To complete this workout, you will need stairs and wall space for each student. Our community multiplex (ice rink/arena) is open seven days a week for people to walk. It is a great option because you are sheltered on rainy days, you have access to the stairs to increase the intensity of your workout, you are introducing students to a community recreational facility, and yes, it’s free!
Our local Parks and Recreation department has actually created maps/routes so that people of varying abilities can walk and keep track of how far they are walking. They even have scheduled times when you can walk with health and wellness professionals such as dieticians, nurses, and social workers.
For this workout, I have students take the first 10 minutes to warm-up on a route that challenges them. Some will be walking “take it easy”, while others will be running “take it to the max!”. Students appreciate the autonomy of choosing what they do, and everyone can work to their best ability.
We then meet up at the wall to complete the body of the workout. Much like the track workout, I will usually give a set of instructions involving a wall exercise and the stairs – ex. “Complete 1 set of stairs doing walking lunges and 10-15 triceps push-ups alternating so that you complete three sets of each exercise”. You can also pair students up and have one student doing the stairs and the other doing the exercise on the wall, switching positions when the person completing the stair section is done. There are many different exercises to choose from, so play around with creating a workout that is challenging (and fun) for your class.
We then finish with a cool-down walk and some stretching using the wall. Click on the link for the full workout.
Girls PE 