B. Active Living / C. Movement Competence · Active Living and Movement: Fit, Safe and Game Smart

Train Smart: How Activities Build Each Part of Fitness

B2 A1.6 A1.3About 40 minutes

Learning goals

I can explain how different activities improve cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility.
I can use the training principles of progression, overload, specificity and rest to plan safe improvement.
I can explain what happens to fitness when people stop being active (reversibility).
I can describe how being active helps my heart, lungs, muscles, bones and mind.

Words to know

health-related fitness
The four parts of fitness that keep your body healthy: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility.

cardiorespiratory endurance
How well your heart and lungs deliver oxygen to your muscles so you can keep moving for a long time.

progression
Making an activity a little harder, gradually, over time.

overload
Asking your body to do a bit more than it is used to, so it adapts and gets fitter.

specificity
You get better at the kind of fitness you train. Stretching improves flexibility; running improves endurance.

reversibility
Fitness slowly fades if you stop being active for a long time.

rest and recovery
Time for your body to repair and get stronger between hard workouts. Sleep is a big part of it.

Remember from earlier grades

In Grade 4 you learned the four parts of health-related fitness. In Grade 5 you checked all four to make a fitness profile and planned with FITT (Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type).

This year you'll learn how activity actually changes your body, and four training principles that coaches and athletes use to improve safely.

A puzzle

Jada practises the splits every day for a month. Her flexibility improves a lot. But in the fitness run, her time hasn't changed at all. Why not?

Because your body gets better at exactly what you ask it to do. Jada trained flexibility, so her flexibility improved. To improve her run, she needs activities that work her heart and lungs. That idea is called specificity.

What happens inside your body

Heart and lungs (cardiorespiratory endurance): When you move for a long time, your muscles need more oxygen. Your lungs breathe in air, and your heart pumps blood that carries oxygen to your muscles. With regular practice, your heart becomes a stronger pump, so it can send more blood with each beat. That's one reason a fit person's heart rate often stays lower for the same activity.
Muscles (strength and endurance): When you push, pull, climb or lift, your muscles work hard. During rest, they repair and adapt so they can do more next time.
Bones: Jumping, skipping, running and climbing put healthy stress on bones, which helps them grow stronger. Childhood and the teen years are an important time for building strong bones.
Flexibility: Gentle, regular stretching helps your muscles and joints move through a bigger range.
Your mind: Being active can improve your mood, sleep and focus, and help you handle stress.

Part of fitness	What it means	Activities that build it
Cardiorespiratory endurance	Keep moving for a long time	Running, biking, swimming, skipping, cross-country skiing, dancing, active games like soccer
Muscular strength	Push, pull or lift with force	Climbing, wall or knee push-ups, carrying groceries, shovelling light snow with a grown-up, squats
Muscular endurance	Use a muscle many times without tiring	Planks, wall sits, many squats or curl-ups, paddling, cycling up hills
Flexibility	Move joints through a full range	Static stretches after activity, yoga, gymnastics, dance

Many activities build more than one part. Swimming builds endurance and muscular endurance; yoga builds flexibility and strength.

Four training principles

Specificity: Train the part of fitness you want to improve. Want a better run? Do activities that work your heart and lungs.
Overload: Do a bit more than your body is used to. If 10 wall push-ups is easy, your muscles won't change much from doing 10 forever.
Progression: Add that "bit more" gradually, in small steps. Use FITT: a little more often, a little harder, a little longer, or a slightly harder type. Change one thing at a time.
Rest and recovery: Your body gets stronger between workouts, not during them. Mix hard days with easier days, and get 9 to 11 hours of sleep.

And one warning: Reversibility. If you stop being active for a long time, fitness slowly fades. The good news: it comes back when you start again.

The four training principles at a glance. Change one thing at a time, in small steps, and plan rest so your body can adapt.

Progression: Omar adds 2 wall push-ups each week (8, 10, 12, 14). Each step is small, so his muscles have time to adapt.

Progression vs. too much too soon

If you jump from 10 minutes of running to 60 minutes in one week, you may end up sore, injured or discouraged. Small, steady steps work better and are safer.

Signs you may be doing too much: pain that doesn't go away, being very tired all the time, or dreading every workout. If that happens, ease off and tell a grown-up. Sharp pain means stop.

Think like a coach

When you want to improve something, ask:

Which part of fitness is it? (specificity)
What am I doing now? (your starting point)
What's the next small step? (progression and overload)
When will I rest? (recovery)

Funny but true

Your heart beats about 100,000 times a day, and it never asks for a day off. Your other muscles are not so tough: they really do need rest days to get stronger!

Worked example

Let's choose activities for a goal

Kai wants to keep up with his friends during long games of ultimate at the park. He has 3 days a week. Which part of fitness should he train, and how could he use the principles?

Specificity: Long games need cardiorespiratory endurance (and some muscular endurance in his legs). So he chooses activities that keep his heart and lungs working: jogging, biking, skipping.
Starting point: Right now he can jog steadily for about 8 minutes.
Overload and progression: Each week, add about 2 minutes: 8, 10, 12, 14 minutes. Only change time, not speed too.
Rest: Train Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with easier days between. Sleep 9 to 11 hours.
Check: After 4 weeks, see if he can keep up longer in games.

Kai should train cardiorespiratory endurance with jogging, biking or skipping, adding about 2 minutes a week on 3 days, with rest days in between.

Worked example

Let's spot the mistake

Lina wants better flexibility for gymnastics. Her plan: "Run 20 minutes every day, and bounce hard in my stretches so they work faster." What would you change?

Specificity: Running mostly builds endurance, not flexibility. She needs stretching, yoga or gymnastics practice.
Safety: Bouncing in stretches can strain muscles. Use slow, held stretches (about 15 to 30 seconds) with a gentle pull, never pain.
When: Stretch when muscles are warm, like after activity.
Progression: Over weeks, reach a little farther as the muscle relaxes, without forcing it.

Lina should add slow, held stretches after activity (not bouncing), and keep running for her heart, but not count on it for flexibility.

Hands-on activity

Fitness station sort and try

You need: a timer, a mat or towel, a wall, a skipping rope (optional), paper and a pencil.

Warm up for 4 minutes (march, arm circles, side shuffles, easy jog on the spot).
Do each station for 45 seconds, then rest 15 seconds: skipping or jumping jacks, wall push-ups, wall sit, plank on knees or toes, a slow sit-and-reach stretch.
After each station, write which part of fitness it mostly worked, and your effort number (0 to 10).
Pick one station you'd like to improve. Write the next small step for next week (for example, 50 seconds instead of 45).
Cool down: 2 minutes of walking and slow stretches.

Safety: Clear the space. Keep your back straight in planks and push-ups. Stop if anything hurts sharply.

Your turn

Which part of fitness does a 30-minute bike ride mostly build?

Which part of fitness does a slow, held hamstring stretch build?

What does specificity mean?

What does progression mean?

Why is rest important?

Name one activity that helps build strong bones.

Do it and check: Do 30 seconds of wall push-ups with good form. What should good form look like?

More practice: warm-up

Name the four parts of health-related fitness.

Which organ pumps blood carrying oxygen to your muscles?

Does a plank mainly build flexibility or muscular endurance?

How many hours of sleep do kids aged 5 to 13 need?

True or false: fitness can fade if you stop being active for a long time.

More practice: on your own

Ben does 10 curl-ups every day for 3 months and never adds more. Why might he stop improving?

Alex adds 20 minutes, a faster pace and a hill to his run all in one week. What principle is he ignoring, and what's the risk?

Swimming is said to build more than one part of fitness. Which parts, and why?

Why might a fit person's heart rate be lower than a less-fit person's during the same easy jog?

Mila is away sick for 3 weeks and finds her run harder when she returns. Which principle explains this? Should she worry?

Challenge

Plan 4 weeks of progression for someone who can hold a wall sit for 20 seconds. Change only one thing at a time.

Explain why a good hockey player might still find a cross-country ski race hard, using specificity.

Your friend says, "No pain, no gain! If it doesn't hurt, it's not working." Respond like a coach.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which principle says you get better at the kind of fitness you train?

Which activity mostly builds flexibility?

Which is the best example of progression?

What carries oxygen to your working muscles?

When does your body get stronger after a hard workout?

Which activity builds cardiorespiratory endurance?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 6 students apply fitness concepts to healthy, active living. Building on the four parts of fitness (Grade 4) and FITT (Grade 5), this lesson explains how activity changes the body and introduces the training principles of specificity, overload, progression, rest/recovery and reversibility.

How to help at home:

When your child sets a goal, ask "Which part of fitness is that?" and "What's the next small step?"
Encourage rest days and good sleep as part of training.
Join in a station circuit; let your child be the coach.

Common difficulties:

Overload sounds like "overdo it." Explain it as "a bit more than usual," added gradually.
Equating pain with progress. Mild effort and tiredness are normal; sharp or lasting pain means stop.
Thinking one activity builds everything. Many activities build more than one part, but specificity matters.

Health note: Children with health conditions should follow their care plan. Strength activities for children should use body weight or light loads with good form; heavy lifting is not needed.

Social-emotional learning: Applying principles to a real goal builds critical and creative thinking (A1.6); planning small steps builds perseverance (A1.3).