1800 sq ft Middle School Fitness Facility

How the room works for a PE Class:

The room is divided into two sections: Strength and Core, and Interactive Cardio.

There are several different programming concepts that can be put in place with this type of equipment. Many PE teachers ask, how do I incorporate the interactive equipment with the traditional equipment? Here are some of the options for the teachers at this school.

Traditional Circuit Only:

This room has a good balance of equipment as there is enough traditional fitness equipment that the PE teacher can “Close” the interactive fitness portion of the room all together if desired. By simply moving the Game Bikes away from the TV (they become standard commercial stationary bikes with programming and fitness read out panels.) The teacher incorporates some accessories such as BOSU and Fitness Balls. Now we have 23 stations. With students paired up, 46 students are now engaged in a teacher lead traditional strength and cardio circuit. It is important to note: a teacher’s energy and creativity can make a huge difference in the quality of workout for circuit training. Circuit programs can get dry if the programming doesn’t mix things up; we strongly recommend utilizing fitness accessories in any circuit program. These accessories offer teaching opportunities for exercises with inexpensive, highly versatile equipment such as a fitness balls, BOSU or balance boards. In addition, for kids that are motivated to be fit, these items are attainable for home use.

The Interactive Equipment as REWARD:

Students Pair up on the strength and core section. There are 17 -18 stations in the traditional fitness section. That accounts for up to 36 kids if needed. These students rotate around the equipment as a standard teacher lead circuit. The 10 “chosen” students that met the outlined criteria set at an earlier date play on the DDR and Game Bikes. At this middle school each of the DDR games comes equipped with practice pads and the rubber flooring is large enough to accommodate one pad behind each active pad. This enables the teacher to allow 12 students (or more) to participate on the DDR. A good trick for the game bikes is to place a BOSU or balance board in the area behind each bike. The kids that are racing each other, race hard and fast. When each race is over, they switch with partners that are cooling down and then watching the race, but balance boarding too.

Traditional and Interactive switch:

This type of rotation can be especially useful for longer periods or block schedules.

The class is divided into two groups. Let’s say we have a class of 43. 22 kids (group A) start the session in a traditional teacher lead circuit. This can be done in pairs, or by adding some accessory stations, with one student per station. Group A rotates around the equipment with teacher cues and upbeat music. The teacher would calculate how much time is to be spent on each machine according to half of the allotted fitness time. The other group (B) of 21 kids is playing the interactive games. By adding 3 or 4 practice pads, DDR games we can have 15- 18 kids that can rotate on the DDR at every song. By adding a Balance board or Bosu (or other accessory) to the end of the game bikes we get the remaining 8 kids at the game bike stations. The group B can manage its own rotation based on the games or songs that are being played. It is recommended to set rules for “getting in line” at a DDR group or game bike, would allow kids to freely switch from DDR to Gamebike without incidence. Most kids will actively participate in either the Game Bike or the DDR for extended periods of time so even the longer block periods shouldn’t be a motivational problem at the interactive equipment.

Half way thru the period. Groups A and B switch. By the end of the extended period, the students have gotten a serious strength and cardio workout, and had a good time doing it!