Ungraded Health Battery: Each Student and Their Own Zone

A battery of four health-related fitness tests (endurance, core strength, upper-body strength and flexibility) where each student is measured with a partner and records the result privately. There is no grade or ranking: each result falls in the healthy zone, the improvement zone or the attention zone, and students choose one habit for the next measurement.

How to play

1. Explain the purpose of the battery: students compare themselves with a health standard and with themselves, not with the class; hand out the sheet with the three zones by test and age (4 min).
2. Core strength station: curl-ups to a set cadence, up to 75; the partner counts and records (5 min).
3. Upper-body strength station: push-ups to a cadence, with knees down if chosen, and the chosen version is also recorded (5 min).
4. Flexibility station: sit and reach after two easy warm-up reaches (5 min).
5. Final endurance test for the whole group: 6 minutes of running or walking at their own pace, counting laps around a cone circuit (8 min).
6. Each student places their four results in the zones, chooses a specific habit for the test where they are furthest from the healthy zone and hands in the folded sheet (5 min).

Rules

• Results are seen only by the student, their partner and the teacher; nobody says them out loud.
• Students may stop the endurance test and walk at any time.
• Push-ups and curl-ups only count with proper form, without yanking the neck.
• Sit and reach is done without bouncing and after mobilizing the hips.

Variations

Adaptations

• Overweight: the endurance test can be walked and progress is measured against the student's previous result.
• Wrist or shoulder injury: replaces push-ups with a timed front plank.
• Limited mobility: endurance test moving in the wheelchair and upper-body strength with a seated medicine ball throw.

Learning goals

• Understand their own fitness level in relation to health.
• Interpret results using health standards rather than performance.
• Choose a realistic habit to improve one fitness component.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 12
• exercise mats: 15
• measuring tapes: 3
• sit-and-reach box: 2
• stopwatch: 4
• worksheets: 30

Teacher tip

Keep in mind that some students have had bad experiences with fitness tests: stress that there is no grade and protect the privacy of the sheet. Keep the sheets to repeat the battery at the end of the term.

More main activities for High School