Chipotle and Fitbound have combined to incentivize classrooms to be active throughout the day. The premise is simple, teachers and students use Fitbound videos to increase fitness habits and increase cognitive function. The classroom that exercises to the most Fitbound videos from 12/11-12/18 will win a Chipotle gift card for each person in the class.
The understandable push back:
Teachers have a job to do, and they’ve got to get all this instruction in. If they don’t, they haven’t done what they’re supposed to. So they can see this as something frivolous.
Why exercise compliments learning:
“Exercise, good fitness-based exercise, makes our brain more ready to learn,” says John Ratey of the Harvard Medical School.
A study at the American College of Sports Medicine found that fourth- and fifth-grade students who engaged in vigorous exercise for at least 10 minutes before a maths test scored higher than children who sat still.Research has found, too, that children who are physically fit absorb and retain new information more effectively than children who are out of shape; that moderate exercise – 30 minutes for adults and 20 minutes for children – results in a 5% to 10% improvement in cognition.
Here is to exercising and reduction in obesity related diseases and cognitive enhancement.