Fit Bodies, Fit Minds: The Athlos Approach

Did you know that despite an obesity epidemic in the United States, only 3.8 percent of the nation’s elementary schools are offering daily physical education? Doesn’t sound logical, does it? Well, we don’t think so either.

That’s why the Athlos model provides a superior athletic curriculum for our students. We understand how important it is to get kids moving, but, we don’t stop there. See, our very mission is rooted in the fact that there is a positive correlation seen between increased physical activity and increased cognitive function.

Many researchers believe that a culprit to America’s unhealthy decline is partly due to the elimination of physical education in public schools. We wholeheartedly agree. Students who learn how to be fit and healthy are more likely to turn into fit, healthy adults. But physical education is more than that. A lack of daily physical activity for school-aged children can have detrimental longitudinal effects. Physical activity not only plays a large role in the cognitive development of elementary students, but it’s predictive of academic performance in later years as well.

Brain-based research shows that children who exercise and participate in physical activity during the day have increased cognitive resources and are better able to concentrate in the classroom. This may simply be due to the fact that the children are getting more oxygen—when the heart and lungs work at a higher capacity, it may allow the brain to work at peak performance.^[1]

At Athlos Academies we take valuable educational research like this and weave it into the culture of our schools. An Athlos Academy creates a “healthy body—healthy mind” culture for its students by increasing the opportunity for physical activity throughout the school week and constructing state-of-the-art facilities that provide the engagement for our students to realize the importance of physical activity.

By making physical activity a priority, our students are not only fit, but their likelihood of academic success has increased. Innovative athletic curriculum? You bet. By including state-of-the-art sports performance training in our athletic curriculum and focusing on Performance Character development, we ensure to the well-being of school-aged children. Our opinion is we’re on to something, and—judging by the success of our students—we wouldn’t have it any other way.

^[1] Trost, S.G. (2007). Measurement of physical activity in children and adolescents. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 1, 299-314.

By: Chandler Herdt