifting Federation as a Level I Olympic Weightlifting coach. Formerly of Vineland, New Jersey, Roger now resides in Providence.