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NIT 4: FIT
TOPIC 1: INTRODUCTION TO FITNESS
TOPIC 2:
HEART HEALTH
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TOPIC 3: STAYING ACTIVE
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UNIT 4: ACTIVE BODIES, ACTIVE MINDS
TOPIC 1
INTRODUCTION TO FITNESS AND HOW IT CONTRIBUTES TO A HEALTHY BODY AND HEALTHY MIND
OBJECTIVES:
• Students recognize the importance of living an active lifestyle
• Students understand that most of Canada’s youth do not get enough exercise
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
• Students can describe the physical and mental benefits of staying active
RESOURCES:
• I’m Physically Fit! Handout
• I’m Mentally Fit! Handout
• Fitness Tracker
TOPIC 1
INTRODUCTION TO FITNESS
Q.An active lifestyle that includes regular physical fitness is a key part of growth and
development for all people, but many Canadian children/youth don’t get enough physical
activity to stay healthy. Can you guess what percentage of Canadian kids don’t get
enough exercise?
A. More than 50%
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Q. What are some physical benefits of participating in physical activities on a regular basis?
A. • Helps you strengthen your heart so that it’s easier for it to pump oxygen throughout your body
• Helps you build healthy bones
• Helps you develop strong muscles
• Helps you increase your flexibility
• Improves your balance, posture and overall coordination
• Helps you maintain a healthy weight
• Gives you more energy
•Helps you explore community centre and school programs which is a great way to meet
people and make new friends
•Helps prevent certain medical conditions when you’re an adult such as Type 2 diabetes, heart
disease, osteoporosis (a disease where bones get weaker and break more easily), high blood
pressure, stroke, obesity and even certain types of cancer.
Q. What are some benefits for your mind when participating in physical activities on a regular
basis?
A. • Boosts your self-esteem and confidence to build life skills
• Helps prevent anxiety and depression
• Helps you relax
• Helps you sleep better
• Helps you focus and concentrate at school
• Helps reduce stress
•Helps you make healthy choices throughout your life, lowering the risk of starting smoking,
using drugs and drinking alcohol later on
Q. How much physical activity do we need per day to stay healthy?
A. Health Canada reccommends that kids between the age of 11 -13 need at least 60 minutes (or an
hour) of physical activity per day.
Q.What is something you can increase and what is something you can decrease in order to
be more physically active?
A.Youth can increase the amount of time they are getting exercising each day. Canada’s Physical
Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living suggests adding 30 minutes of physical activity per day
to what you already do. The goal here is to gradually increase your amount of exercise on a
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day-to-day basis, which can start with just 5 to 10 minutes of physical activity over the whole
day, and then eventually build up to adding an extra 30 minutes.
Youth can also decrease or reduce the amount of time they watch TV, watch movies, play video
or computer games, surf the Internet, etc. by reducing the amount of time doing this by 30
minutes per day.
TOPIC 1
INTRODUCTION TO FITNESS
ACTIVITY 1:
Photocopy and provide each student with the I’m Physically Fit handout. Arrange students into pairs and
encourage each pair to brainstorm together the different ways in which living an active lifestyle is beneficial
to your physical health. Have each student record their answers on the lines provided. When they are
done recording their answers, encourage students to draw and colour the ‘person’ to reflect their image
and style.
ACTIVITY 2:
Photocopy and provide each student with the I’m Mentally Fit handout. Arrange students into pairs and
encourage each pair to brainstorm together the different ways in which living an active lifestyle is beneficial
to your mental well-being. Have each student record their answers anywhere inside the ‘brain’. Select a
few groups to present their answers to the class.
ACTIVITY 3:
Once you’ve discussed with your students the importance of achieving 60 minutes per day of physical activity, have them fill out the Fitness Tracker worksheet. This activity can be done as the week progresses
(ie. activities are filled out each day) or in retrospect (ie. kids reflect on all the physical activity that they
participated in over the past week). Brainstorm prior to assigning the worksheet what different activities
can be included.
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Because day-to-day routines can vary over the course of a week, this worksheet presents the required 60
minutes of physical activity per day as a weekly measurement (420 minutes). If students find that they
are significantly below the recommended amount, use that as an opportunity to encourage increased
participation in some of the activities that were previously brainstormed as a class.
The “Location” column is intended to get kids thinking about how they can be active in different environments (ie. not just at school during PE or competitive sports, but also at home and in their surrounding
community).
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STUDENT HANDOUT
I’M PHYSICALLY FIT!
Brainstorm ways in which living an active lifestyle is beneficial to your physical health.
Record your answers on the lines provided. Once you have recorded all your answers,
draw and colour the person to reflect your image and style.
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STUDENT HANDOUT
I’M MENTALLY FIT!
Brainstorm ways in which living an active lifestyle is beneficial to your mental health.
Record your answers anywhere inside the brain.
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FITNESS TRACKER
Have students track their fitness activities each day and record answers below.
DAY
ACTIVITY
LOCATION
TOTAL RECOMENDED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PER WEEK
# OF MINS
420
TOTAL ACHIEVED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PER WEEK
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TOPIC 2
HEART HEALTH
OBJECTIVES:
•Students recognize the functionality of the human heart and how its operation is an indicator of
health
• Students understand what a Resting Heart Rate is and how to measure it
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
• Students can describe how the heart contributes to overall health
• Students can identify their Resting Heart Rate and compare it to healthy averages
RESOURCES:
• Happy Heart Rate activity page
TOPIC 2
HEART HEALTH
Q. What is the primary function of our heart?
A. The primary function of our heart is to continuously pump blood throughout our entire bodies. Blood is filled with oxygen and nutrients and the blood acts as a delivery service to all
parts of our bodies, delivering the important oxygen and nutrients that we need to survive and
stay healthy.
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Q. What is meant by Resting Heart Rate, or RHR?
A. Our heart rate is the number of times our heart beats every minute, so a resting heart rate is
the number of times our heart beats while we are at rest. Our heart beats all day and all night,
whether we are moving, eating, sleeping, standing still or outside playing street hockey. With each
beat, our heart pumps blood through our body carrying vital oxygen and nutrients.
A well exercised heart can pump blood more efficiently with every beat than a non-exercised
heart. This means that more good stuff like oxygen and various nutrients can get to all of your cells
fast and often without your heart having to work too hard.
Q. What is the purpose of measuring our Resting Heart Rate?
A. By measuring our Resting Heart Rate (RHR) we can monitor improvements of our overall fitness
and health. So often when we think of training or improving our fitness we are concerned
with the measurement of weight, percentage of body fat and/or running times and distances.
Resting Heart Rate is a very important measurement that can be improved with training and
exercise and is one of the biggest indications of over-all health.
Q. When is the best time to measure your Resting Heart Rate?
A. The best time to measure resting heart rate is first thing in the morning while still in bed. This
will give you the most accurate results.
Q. How do you measure your Resting Heart Rate?
A. Take your fore finger and middle finger and place on your neck under your chin and feel for a
pulse. When you find it, look at a stop watch (or have a partner look at a stopwatch) and count
the number of beats or pulses in 30 seconds. Multiply that number by two and you will have
your Resting Heart Rate.
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Q. What is the average Resting Heart Rate for kids?
A. For kids aged 2-10 years old:
• Average RHR is 85-90
• Actual range can be 60-140
For youth aged 11-17 years old:
• Average RHR is 60-100
Often, an indicator of good health would be a RHR at the lower end of your age-group’s average.
In general, kids have a higher Resting Heart Rate than adults. In addition, girls tend to have higher
Resting Heart Rates than boys.
When playing sports, there is such a thing as having your heart rate too high. This is dangerous and
should be avoided. A good way to make sure you’re keeping your heart rate in a safe zone is to try
the Talk Test as outlined in Activity 2.
TOPIC 2
HEART HEALTH
ACTIVITY 1: HAPPY HEART RATE
Photocopy and provide each student with a Resting Heart Rate activity page. Assemble the students into
pairs in such an area that they have a clear view of the classroom clock with a second-hand. If the clock
does not have a second-hand, locate a stop-watch that you can operate for the students as a group.
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ACTIVITY 2: IN THE GYM OR OUTDOORS
This purpose of this activity is to teach students how to ensure their heart rate isn’t getting too high
when they are playing sports or exercising.
How do we know if we are doing the correct intensity of workout to improve the fitness of our hearts
and improve our resting heart rate, but still keeping our heart rate at safe levels? The Talk Test!
The Talk Test is very simple: When exercising, you should be at an intensity that you can still talk to and
have a conversation with other people. If you are too out of breath to be able to have a conversation
then it might be a good idea to slow down a little. This will also help you keep exercising for a longer
period of time.
Arrange students into pairs and assign them an activity that they must do for at least five minutes
straight, such as running or skipping with a skipping rope, that will quickly increase their heart rate. Have
them take turns asking each other questions such as those listed below. Encourage them to monitor how
easy or difficult it was to answer the question, based on how out of breath they are. Encourage students
to follow the Talk Test model to keep their heart rate at such a level that they can ask and answer the
questions comfortably.
What did you do last night?
What is your favourite hobby and why?
What is your favourite meal and why?
If you were a super hero, which one would you be and why?
What is your favourite movie and why?
After the five minutes is up, use a clock or stop watch to have each student measure their heart rate.
Students should record their heart rate on the Happy Heart Rate worksheet.
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STUDENT HANDOUT
HAPPY HEART RATE
RESTING HEART RATE
Your resting heart rate:
______________________
Your partner’s resting heart rate:
______________________
Your teacher’s resting heart rate:
______________________
Alex Edler’s resting heart rate:
48 beats per minute
ACTIVE HEART RATE
Your active heart rate:
______________________
Your partner’s active heart rate:
______________________
Why is measuring your Resting Heart Rate one of the indicators of health?
GRADES 6-7
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TOPIC 3
STAYING ACTIVE
OBJECTIVES:
•Students recognize the large variety of activities they can participate in to maintain and increase
their physical fitness
• Students understand how professional athletes stay in shape
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
•Students can list a number of activities they can take part in, both within their daily routine and
as extra-curricular or at-home activities, to stay in shape
• Students are inspired to try new physical activities to maintain and increase their fitness levels
RESOURCES:
• Stay Active, Stay Fit! handout
• Getting to Know: How the Vancouver Canucks Players Stay Fit resource
TOPIC 3
STAYING ACTIVE
Q.Explain the two different types/intensities of activities youth can participate in to get
their daily exercise and examples of each.
A.Kids should try to include both moderate activities, like skating, walking, riding a bike, and
vigorous activities, such as playing soccer, hockey or running.
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Q. What are some simple day-to-day activities you can incorporate into your daily routine to
increase your physical activity?
A. • Walk with friends or parents to school (instead of getting a ride)
• Use the stairs whenever possible instead of the escalator or elevator
• Have your parents park farther away from buildings so you have to walk farther to get inside
•When doing a stationary activity such as playing video games, surfing the internet or watching television, etc. set a timer for 15 minutes – every time it goes off, do an exercise (a
stretch, sit ups, push-ups, knee bends, walk up and down a set of stairs, etc.)
• Have one day a week when you don’t watch television, use a computer or play a video game
•Once a weekend, play a game with your family – you could play badminton outdoors or hide
and go seek indoors
•Add some extra fun chores to your life like raking leaves, weeding the garden, washing the
car, walking the dog, etc.
Q. What are some seasonal activities you can participate in to increase your physical activity?
A. In the winter:
• Help shovel the driveway when it snows
• Go tobogganing
• Have a (friendly) snowball fight with your friends and family
• Build a snowman or snow-fort
• Go ice-skating
• Play ice hockey
In the summer:
• Go for a bike ride with your parents
• Go for a long hike or go for a long walk with your family
• Go for a swim in an outdoor pool or local lake
• Wash the car
• Take golf lessons
• Play road hockey (in a SAFE area)
• Play a game of basketball or soccer outdoors with friends
• Toss a frisbee around at the park
• Build a sand castle at the beach
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Anytime:
• Join a sports team at school or sign up for track and field
•Walk instead of taking the car to places like school, a friend’s house, the recreation centre,
the mall, or grocery store
• Join some programs at your local recreation centre
• Go bowling
• Find some music that you really like and dance
• Challenge your friends or family to a game of laser tag
•Explore some physical activities that you’ve never tried before and make a commitment
with your family to do these together (like curling, going snowshoeing or skiing, rollerblading
around the park or sea wall, walks or runs)
Q.What do you think Daniel & Henrik Sedin, Bo Horvat, Alex Edler, and Canucks mascot FIN
like to do in the off-season to stay fit and in shape?
A. D
aniel & Henrik stay in shape by jogging outside, riding a stationary bike, lifting weights and
going to the gym, and rollerblading.
Bo Horvat stays in shape by riding a stationary bike, lifting weights and going to the gym, and
running up steep hills with a weight vest on.
Alex Edler stays in shape by riding his bicycle on roads and trails, lifting weights and going to
the gym, and running everyday on a treadmill.
FIN stays in shape by swimming, going fishing, and visiting kids throughout the summer.
GRADES 6-7
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TOPIC 3
STAYING ACTIVE
ACTIVITY 1: STAY ACTIVE, STAY FIT!
Photocopy and provide each student with the Stay Active, Stay Fit! activity page. Have students record
their answers on the page and then choose a handful of students to share their ideas with the class.
ACTIVITY 2: HOW THE CANUCKS STAY FIT
Photocopy and provide each student with both the Getting to Know: How the Vancouver Canucks
Players Stay Fit reading resource (two-sided) and the Healthy Hockey Habits activity page. Based on the
information in the reading resource, have each student answer the questions on the Healthy Hockey
Habits page.
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STUDENT HANDOUT
STAY ACTIVE, STAY FIT!
List five things you can easily add to your regular daily routine to increase your
physical activity:
List two things you can decrease in order to increase your physical activity:
List two activities you already do to increase your physical fitness:
List two activities you have never done but would like to try that would increase your
physical fitness:
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STUDENT HANDOUT
GETTING TO KNOW:
HOW THE VANCOUVER CANUCKS PLAYERS STAY FIT
— DURING THE NHL SEASON —
Professional athletes like the Vancouver Canucks engage in the high-intensity sport of ice hockey on a
regular basis. As a result, they must keep their rigorous training schedules up to date during the NHL
season to maximize performance. Here’s a look into how the Vancouver Canucks players stay fit and in
shape during the busy hockey season so they can have success on the ice.
The health and fitness theme for the players during the NHL season:
WORKOUTS – EATING RIGHT – REST
During the season, Vancouver Canucks players could play up to 90 hockey games – and that doesn’t even
count the playoffs! In addition to all those games, the players also participate in on-ice practices 5-7
times a week as well. Because they are on the ice so often, they must be sure to eat healthy and also find
a balance between working out/exercising and resting so that their bodies have enough time to recover
from each game and so that they don’t get run down.
The reason the players are so engaged in physical activity (both on the ice and off the ice in the gym) is so
they can maintain and sometimes increase their physical performance. Being in shape during the season
will decrease the chance of injury, will allow them to recover faster if they do get injured or worn down,
and will allow them to perform at a higher level. Players will skate hard during practices to keep their high
level of fitness, workout in the gym with weights and cardio machines to strengthen their muscles and
their heart, and they also do lots of stretches, especially immediately before and after an intense workout (including before and after a game). Again, proper nutrition and rest is important to allow players’
bodies to recuperate from training and hockey games.
Cooling down after an intense work-out like a hockey game is also an important aspect of staying in
shape for professional hockey players. After every game, all Canucks players cool down on a stationary
bike in the team gym for 5-10 minutes. Cooling down is an important aspect of working out because it
allows your body to gradually lower its temperature, blood pressure and heart rate to resting levels and
allows you to recover more efficiently for the next game, practice or workout.
DID YOU KNOW?
Defenceman Alex Edler does a light work-out in the gym 3-4 days per week and also does an intense,
in-depth workout in the gym 2-3 times per week. That is all in addition to hockey games and team
practices.
GRADES 6-7
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STUDENT HANDOUT
GETTING TO KNOW:
HOW THE VANCOUVER CANUCKS PLAYERS STAY FIT
— DURING THE OFF SEASON —
Professional athletes like the Vancouver Canucks also have to ensure they keep up their fitness level in
the off-season so when training camp comes along they are 100% ready to get back to the grind of The
NHL schedule. Here’s a look into how the Vancouver Canucks players stay fit and in shape so they can be
successful on the ice.
The health and fitness theme for the players during the off season:
WORKOUTS – EATING RIGHT
The job of being a professional athlete requires them to keep in shape not only when they are playing
during the NHL season, but also in their off season. During the summer months while living back in their
home-towns, NHL players will workout in the gym, go for hikes, ride their bike, swim, go for runs, etc.
Some players will also take exercise classes such as boxing, yoga, pilates, or mixed martial arts. Not only
do they workout regularly, but in order to make sure that their bodies adapt to the training, the players
make sure that they drink enough water and eat healthy food during the day. All of this helps them build
muscle, decrease body fat, and gives them energy to workout.
Many Vancouver Canucks players keep rigorous off-season workout schedules to maintain and increase
their fitness. Here are what a few of your favourite Canucks players like to do in the off-season:
Daniel & Henrik stay in shape by jogging outside, riding a stationary bike, lifting
weights and going to the gym, and rollerblading.
Bo Horvat stays in shape by riding a stationary bike, lifting weights and going to the
gym, and running up steep hills with a weight vest on.
Alex Edler stays in shape by riding his bicycle on the roads and trails, lifting weights
and going to the gym, and running everyday on a treadmill.
GRADES 6-7
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