That's why Becca has been training for the past year at Extreme Fitness and Sports, a sports conditioning center on Dell Avenue, to increase her speed by that extra three-tenths.

"It's definitely made a difference," Becca said of her training. "My lateral quickness has improved and so has my jumping, and it's also boosted my confidence."

An increasing number of athletes are moving into this specialized market hoping to rise above the fray. At a time when many high schools recruit their athletes out of eighth grade, getting onto the right high school team can mean a possible college scholarship. Yet reaching such lofty goals can be pressure-packed.

Along with parental pressure, student athletes must deal with higher athletic standards, busier schedules and the lure of dangerous shortcuts like steroids. Parents, coaches and students must find a balance between training for success and leading a healthy lifestyle, mentally and physically.

At Extreme Fitness and Sports (EFS), athletes begin their workouts around 3:30 p.m. A few athletes--ranging in age from college to middle school--make their way to the warehouse-style facility at 1077 Dell Ave.

The inside looks like a regular gym, with a treadmill, numerous weight machines and medicine balls. There is more unusual gear as well; for instance, a rope stepladder is laid on the ground for the athletes to run across. There are jumpsoles, shoe attachments that strengthen one's legs. Three-foot-tall square blocks stand in a row for the students to jump over, while EFS owner Chris Morton commands, "Pause ... now explode!"

Morton specializes in helping young athletes improve their speed, strength and vertical jump. He currently works with about 50 athletes from just about every sport--football, basketball, tennis--but during their off seasons, so as not to conflict with team practice.

"People are specializing, especially in the South Bay," Morton says. "People want to be the best they can and want their kids to be the best they can. In some ways it's better, in some ways worse, but that's kind of the place we live in."

Since he founded EFS in 1996, Morton has seen what the ambition of his students and their parents can do, for better or for worse.

During the last 10 years he has helped countless athletes improve their physical capabilities. In doing so, he says, he has also helped them gain discipline and confidence.

"If the child sees they can apply themselves in a structured manner in sports, they can actually take that and apply that elsewhere," Morton says. "It should give them confidence and reinvigorate the student, and that's why we focus on the results side of it. We want to make sure that they're almost certain to improve if they work with us."

How it works

To accommodate success-driven clients with not a lot of time, Morton's business is based on four basic principles: technical knowledge, practical application, time efficiency and proving results.

The techniques EFS teaches-- such as "periodization" phases and "plyometric" training--are rooted in Morton's training and education. He graduated from the University of Montana in 1996 with a bachelor's of science in health and human performance.

Morton learned how to apply his knowledge of the human body by writing conditioning programs for his teammates on the University of Montana football team. After college, he worked as a conditioning specialist for a variety of fitness clubs while training athletes himself on the side.

"At the time the conditioning was extreme, and it still is," he says. "The athletes wear harnesses and parachutes on their backs, but it does yield very extreme results in terms of speed."

He marketed his extreme conditioning programs to schools and sports groups in the Bay Area and spent his days driving from Pop Warner football teams in Gilroy to the Monta Vista football team in Cupertino.

By 1999 Morton had turned EFS into a full-time business and moved to a permanent facility so his students could come to him. He says the "almost laboratory-type setting" allows his workouts to be time-efficient and results-oriented.

"We test all the athletes when they come in and retest them every month," he says. "The majority improve significantly."

Morton gives his athletes tests in areas such as speed and acceleration. For acceleration, the athletes record their 10-, 20- and 40-yard dash times.

Becca Post started out with a 40-yard dash time of 6.2 seconds in September 2004 and brought her time down to 5.84 seconds by her August 2005 test.

More isn't best

While his business may be growing and he has helped a number of athletes meet their goals, Morton says he's also seen the ugly side of Silicon Valley ambition.

"People get too obsessive or they get unethical and try to run over somebody else to help their child succeed," Morton says.

A Nov. 9 report prepared by Citizenship Through Sports Alliance backs up his claim. In the report, parents received "D's" for placing too much emphasis on winning and pressuring their children to perform well.

"If a parent wants to train their child five days a week and three of those days are strength training and the child's only 12 years old-- and a physically immature 12 year-old," he says, "you have to speak up on those kinds of things and say, 'Hey, that's great that you're enthusiastic, but you can actually do your child more harm than good."

Becca, a sophomore on the Archbishop Mitty JV basketball team, says her schedule is sometimes stressful, but she knows how to focus on what needs to get done. In addition to playing basketball, Becca is in the symphonic band at school and is part of the California Scholarship Federation. She says the trainers and the other athletes at EFS understand her busy lifestyle and her goals.

"I think at EFS the environment they offer is really friendly so it's not like, 'Oh, I have to work out,' " she says. "The kids want to get better, and they know they have to do more than just practices to get where they want to be athletically."

At Westmont High School, physical education department chair and head football coach Tony Santos says he probably has five or six players on his team who get extra training.

"Overall, I think it's good as long as they can have a balance-- if they still do their homework and not have it interfere with their season," Santos says. "If somebody plays football and they want to go out for another sport, we encourage them to do that because high school is about getting different experiences."

The training can get out of hand when students set their sights on playing for a college team, Santos says. He acknowledges that the environment has become very competitive, making extra training "more than necessary."

And that's the problem: "We don't just enjoy the sport for the sport's sake," Santos adds.

Santos also points out that the increased competitiveness at all levels of athletics has put students from low-income families at a disadvantage.

"There's five, maybe seven, kids on our team whose families live paycheck to paycheck," he says. "Maybe they have the same athletic ability as a kid whose family can free up a couple hundred a month for their kid to take extra lessons."

Moreover, Santos says he has concerns about his students' mental and physical health.

"At what point does it stop?" he asks. "Does it lead to steroids? Maybe. At what point does the kid enjoy his life for life's sake?"

Becca says her goal for basketball is to play for a college team like UCLA or the University of North Carolina.

"For me, I think this will help me with my chances, but I don't think everyone needs to do something outside," she says.

Maintain healthy routines

Morton says he does not officially address the use of steroids with his clients, but he has addressed the issue on a personal level. He has had a few athletes who he's suspected were using steroids.

"We are totally opposed to steroids, but not just on a practical level but also on a philosophical standpoint because it's bad for society," Morton says. "We get questions about creatine, a lot about taking protein supplements. I try to leave a lot of that up to the parents, but supplements mean 'in addition to.' "

Creatine is an organic product, available over the counter, that helps supply energy to muscle cells.

"Develop your body as it was meant to be developed," he adds. "The body's been made to be very adaptable. Whatever you expose yourself to--like working on your shoulders-- as long as you get food and rest, your body will try to make that action easier to do in the future."

Morton says that as interest in sports conditioning increases, there's more room for physical damage because of misinformation.

"A lot of people have heard of running harnesses or the term 'plyometric,' but simply buying a piece of equipment like a jumpsole or a parachute is not necessarily going to make the athlete better," he says.

Plyometrics is a specific method of training to increase power.

"I've studied a lot of methodologies and applied them to my own training with an understanding of biomechanics and exercise physiology," Morton says.

Morton knows there is an increasing interest in the services ESF provides and expects his business to continue growing.

"As long as everything stays pretty constant-- the economy and society in general-- you're going to see things like this, whether it's training for sports or academic tutoring," he says. "Parents are going to try to do the best they can to maximize their children's potential."

Extreme Fitness and Sports is located at 1077 Dell Ave. Call 408.370.9980 or www.extremefitnessandsports.com.

El Camino Hospital