Traditionally, fitness testing has either brought a sense of dread or happiness with it. For those who were conventionally good athletes, with skill in endurance, strength, and flexibility, fitness testing was no big deal, just another day in Phys. Ed class. But, for those who maybe don’t have these skills, or maybe just excel in one or two of these areas, fitness testing could be torture.
Teachers are starting to realize that this standardized fitness testing may not be the best way to do things, and that there may be a better way to test any student’s fitness level, in a test that doesn’t just accommodate those students who possessed skill in endurance, strength, and flexibility.
That’s where heart rate monitors come in. Instead of evaluating someone based on their raw athletic ability, i.e. how many laps they can run in 12 minutes, heart rate monitors would give the ability to see if a person is working in their “target zone”, a target heart rate zone is calculated and so, different for everyone. This target heart rate is converted into a percent which basically just then represents the intensity at which you are working.
http://exercise.about.com/od/cardioworkouts/g/targetheartratezones.htm (Check this link out! What different target heart rate zones mean!)
The use of heart rate monitors would allow us to evaluate someone not on their athletic ability, but on their fitness level.
Imagine if, as a school, we were given a set of heart rate monitors and were admitted to use them every day. If students were able to calculate their target heart zones, and measure where they were at everyday visualize how much an individual’s fitness level could improve! By having a goal in place for where a person should be performing every day, it better allows an individual to push themselves to achieve the best they can do. Over a period of time I can see this exponentially improving ones fitness level.
http://running.about.com/od/howtorun/ht/Calculate-Your-Target-Heart-Rate-Zone.htm (Check it out! How to calculate your target heart rate zone!)
Overall, heart rate monitors would drastically improve Phys. Ed class and students fitness levels. Instead of assessing students on their athletic aptitude, which is not always a good indicator of overall fitness, we would be evaluating them directly on their overall fitness.
http://www.edutopia.org/new-pe-curriculum (Check out this story and see how heart rate monitors and other technologies have positively influenced this Phys. Ed class!)
Julie's Exercise Science 