​​Fitness activities should be enjoyable in physical education. Use the examples below to help you incorporate creative and fun fitness activities into your physical education program.

​Adventure racing is an exciting sport, unlike any other. It might be defined as a team obstacle course race. While previously seen as extreme, adventure races have changed over the years. What used to take expensive equipment like kayaks and bicycles, as well as a whole lot of training time, has morphed into super fun runs that require less specialized training where you use your fitness and wits to complete a variety of obstacles. It is an opportunity for activity that is accessible to both students and adults.
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Below are free SPARTAN Races themed adventure races for physical education created by 2019 National High School Physical Education Teacher of the Year Dan DeJager in collaboration with SPARK and SPARTAN Races (as part of our Coalition for Quality Physical Education). It is a lesson format where students work on grit, perseverance, cooperation, and many other social skills. Many students find it a more enjoyable alternative to the traditional mile run, even though they cover the same distance and more! These races are great fitness activities, allow the teacher to conduct informal assessments, and can be designed for a number of purposes: practice psychomotor skills, practice problem solving, and/or incorporating cross-disciplinary content. 

See the elementary school example below and/or find more information on adventure racing in physical education from Adventure Racing Activities for Fun and Fitness book and Adventure Racing CORE: A Non-Traditional Approach to the Physical Education Lesson article.

Students in groups take turns racing to a designated area, completing the task, and returning to their group. It's a way to add some fun to cardiovascular activities (Open as PDF).

Incorporating fitness concepts into lessons is a great alternative to the traditional lecture format and it helps students experience the connections. See our examples and come up with your own (Open as PDF).

Fitness does not have to be taught on Fitness Days, it can also be incorporated into other units. See our examples for Volleyball (Open as PDF) and/or come up with your own.