"Using a Pulse Monitor and Fitness Station Ideas " by Tom Winiecki

There has been a lot of healthy discussion on the listservs lately about pulse monitors. Opinions have been expressed on both sides of the coin regarding the best way to use them.

My experience with pulse monitors is in the elementary and middle schools (K-8). I side with the thinking that they are best used as a way to remind and reinforce to students how fast they need to exercise to gain all of the benefits. If the goal of your program is to give your students an appreciation of physical activity (to make exercise fun) and toward an ability to create activities on their own (they aren't allowed to say "I don't know what to do!."), pulse monitors can fit right in.

I have used two types of monitors. I've used the "Polar" heart monitors that strap to your chest in the middle school. I've also used the "bar" type of monitors in the elementary school. These allow the kids to hold it with both hands. The pulse rate is displayed on a small screen. Both types are easily available in many catalogues.

I prefer the "bar" type monitors for the elementary school, because more kids can use it in a period and you don't have to mess with taking it on and off all the time.

On the wall in our gym, we display a giant heart. Running through the heart are the numbers 150, 160, 170, 180. That is the "target heart rate" we teach our kids. You can see what it looks like on our web site http://www.fm.cnyric.org/mott_road/pehome.html Click onto "Philosophy," then click onto the words "how to take your pulse."

I will use the monitors in many ways. One way is designed to be fairly low key. I never want the kids to think that they "failed" if they didn't get their heart to "hit the target." With us, they are in the process of learning how to exercise. We don't expect them to get it the first time.

For example, we just finished a jump rope activity that took about five weeks to complete. I put a giant world map on the wall in the gym. The classes all tried to accumulate mileage around the world by jumping rope. They earn 1,000 miles for every minute they jump. They are given a certain amount of lives. When they lose all of their lives, they go to another part of the gym and they keep jumping. This way, no one is "out." Everyone is always active. When 10 kids are there, I stop the clock. I will give the pulse monitor to one of those 10 kids, while everyone else manually takes their own pulse. (They take their pulse for :06, then add a zero to their number. This is much simpler for these kids than trying to count for :10 and multiplying by 6) If they hit the target range, the whole class earns another 1,000 miles on the map. In other words, they can still help the class even if they loose all of their lives.

If the child misses the "target" more often than not they are going too fast. We just tell them that they don't have to go so hard. They slowly begin to realize that they don't have to kill themselves to get a good workout. They can play (exercise) without running themselves into the ground. This is also an excellent opportunity for me to dispel that myth of "no pain, no gain."

Using a pulse monitor this way this way shows them the relationship between correct exercise intensity and getting stronger. You should see the smiles on those "non-athletic" kids when I tell them that they are working too hard and that they should slow down. They are beginning to get the idea!

When they do hit the target, they are told to remember how fast they went, and to repeat that speed next time. We will also incorporate target heart rate into other activities. During, or after an activity we'll have the kids take their pulse. They will be told to look at the target to see how they did. If they are looking for winners, they need to look to their heart. They "won" the game, or round if their "heart hit the target."

Another way we've used pulse monitors is in fitness stations. This works easiest in a "circuit" set-up where kids go from one station to the next, on your signal.

We set up 12 stations in the gym. Eleven stations have various physical tasks (arm wrestling, stretch bands, jump ropes...). The twelfth station is a computer. Our building has a computer on a cart that anyone can use. We set up a spreadsheet on the computer. Each student has a sheet that they use to record their pulse after the four stations before the computer (#'s 8-11). These stations have a hand held "bar" type monitor at them. They are each placed in a wire basket filled with pinnies for protection. One predetermined student in each group uses the monitor. Everyone else takes their pulse manually. Once a group has everyone with pulse entries from stations #8-11, their next station becomes #12, the computer. Until this, they bypass the computer station. While the kids are there, we enter their pulse data into the spreadsheet. We then tell the spreadsheet to create a graph.

That graph is printed out on the spot! It takes us between 1-2 classes to get everyone their own graph. All of the kids have done some kind of graphing in their math instruction, so graphs are nothing new to them. It's a good carryover between math and physical education.

Fitness Station Scavenger Hunt
Here is a way to spice up your fitness stations. This will take a little "prep" on your part, but once everything gets going, the kids will really get a lot out of it. You will no longer be asked "what do I do at this station?" or "where do I go next?"

You need to create a card with 25-30 tasks on it. Make the tasks ones that can be done anywhere. Things like jumping jacks, push-ups, shooting baskets, or skiers jumps work well. If, for example, the next task on their card says to do 25 jumping jacks, they need to find a safe, available place to do them. (You can talk to your kids about what makes a place safe and available.) It may never be in the same place twice. This is why it is called a "scavenger hunt." It is up to the kids to find a place and the proper equipment. You can scatter the equipment around the walls, or leave it in a central location. Stations are not predetermined like a circuit.

Possible suggestions: 35 jumping jacks
10 crunches
50 skier jumps over a line
10 biceps curls with stretch bands
2 laps while dribbling a basketball
3 laps skipping clockwise
arm wrestle your partner 4 times
jump rope50 times
crab walk around the middle circle 3 times
jump rope with your partner20 times...

It's a good idea to laminate the cards so they can be easily reused. Make up enough cards so your kids can move around in pairs. Also, circle a different station on each card as a beginning point for each group. This way, the action stays spread out. Try it and let me know what you think!

Next time: Using E-mail With Your Physical Education Classes

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