Jump Into Fitness met every Thursday for five weeks at GCMS. During those five weeks the participants learned about the basic food groups and how to make healthier food choices like drinking more water instead of a high sugar and high calorie soft drink or fruit drink. They also learned about portion control and what serving sizes should look like.
Every week after the nutrition portion, the middle school students improved their strength by going through a circuit called “Muscle Mania.” In this circuit there were different stations and each station had a task or exercise to complete. Stations ranged from jumping rope, to lifting weights, to lunges, and even sit-ups. They had one minute at each station to see how many repetitions they could do, and then the following week they tried to improve this number.
We tried a different activity each week to demonstrate that you can still have fun, while staying active and fit. One week we did kickboxing, another week we tried exercises with resistance bands.
I would have to say that everyone's favorite week was the week we took a hike to Leitchfield City Park. We made it from GCMS to the end of the road before it started to rain. The participants never looked as dedicated as they did when scurrying back to the Middle School and finally arriving soaking wet.
Everyone who completed the program received a T-Shirt for their hard work. Most of the students had some success with the program. Many lost weight and almost everyone improved their BMI or Body Mass Index. Everyone left the program with reasonable fitness goals and the resources to attain them.
I would like to thank Trim Masters, T-Shirt Express, and The P.T. Place for sponsoring our program.
Without the support of local businesses, these types of programs would not be possible.
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