When considering the topic of student fitness, tennis legend Serena Williams said it best: “You have to work hard at it. Nothing else is coming for free.”
Sitting in the cafeteria on a rainy Tuesday staring at that same old sandwich, all I can think about is how heavy my stomach is going to feel running around the gym at PE. I’m not sure channeling my inner Serena is going to come so naturally today. The fact is, every student is required to participate in a form of physical education. If you are a part of an athletic team, your physical education requirement is filled. That leaves the rest of us out here in the Wild West choosing between PE and PM Fitness. The traditional PE classes are made up of a 5-10 minute warmup consisting of various running drills and calisthenics followed by choices ranging from basketball to the weight lifting. The other option is PM Fitness. Considering all students report for school early in the am, why would they want to stay all the way into the pm to complete their fitness requirement for school? Let’s agree that the name alone makes it an unappealing prospect and adds even more hours to the school day.
PM Fitness is the same contentwise, so it’s really just the time of day that makes this radically different for students. Because all PE classes have students filling their requirements because they have opted not to join a team, perhaps these students are less interested in extensive athletic activity and are busy pursuing other academic interests instead. Peel back the layers of this physical education question, and it’s actually not that simple at all.
According to one student, Gregory Brooks: “It’s awkward to get into PM Fitness because there are people there that genuinely care about the fitness and it makes it difficult to feel out the space if you’re just there for a credit.”
While a variety of students each have their own fitness goals and level of investment and interest, PM Fitness has a different vibe because it’s essentially an after hours class. Students don’t feel like staying extra but the feeling is more relaxed: “I do like the flexibility to choose your intensity. If my day is rough, I can just walk on a treadmill and watch Netflix,” noted Gergory Brooks.
Perhaps the more chill atmosphere of PM Fitness actually allows students to explore the way exercise is not only physical but mentally rewarding as well. A long day of classes is certainly a great workout for the brain and the hands typing on a computer. When all the books and computers get put away, PM Fitness can be that zen moment where the brain shuts off a little bit and the body gets a moment of peace from repetitive movement.
High school is certainly a time of great learning and academic pressure at the same time. Teachers, class requirements, entrance exams and essays, are all dictated to the students. PM Fitness can actually be a place where students make some of their own choices: “If I’m really pumped, I can commit to some weights. It’s a bit of an annoyance to do at the end of the day, especially considering how dark it gets so early nowadays. It makes me feel like I am at school until midnight”, Brooks half joked and added: “It is a weird feeling when lots of students have already gone home and you’re on the treadmill figuring out whether you’re going to qualify for the WWE smackdown.”
It’s certainly clear that PE classes that happen during the regular school day are more appealing. The daytime classes are more socially vibrant and pass more quickly because they happen between classes. That said, for some students who might be more shy or not clear on fitness goals, they may find PM Fitness an easier environment to grow in. It’s important for every student to individually consider whether they like the mainstream vibes of the daytime PE or the more offbeat PM Fitness, it’s possible that either one of these classes can help a student unearth a hidden passion for anything from dodgeball to tennis. Instead of preferring one class over the other, it might be worth considering that choosing between them allows students some welcome autonomy in an otherwise very regimented day. Perhaps we can all take inspiration from Yankee slugger Aaron Judge who simply says, “If what you did yesterday still seems big, then you haven’t done enough today.”
So, finish that sandwich and get to whichever class makes you feel like your individual fitness goals are as important and exciting as your life goals.
