Exercising at the Right Intensity
The intensity of activity breaks (i.e., how hard your students are exercising) plays a key role in the health and brain benefits that these breaks provide. What intensity do you think the InPACT team is exercising at in this video? (Duration: 5 min)
Teacher Resources
Heart Rate Monitoring
Heart rate monitoring is a tool that your students can use to check their heart rate at the end of an activity break to see if it is within the desired moderate-to-vigorous intensity level. Remember, this is the intensity at which your students will gain the most benefits from moving throughout the day in the classroom. This is also an excellent strategy to calm and refocus your students after an activity break.
Exercise Intensity
Another way to assess physical activity intensity is with a perceived exertion scale. This scale can be used during an activity break to monitor if your students are moving at a moderate-to-vigorous intensity. If you have really fit students, they might be hitting 8, but the target range for students is generally 5–7.