Muscular Strength and Power in PE: 16 Exercises and 11 Fun Ways to Build Strength
Updated: 5 days ago
Adding muscular strength and power activities to PE is a great way to help students build healthy habits and improve their fitness. Bodyweight exercises use the body's own weight for resistance instead of weights or machines. They're simple, effective, and can be done anywhere with no special equipment. They're also easy to adjust for each student's fitness level, so they work for all ages and abilities.
In this post, I'll share the benefits of adding bodyweight strength and power exercises to your PE classes. I'll explain why muscular strength and power matter so much and how they help students of every age, grade, and ability, in PE and in sports and activities outside of school.
I'll also share my best tips for adding bodyweight strength activities to your lessons, 16 fun strength and power exercises (8 of each), and 11 ways to build strength and power into a typical PE lesson.
Quick Answer: Muscular strength is the most force a muscle can produce in one effort, and power is producing force quickly (strength plus speed). In PE, students build both safely with bodyweight exercises like squats, push-ups, lunges, and jumps, using circuits, stations, Four Corner Fitness, task cards, relays, and obstacle courses.
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What Is Muscular Strength?
Muscular strength is the amount of force a muscle or group of muscles can produce in one maximum effort.
It's an important part of physical fitness and one of the health-related components of fitness. It plays a big role in everyday activities and sports. With adults, strength is often measured with a one-rep max (lifting the heaviest weight possible one time), but in PE we use bodyweight exercises and fitness tests instead. Strength training improves posture, builds stronger bones, lowers the risk of injury, and improves sports performance. Muscular strength and muscular endurance can be built with bodyweight exercises, resistance bands, and other resistance training. Increase the difficulty slowly to prevent injury and keep students improving.
What Is Power?
Power is the ability to produce force quickly.
Power is a combination of strength and speed, and it's important in sports and activities with explosive movements like jumping, sprinting, and throwing. It's one of the skill-related components of fitness and is often measured with a vertical jump or standing long jump. Power is built with quick, explosive exercises like jumping (plyometrics) and light medicine ball throws. Power training improves sports performance and can lower the risk of injury. Like strength training, increase the difficulty slowly to prevent injury and keep students improving.
Benefits of Strength and Power Activities in PE
Adding muscular strength and power training to PE has lots of benefits for younger and older students. Here are some of the biggest ones:
Benefits for Younger Students:
Better Physical Development: Strength and power activities help younger students build motor skills, coordination, and balance.
Better Focus in School: Research suggests physical activity can help with attention, memory, and learning, and strength activities are part of that.
More Confidence: Getting stronger helps younger students feel more capable, and that confidence carries over to other parts of their lives.
Better Overall Health: Strength activities build strong bones and muscles and support a healthy body.
Better Social Skills: Strength and power games and group activities build teamwork, communication, and friendships.
Benefits for Older Students:
Better Sports Performance: Strength and power training helps older students improve speed, agility, and explosive power in sports.
Lower Risk of Injury: Stronger muscles help protect older students from injuries in sports and other activities, and strength work also helps with balance and coordination.
Better Mental Health: Physical activity can help reduce stress and anxiety and improve overall well-being.
Better Overall Health: Strength training is part of an active lifestyle that helps prevent chronic diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
A Lifetime of Benefits: Building strength now sets students up to stay strong, independent, and mobile as they get older.
Do Strength and Power Activities Help Meet PE Standards?
Yes! Strength and power are key parts of physical fitness and overall health. Adding strength and power activities helps students work toward SHAPE America's Standard 2: Applies knowledge related to movement and fitness concepts.* They also support Standard 4: Develops personal skills, identifies personal benefits of movement and chooses healthy opportunities for movement.*
Bodyweight exercises are a simple, effective way to help students meet these standards in PE.
Tips for Teaching Muscular Strength and Power Activities in PE
Here are some tips for teaching strength and power activities in elementary, middle, and high school PE:
1. Start with a Warm-Up: Before strength and power exercises, warm up the body to prevent injury. Start with 3 to 5 minutes of light cardio like jogging or jumping jacks, followed by dynamic stretches like walking lunges, leg swings, and arm circles.
2. Use Bodyweight Movements: Bodyweight exercises are a great way to build strength and power in elementary PE. They build strength, endurance, and power using the body's own weight. Some of the best bodyweight exercises for elementary and middle school students are push-ups, squats, planks, burpees, walking lunges, and mountain climbers.
3. Teach Proper Form: Good form prevents injuries and gets the most out of each exercise. Demonstrate each exercise, explain it, and correct form as needed. Use kid-friendly language and visuals.
4. Start Simple: Start with simple exercises that students of all ages and fitness levels can do, like push-ups, squats, lunges, and planks. They're easy to modify as needed.
5. Make It Fun: Kids learn best through play, so add games and challenges to keep workouts fun. Try relays and tag games that include strength and power exercises.
6. Use PE Equipment Props: Add fun props like cones, steps, hula hoops, and jump ropes to make exercises more exciting. Use them to build obstacle courses or to add challenges to exercises like jumping jacks or squats.
7. Use Circuits or Strength Stations: Circuit training is a great way to build strength and power with bodyweight exercises. Students do a series of exercises in a set order with little rest in between. It builds endurance, strength, and power in a short amount of time.
8. Keep It Short: Keep strength workouts short and focused. Aim for 15 to 20 minutes with just a few exercises at a time.
9. Mix It Up: Use a variety of exercises, games, and activities to keep lessons interesting and challenging. Check out the GREAT examples below!
10. Put Safety First: Make sure your equipment and space are safe and right for your students' ages and fitness levels. Watch students closely and give guidance as they work.
Examples of Muscular Strength Exercises for PE
Here are 8 muscular strength exercises (fitness task cards) you can use in your PE lessons:
Reverse Lunges: Start standing and step back with one foot. Land on the ball of your foot and bend both knees to make two 90 degree angles. Repeat on the other side.
Hip Risers: Lie on your back and lift your legs straight up. Use your core muscles to lift your hips off the floor. Lower your hips and repeat.
V-Ups: Lie on your back and lift your hands and feet to meet over your middle. Lower your arms and legs back to the floor and repeat.
Squats: Stand tall, then squat down like you're sitting in a chair. Stand back up and repeat.
Arm Curls: Hold a light dumbbell or small weighted object. Curl your arm from straight to fully bent, then lower it. Repeat with your other arm.
Sit-Ups: Lie on your back with your knees bent and arms crossed over your chest. Use your stomach muscles to lift your upper body, then lower back down.
Seated Lift: Sit with your hands on a mat or the floor, slightly in front of your hips. Push down and lift your whole body off the ground and hold.
Wall Sit: Put your back flat against a wall. Slide down like you're sitting in a chair and hold. Count to 10 and repeat.
You can find the strength task card visuals shown above in my TPT store: PE Fitness Components: 24 Muscular Strength Task Cards
Examples of Power Exercises for PE
Here are 8 power exercises (fitness task cards) you can use in your PE lessons:
Box Jumps: Stand in front of a low, sturdy box or step. Swing your arms and jump up onto it with both feet, landing softly with bent knees. Step back down and repeat.
Tuck Jumps: Stand tall. Jump up high, pull your knees up toward your chest, and land softly with bent knees.
Power Lunges: Start in a lunge. Jump up, switch legs in the air, and land in a lunge with the other leg forward. Repeat.
Power Squats: Squat down like you're sitting in a chair, then explode up and jump high. Land softly and repeat.
Bounding Leaps: Take long, leaping steps, bounding from one foot to the other. Start at a poly spot, travel around an end cone, and come back.
Distance Jumps: Bend your knees and swing your arms back. Swing your arms forward hard, push off the balls of your feet, and jump as far as you can. Land on both feet.
High March Steps: March forward, lifting each knee up high. Start at a poly spot, travel around an end cone, and come back.
Straddle Jumps: Stand tall, then jump high and spread your legs into a straddle in the air. Bring them back together, land softly, and repeat.
You can find the power task card visuals shown above in my TPT store: PE Fitness Components: 24 Power Movement Task Cards
11 Ways to Build Muscular Strength and Power in PE
There are lots of ways to help students build strength and power in PE. Here are 11 ways to add these fitness components to your lesson plans:
1. Four Corner Fitness, Strength and Power: Students travel between the four corners of the gym using different locomotor movements (skipping, hopping, jogging, walking, sliding), stopping at each corner for a strength or power exercise like push-ups, squats, standing long jumps, or planks. Have students do each exercise for 20 to 40 seconds before moving to the next corner.
2. Circuit Training: In circuit training, students do a series of exercises in a set order with little rest in between. Each exercise lasts for a set time or number of reps. Circuits are a great way to build strength in several muscle groups with exercises like squats, lunges, push-ups, and planks, plus cardio exercises like jumping jacks or burpees. My Muscular Strength and Power Fitness Circuit cards are ready to go.
Strength and Power Circuit
3. Paper Plate Activate: Spread laminated paper plates around the gym, each with a strength or power exercise. Students start at a plate and do the exercise while the music plays, then move to a new plate when the music stops. Pause the music every 20 to 30 seconds and run the activity for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your students' ages and abilities.
4. Obstacle Courses: Obstacle courses are a great way for students to work on strength and power. They include a series of challenges that use different muscle groups and skills. Add exercises like push-ups, squats, lunges, and jumps as part of the course.
Obstacle courses also build endurance, balance, and coordination. Students can crawl under or over obstacles, climb, jump over low hurdles or cones, or carry objects. You can adjust the course for your students' fitness levels and interests, which makes it a fun way to build strength and power.
5. Strength and Power Stations: PE stations are activity areas set up around the gym or field where students rotate through different activities. Students stay at each station for a set time or until they finish a task. Strength and power stations give students a fun, varied way to build a range of fitness skills.
Here are some sample strength and power stations for PE:
Medicine Ball Station: Students build power with light medicine ball throws against a wall or to a partner, throwing with as much power as they can while keeping good form.
Jumping Station: Jumping exercises like jump squats or jumps onto a low, sturdy box build explosive power. Have students land softly with bent knees.
Pull-Up or Flexed Arm Hang Station: Students build upper body strength by doing as many pull-ups as they can in a set time, or holding a flexed arm hang as long as they can.
Resistance Band Station: Students use resistance bands for exercises like biceps curls, triceps extensions, and rows.
6. Fidget Spinner Fitness: Make a pie chart visual with a different strength or power exercise in each slice. Students spin a fidget spinner on the board, and whatever it stops on is the exercise everyone does! The spinner also works as a timer: students move while it spins!
7. Relays and Power Shuttles: Strength and power movements fit right into relays and shuttle activities. In small groups, students take turns traveling with locomotor movements like sliding, sprinting, or skipping, and do a strength or power exercise at the end line or halfway point. In a relay, students go out and come back to the same line. In a shuttle, students stop at the other end, and the next teammate goes back the other way.
Power Shuttle Fitness
8. Fitness Task Cards: Strength and power task cards are visuals with teaching cues and rep or time suggestions. They give students step-by-step directions for each exercise. You can make your own in PowerPoint or Canva, or use simple written cards. Students can use them in groups, with partners, or on their own, and they're easy to adjust for different ages and ability levels.
Task cards are great for reinforcing teaching cues in a fitness unit, or as a warm-up, cool-down, or instant activity. Classroom teachers can also use a few cards for a small circuit in the classroom or on the playground.
9. Climbing Wall: If your school has a climbing wall, it's a great way for students to build strength. Climbing uses the upper body, core, and lower body. Students can traverse, hang, and try different routes and handholds to build strength, balance, and coordination. Always teach proper technique, use mats, and follow your wall's safety rules.
10. Playground Play: Students can build strength on the school playground using the equipment that's already there. Here are some ideas:
Monkey Bars: Students build upper body strength by crossing the monkey bars or hanging as long as they can.
Pull-Up Bars: Students use playground pull-up bars for pull-ups or chin-ups to build back, arm, and shoulder strength.
Climbing Structures: Climbing up and down the structures works upper and lower body strength. Students can also do step-ups on low platforms.
Slides: Climbing the slide ladder over and over works the legs.
Balance Beams: Walking across a balance beam or balancing on one foot builds leg strength and stability.
11. Fitness Testing: FitnessGram is a fitness assessment used in many schools. It includes tests for muscular strength and endurance. In the 90 degree push-up test, students do push-ups to a set rhythm (one every 3 seconds) until they can't keep up or keep good form, which measures upper body strength and endurance.
The curl-up test works the same way, with students doing curl-ups to a set rhythm to measure abdominal strength and endurance.
These tests give helpful information about students' muscular strength and areas they can work on. FitnessGram isn't meant to compare students to each other. It gives each student feedback to help them improve their own fitness.
Final Thoughts
There are lots of ways to add muscular strength and power activities to PE. From circuits and strength stations to task cards and climbing walls, you have plenty of fun options to help students build strength and power. Each activity gives you a chance to give individual feedback so students can track their progress over time. And as always, make sure students use proper form to prevent injuries and get the most out of every activity.
With the tips and ideas in this post, you can build PE classes that keep students motivated while they get stronger. It builds healthy habits now and sets them up for a lifetime of fitness. Get creative with your own strength and power activities, too! For more fitness ideas, check out my flexibility, boot camp, and track and field posts.
How do you build muscular strength and power in your PE program? What are your favorite strength activities? Share your ideas in the comments below!
*National Physical Education Standards are used under license from SHAPE America. © 2024, SHAPE America, https://www.shapeamerica.org/. All rights reserved.
Need Resources?
Do you need PE components of fitness task cards for your PE program with clear instructions and great graphics and visuals?
Fill in the form below to download 20 FREE Components of Fitness Task Cards. The set is a PDF digital download with two cards from each of these fitness sets: 1. Cardiovascular Endurance, 2. Flexibility, 3. Muscular Endurance, 4. Muscular Strength, 5. Agility, 6. Balance, 7. Coordination, 8. Power, 9. Reaction Time, and 10. Speed.
They're simple to use and great for teaching PE fitness movements. Just print, laminate, cut them out, and place them around your teaching space.
If you want to take your PE program to the next level, my PE Components of Fitness Task Card Series 10 Set SUPER BUNDLE is the perfect resource! It combines 10 of my health-related and skill-related fitness task card sets, with over 240 self-guided fitness station cards (24 per component).
You can find this bundle in my TPT store: PE Fitness Components Movement Task Cards: 10 Set Visual Resource Super Bundle
About Pete Charrette
Pete Charrette is a National Board Certified physical education teacher and former Georgia PE Teacher of the Year with more than 30 years of experience teaching elementary PE. He is the creator of Cap'n Pete's Power PE and has developed more than 1,000 PE and health resources used by teachers around the world. Pete loves helping PE teachers build programs their students enjoy.
