The Undeniable Benefits of Physical Education
Physical education (P.E.) often evokes mixed reactions. While some recall it as a highlight of their school years, others remember it with dread. Regardless of personal experiences, the benefits of physical education extend far beyond the gymnasium walls. It plays a very important role in students’ health. School education should not only be about intellectual learning, but it should also teach people about their own bodies and how to treat them. P.E. is a hands-on method of education that impacts the personal well-being of students more than other school subjects.
Physical Health: Building a Stronger Foundation
Physical health is the most obvious benefit of physical education. An article published in the Journal of Preventative Medicine and Hygiene titled “Physical Activity for Health” states that regular physical activity strengthens the body’s functions and reduces the risk of various diseases. It improves quality of life and the way your body feels. P.E. classes teach students to be active and help them adopt healthy activity habits.
Physical activity builds strong muscles, bones, and joints. It also improves cardiovascular health, which positively impacts blood pressure and blood sugar levels. The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity weekly. You can knock that out in just 30 minutes a day, five days a week. So, this is easy! Move more, with more intensity, and sit less.
The Department of Health and Human Services recommends these exercise guidelines: Aerobic activity. Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity. Or get at least 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week. You also can get an equal combination of moderate and vigorous activity. Aim to spread out this exercise over a few days or more in a week. For even more health benefits, the guidelines suggest getting 300 minutes a week or more of moderate aerobic activity. Exercising this much may help with weight loss or keeping off lost weight. But even small amounts of physical activity can be helpful. Being active for short periods of time during the day can add up and have health benefits. Strength training. Do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. One set of each exercise is enough for health and fitness benefits. Use a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions.
Moderate aerobic exercise includes activities such as brisk walking, biking, swimming and mowing the lawn. Vigorous aerobic exercise includes activities such as running, swimming laps, heavy yardwork and aerobic dancing. You can do strength training by using weight machines or free weights, your own body weight, heavy bags, or resistance bands. You also can use resistance paddles in the water or do activities such as rock climbing.
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Mental and Emotional Well-being: A Happy Pill with No Side Effects
Regular physical activity can relieve stress, anxiety, depression and anger. You know that feel-good sensation you get after doing something physical? Think of it as a happy pill with no side effects! Physical activity releases endorphins, the brain’s feel-good chemicals while reducing the stress hormones, such as cortisol.
P.E. trains personal motivation and enjoyment in exercise. According to a study published in the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine called “Analysis of Motivational Profiles of Satisfaction and Importance of Physical Education in High School Adolescents,” there is a level of satisfaction involved, as P.E.’s social environment prompts internal motivation and task-orientation. Students are presented with opportunities to enhance their physical ability in a way that bolsters mental capability. P.E. encourages students who are goal-oriented - whether they are athletically inclined or not - to participate. When P.E. caters to internal motivation, it becomes enjoyable for students.
Social Development: Building Connections and Confidence
Physical activity can further interpersonal connections through sports, group activities, and teamwork. In a P.E. classroom setting, some students have goals for improving social standing. Because student-to-student interactions are higher in a P.E. class than in the typical classroom, there are unique opportunities for interacting with peers. The social ladder is ripe for climbing. Or it can be a time of insecurity, when students do not want to feel the discomfort of comparison. These goals drive motivation and athletic performance, according to a study by Alex Garn, David Ware and Melinda Solmon. If organized properly, P.E. P.E builds self-esteem, belonging, and confidence. Physical activity provides room for achievement and athletic improvement.
Academic Performance: A Boost for the Brain
Evidence suggests that increasing physical activity and physical fitness may improve academic performance and that time in the school day dedicated to recess, physical education class, and physical activity in the classroom may also facilitate academic performance. Classrooms are not only a space to teach valuable skills, but to inspire healthy habits for a lifetime.
Physical activity can improve concentration, problem-solving, memory, and school attendance, which correlates with better grades and test scores in school. Available evidence suggests that mathematics and reading are the academic topics that are most influenced by physical activity. These topics depend on efficient and effective executive function, which has been linked to physical activity and physical fitness. Executive function and brain health underlie academic performance. Basic cognitive functions related to attention and memory facilitate learning, and these functions are enhanced by physical activity and higher aerobic fitness. Single sessions of and long-term participation in physical activity improve cognitive performance and brain health. Children who participate in vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity benefit the most. Given the importance of time on task to learning, students should be provided with frequent physical activity breaks that are developmentally appropriate.
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Children respond faster and with greater accuracy to a variety of cognitive tasks after participating in a session of physical activity (Tomporowski, 2003; Budde et al., 2008; Hillman et al., 2009; Pesce et al., 2009; Ellemberg and St-Louis-Deschênes, 2010). A single bout of moderate-intensity physical activity has been found to increase neural and behavioral concomitants associated with the allocation of attention to a specific cognitive task (Hillman et al., 2009; Pontifex et al., 2012). And when children who participated in 30 minutes of aerobic physical activity were compared with children who watched television for the same amount of time, the former children cognitively outperformed the latter (Ellemberg and St-Louis-Desêhenes, 2010).
When physical activity is used as a break from academic learning time, postengagement effects include better attention (Grieco et al., 2009; Bartholomew and Jowers, 2011), increased on-task behaviors (Mahar et al., 2006), and improved academic performance (Donnelly and Lambourne, 2011).
Promoting Lifelong Health and Well-being
Physical activity is a vital component in the development of a person’s life. From adolescence to adulthood, moving our bodies throughout the day can have positive effects on our sleep quality, memory, bone health, and more. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Without regular activity, your body slowly loses its strength, stamina and ability to function properly. It’s like the old saying: You don’t stop moving from growing old; you grow old from stopping moving.
Staying active helps delay or prevent chronic illnesses and diseases associated with aging. Physical activity may help you live longer, and those extra years are generally healthier years! It’s true - 70 is the new 60, but only if you’re healthy.
Too much sitting and other sedentary activities can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. Stand up when you eat your apple a day! Heart disease and stroke are two leading causes of death in the United States. Getting at least 150 minutes a week of moderate physical activity can put you at a lower risk for these diseases. You can reduce your risk even further with more physical activity. Regular physical activity can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is some combination of too much fat around the waist, high blood pressure, low high-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol, high triglycerides, or high blood sugar. With a regular schedule of moderate-intensity physical activity, people start to benefit from even less than 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity.
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Physical activity may help reduce the risk of serious outcomes from infectious diseases, including COVID-19, the flu, and pneumonia. People who do little or no physical activity are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19 than those who are physically active. More active people may be less likely to die from flu or pneumonia. Being physically active lowers your risk for developing several common cancers.
As you age, it's important to protect your bones, joints, and muscles. Lifting weights is an example of a muscle-strengthening activity. Muscle strengthening is important for older adults who experience reduced muscle mass and muscle strength with aging. Everyday activities include climbing stairs, grocery shopping, or cleaning the house. Being unable to perform everyday activities is called functional limitation. For older adults, doing a variety of physical activities improves physical function and decreases the risk of falls or injury from a fall. Older adults need to include aerobic, muscle strengthening, and balance activities in their physical activity routines. Hip fracture is a serious health condition that can result from a fall. Breaking a hip can have life-changing negative effects, especially if you're an older adult. adults ages 40 and older increased their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Taking more steps a day also helps lower the risk of premature death from all causes. In one study, for adults younger than 60, the risk of premature death leveled off at about 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day.
Integrating Physical Activity into the Classroom
Adding physical activity into the mix of education and day-to-day classroom activities has the benefits listed above and more. Not sure where to start as an educator? Here are some ideas:
- Ball tossing: With this activity, students can sit or stand in a circle while they take turns asking and answering questions, spelling, or learning new words.
- Creative workstations or scavenger hunts: A simple yet interactive way to get students out of their seats. Hand out activity sheets and set up information-based workstations that lead them to each area around the class or school to find the answer.
- Answer relays: While quizzing groups of students on previously learned information, break them into groups to see who can race the fastest to the front of the class and write the answer. Or have them write the answer on paper or a small whiteboard before they pass the item with the written answer up to the front of the class in a row.
- Trashcan basketball or soccer: This is a great activity for healthy competition! Students can be broken up into singles, pairs, or larger teams while they answer fact-based questions to score points. Whether you try this out with a basketball hoop or just a trash can and a crumbled-up piece of construction paper-students are bound to have fun while moving their bodies.
- Mindful exercises: In between lessons or at the end of a school day, promote stretch breaks.
There are also resources available to help educators integrate physical activity into the classroom:
- B3: Brain, Body, Behavior: a multimedia curriculum that helps students in Grades K-6 spark their brains, build their bodies, and improve their behavior to increase academic performance.
- HealthSmart Supercharging Lesson Cards: These colorful and laminated cards are ideal for getting students active throughout a lesson, promoting critical thinking, moving their bodies, and encouraging them to work collaboratively with their classmates.
- Floor Graphics: Encourage the excitement of learning through play with colorful sensory floor graphics. Great for problem-solving, creativity, balance, coordination, and motor skills.
Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAP)
Schools are in a unique position to help students get the daily recommended 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) provides details about its suggested Physical Education and Physical Activity Framework. This document outlines professional development opportunities and resources to help schools implement the framework. CDC worked with SHAPE America to create a step-by-step guide: Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs for schools and school districts. This physical activity program guide can help you develop new programs, evaluate programs, or improve existing programs. The guide can be helpful to an existing school health council or wellness committee, or to a new committee. This module is designed to help educators create and refine a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program.
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