For most teenagers, summer vacation feeds two of their favorite things — sleeping in and kickin’ back.

Not so for a group of Coupeville High School athletes. They roll out of bed at 7 a.m. Monday through Thursday to punish their bodies through off-season conditioning workouts.

The CHS husband-wife coaching tandem of head football coach Brett Smedley and head volleyball coach Breanne Smedley lead the athletes through a nationally-recognized conditioning program, Speed Strength Training.

Assistant football coaches Ryan King and Nic Shular also help out supervising the SST workouts.

Brett Smedley moved to Coupeville from Battle Ground three years ago, and SST followed him to Central Whidbey.

Two years ago, the Coupeville High School coaching staff went through a training session on how to properly implement the program.

“It is a great program at developing athletes physically as well as mentally,” Brett Smedley said. “I have seen huge improvements in the athletes at CHS since we’ve started using the program. We are seeing more confident, physically developed athletes.”

On Mondays and Wednesdays, technical lifts (Olympic lifts) are emphasized, Breanne Smedley said. Metabolic conditioning takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The program runs throughout the year, not just the summer months, and different cycles are introduced for the fall, winter and summer months, Breanne Smedley said.

From 15 to 30 athletes attend each summer session, and while the program is open to all Coupeville athletes, most of those who attend are members of the football or volleyball teams.

Brett Smedley also offers a training program for football players from 4 to 5 p.m. each day.

Breanne Smedley sees the program as a great way for her players to get a jump on the fall volleyball season.

Once the season starts, she said, her players don’t have to “waste time getting into shape,” allowing more time to hone skills and techniques.

She uses incentives to attract her players to the summer SST sessions, and about two-thirds of the team attends.

Volleyball players earn points by taking part in SST, open gyms and volunteering, and those points make players eligible for leadership roles on the team and T-shirts.

Breanne Smedley divides her team into Wolf Packs, each headed by one of the five players who have applied to be considered for team captain this fall. Each leader is responsible for getting her Pack to the SST workouts.

Brett Smedley said the benefits of the program go beyond physical development.

Those who attend “develop self-esteem, self-confidence and definitely leadership ability,” he said.

Breanne Smedley said the program teaches “mental toughness.”

“They become exhausted, like game situations, and they learn how to perform — how to keep going — when they are tired,” she said.

And it all starts by getting out of bed at 7 a.m.