Strength Training in Youth

I am interested to see if anyone out there has ever implemented some kind of strength/resistance training unit into their teaching. Recently, I have been studying and putting together finding on the benefits of strength training in prepubescent and pubescent children. Feedback of any kind would be greatly appreciated.

Achieving Target Heart Rate

So the question is, has anyone ever worn or had their students wear a heart rate monitor while playing DDR? If so, were you or the students able to reach the target heart rate and keep it their for at least 15-20 minutes?

Virtual Reality Games

Virtual reality seems to be a popular and upcoming product for physical educators to incorporate into their curriculum. My question is, how does one benefit from participating in VR games and are they really intense enough to put you in your target heart rate zone?

Training in Sand

If their is anyone out their that has more detailed information of speed training in sand please pass your knowledge along. One of my weightlifting coaches is Latvian and used to lift for the Soviet National team back in the 70's. He told me that they use to weightlift and train on the beaches of the Baltic Sea. They would train their for several weeks in the summer and when they returned home they would see much improvement. I feel that lifting in sand would train those stabalizing muscles more than if you were to lift off a hard surface platform. Plus, if your lifting bare foot, its going to take some of those muscles you normally wouldn't use in a gym setting to support yourself on the sandy beach.

I have never lifted in sand before, but I have lifted on soft grass. The second you start to lift the weight off the ground (just say in a clean and jerk) your feet start to depress into the earth due to the weight of the barbell leaving the earth. This depression slows the force in which you are trying to create against the earth in order to perform an explosive movement, which is needed in the clean phase of the lift. This makes the lift that much harder to perform when done on a soft movable surface compared to a hard stable surface.

Speed Development

I am looking for new ideas in exercises relating to speed/agility development. If anyone has something they would like to share I would greatly appreciate it.

Students Living up to Standards Part 2

Should students be held or not held to state mandated standards of physical fitness? The state does it for other core subjects such as math, reading, writing, and science. So why not hold kids accountable for their health. The general population of kids are already turned off by physical activity. So why would a mandated test turn them off even more?

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Students Living up to Standards

Since I have graduated high school, it seems that Physical Education has been getting more and more watered down in the public school system. It was never too often that a student didn't dress out for class when I was in school. Today, I see a lot of kids who refuse to participate or change for class. Children today lack in the areas of responsibility, discipline, and over-all self-confidence. Now, most people would say that the parents our to blame for this kind of behavior, which I totally would agree on. On the other hand, I would say that its the school systems fault that we have over-weight and obese children in our society today. It is the school system that has loosened it's reins over the years. I feel that if students today have to live up to the standards of the PSSA and Fore-Sight test, they should also be required to live up to health/physical education standards. I think that if all 50 states mandated students to pass a physical fitness test every year, that the number of over-weight and obese children in this country would decrease tremendously.