Background/Purpose One of the objectives of Health Related Fitness (HRF) curricular model is to improve students' physical fitness (Dale, McConnell, & Corbin, 2007). Although researchers have studied students' cognitive development including HRF knowledge (Keating et al., 2009), there currently is a lack of empirical work examining the impact of HRF model on the improvement of students' physical fitness in physical education settings. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in secondary student fitness with implementation of the HRF model.
Method Sixth- and eighth-grade students (N=1,113; 50.6% boys, 49.4% girls) from one middle school and one junior high school participated in this study. A one-semester HRF curriculum was implemented in the schools as part of a curricular reform effort supported by a Carol M. White Physical Education Program. Before and after implementation of the HRF model, all students completed the following five tests from the Fitnessgram battery: PACER (Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run), back saver sit and reach, curl up, trunk lift, and push up.
Analysis/Results Repeated-measures ANOVA yielded a significant time by school interaction, Wilks' lambda = .83, F(11,1101) = 20.16, p<.001. Both middle school and junior high students improved their curl up and trunk lift scores. Moreover, the junior high school students improved their PACER and push up scores.
Conclusions The findings of the present study suggest that implementation of the HRF model within middle school and junior high school settings can positively impact cardiovascular fitness as well as muscular strength and endurance.