Fitness Testing Day Warm-Up Stations
After a general warm-up, students rotate through four stations that prep each event in the fitness battery: standing long jump, medicine ball throw, sit-and-reach, and sprint. They learn to warm up specifically so they perform better and avoid injuries.
How to play
- General warm-up (3 min): easy jog around the area, joint mobility, and 10 bodyweight squats.
- Make four groups of 6-7 and set four stations about 10 yards apart. Each group starts at one and rotates every 2 minutes on the whistle.
- Jump station: 3 two-foot jumps at 50%, 2 at 75%, and 1 at 90%, focusing on an arm swing at takeoff and landing with soft knees.
- Throw station: in pairs, chest passes and overhead passes with a medicine ball from 10-12 feet, first seated and then standing, never at full effort.
- Flexibility station: on mats, leg swings, cat-cow, and 3 progressive seated forward reaches with no bouncing.
- Sprint station: 2 build-up runs of 20 yards between cones and one reaction start on a clap. After the fourth rotation (8 min total), take 1 minute for water before the first test.
Rules
- No station goes to 100%: save your max for the test.
- Throw the medicine ball only when your partner is looking with hands ready.
- Safety: at the sprint station, walk back outside the lane.
Variations
Easier
Use only three stations and a 2 lb medicine ball for throws.
Standard
Four 2-minute stations, one for each event in the battery.
Harder
Each group designs one of the stations and explains it to the others before rotating.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the student does the throw and upper-body flexibility stations from the wheelchair and swaps jumps for arm pushes.
- Autism or test anxiety: post a sign with the station order and preview which test comes next.
- Lower fitness: fewer reps at each station and a 30-second rest between stations.
Learning goals
- Perform a specific warm-up for each fitness test.
- Apply a gradual intensity build without reaching max effort.
- Recognize how warming up connects to performance and injury prevention.
Equipment for a class of 25
- cones: 12
- medicine ball: 4
- mats: 7
Teacher tip
Set the stations in the same order the tests will run. Watch that students don't turn the jumps or sprints into a competition too early.
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