Poll of the Day > Do schools still do the "shuttle run test" in gym class?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Something made me remember it and how terribly designed a test it was.

Anyone else have terrible memories related to it?

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Probably depends on the school.

I know in the US in the 80s/90s they used to do the Presidential Fitness Test, but even then they modified what was required (I remember having to do the Shuttle Run and V-Sit in middle school, but by high school they were both dropped - the high school test was sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups/arm hang, 50-yard dash, 1 mile run).

Obama ended the requirement entirely, though ("Thanks, Obama!"), so I have no idea what kids in school gym do now. Though I do know fat apologists still complain that there's an expectation that kids need to exercise at all, so there's a good chance they don't make kids do anything, because sports are bad for self-esteem.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Probably depends on the school.

I know in the US in the 80s/90s they used to do the Presidential Fitness Test, but even then they modified what was required (I remember having to do the Shuttle Run and V-Sit in middle school, but by high school they were both dropped (the high school test was sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups/arm hang, 50-yard dash, 1 mile run).

Obama ended the requirement entirely, though ("Thanks, Obama!"), so I have no idea what kids in school gym do now. Though I do know fat apologists still complain that there's an expectation that kids need to exercise at all, so there's a good chance they don't make kids do anything, because sports are bad for self-esteem.

I don't know everything they do in gym nowadays, but I do know for a fact that Fortnite dances have been incorporated into our 9 year old's gym classes to some degree.

hockey7318 posted...

I don't know everything they do in gym nowadays, but I do know for a fact that Fortnite dances have been incorporated into our 9 year old's gym classes to some degree.

And primary school me already hated all the ballroom dancing. That sounds even more embarrassing.

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Yeah, I wasn't a fan of square dancing back in my day, but it would have been truly awful to try and floss...

and I do remember the shuttle run. Always seemed like it was made to break ankles.

Nichtcrawler X posted...

And primary school me already hated all the ballroom dancing. That sounds even more embarrassing.

My high school had forced line dancing/square dancing/ballroom dancing in senior year.

I got a sinus infection early on in the year that got me a doctor's note that exempted me from gym (because I had trouble breathing), and the exemption was only supposed to last for a couple weeks, but I deliberately lied my way into implying it lasted for months just so I could get out of having to do any of the dancing.
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I finishes high school in 2010 and remember doing presidentials and shuttle runs when younger. I forget what high school gym class was about. I just remember slacking off with cute girls in mandatory gym and then taking extra racquet sports electives with friends.

We definitely had done ballroom and square dancing.

I had to do the Presidential Fitness Test just about every year. I had to look up shuttle run, I remember doing it once or twice in elementary school, but that was it. We also had to do rope climbing, which I actually liked since it was super easy for my thin frame.

I certainly hated square dancing, but the worst was gymnastics. We always had to practice for what seemed like weeks and they would invite the parents to watch our "routines" at the end of it. I always just picked pommel horse since it was the easiest, and conveniently forget to tell my parents what day the gymnastics routines where so they didn't have to see me.

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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Probably depends on the school.

I know in the US in the 80s/90s they used to do the Presidential Fitness Test, but even then they modified what was required (I remember having to do the Shuttle Run and V-Sit in middle school, but by high school they were both dropped - the high school test was sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups/arm hang, 50-yard dash, 1 mile run).

Obama ended the requirement entirely, though ("Thanks, Obama!"), so I have no idea what kids in school gym do now. Though I do know fat apologists still complain that there's an expectation that kids need to exercise at all, so there's a good chance they don't make kids do anything, because sports are bad for self-esteem.

I find it funny that parents want to shirk all responsibility for their children and place all the onus on the school to enforce 'good habits'. Even with a robust physical education program, a kid is doomed if their parents already set them on the wrong track.

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ReturnOfFa posted...

I find it funny that parents want to shirk all responsibility for their children and place all the onus on the school to enforce 'good habits'. Even with a robust physical education program, a kid is doomed if their parents already set them on the wrong track.

Nah, my limitations just exemplify that the shuttle run test actually mainly tests acceleration ability and only tests condition as a secondary.

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ReturnOfFa posted...

I find it funny that parents want to shirk all responsibility for their children and place all the onus on the school to enforce 'good habits'. Even with a robust physical education program, a kid is doomed if their parents already set them on the wrong track.

I prefer my kid gets her exercising done virtually which is why I make her play at least 3 hours of Roblox a day and has her avatar run for miles and miles.

Never heard of a 'shuttle run'. In Canadian schools, we didn't have all that intense physical stuff. Still things like track laps and whatnot, but nothing was especially useful until I took Outdoor Education in grade 11/12/chaperoned the year after. Portaging a canoe 4km on brutal terrain, having to backtrack for your pack, and then do it again....canoe 5 hours....set up camp...take down camp...hike 12km....rinse wash and repeat for 7 days plus more. Got to see a lot of guys cry.

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Nichtcrawler X posted...

Nah, my limitations just exemplify that the shuttle run test actually mainly tests acceleration ability and only tests condition as a secondary.

Fair enough. I find it weird a highschool would be concerned with any of that lmao

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ReturnOfFa posted...

I find it funny that parents want to shirk all responsibility for their children and place all the onus on the school to enforce 'good habits'. Even with a robust physical education program, a kid is doomed if their parents already set them on the wrong track.

Well, depending on context, you can have some families where both parents are forced to work just to keep food on the table and a roof over everyone's head, so you wind up with scenarios where the parents aren't really around to enforce tons of exercise or active lifestyles. If you work 6 days a week and don't get home 'til around 5pm, it limits what you can do.

I mean, I knew latchkey kids when I was in school, and I can easily imagine that things have gotten even worse for people with the current economy being what it is along with greater financial expectations.

That being said, I definitely agree in cases like where you have the kid weighing 300lbs and the parent is like "There is nothing wrong with my child at all, stop telling me how to raise my kids." Those people are effectively destroying their children's lives.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-stage_fitness_test

I just went with what we call it in Dutch, as it is English and listed on that page as a name used in English.

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ReturnOfFa posted...

Never heard of a 'shuttle run'. In Canadian schools, we didn't have all that intense physical stuff. Still things like track laps and whatnot, but nothing was especially useful until I took Outdoor Education in grade 11/12/chaperoned the year after. Portaging a canoe 4km on brutal terrain, having to backtrack for your pack, and then do it again....canoe 5 hours....set up camp...take down camp...hike 12km....rinse wash and repeat for 7 days plus more. Got to see a lot of guys cry.

Damn, that's so much more intense than the wilderness survival class that I had in high school. We pretty much learned to tie some knots, had to make a sweet shelter, and cooked stuff at a fire a couple times a week. Also we had popcorn and watched movies on rain days because our teacher didn't want to get wet.

ReturnOfFa posted...

Never heard of a 'shuttle run'.

Shuttle Run is when you basically have to run back and forth really quickly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcj_xdwLnNc
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Well, depending on context, you can have some families where both parents are forced to work just to keep food on the table and a roof over everyone's head, so you wind up with scenarios where the parents aren't really around to enforce tons of exercise or active lifestyles. If you work 6 days a week and don't get home 'til around 5pm, it limits what you can do.

I mean, I knew latchkey kids when I was in school, and I can easily imagine that things have gotten even worse for people with the current economy being what it is along with greater financial expectations.

That being said, I definitely agree in cases like where you have the kid weighing 300lbs and the parent is like "There is nothing wrong with my child at all, stop telling me how to raise my kids." Those people are effectively destroying their children's lives.

Oh totally. I agree, I was definitely being a bit facetious. It just sucks that these US schools are focused on these whacky programs instead of just instilling basic fitness in kids. By grade 10 in my school, things split off into a few programs, one of them being 'fitness for fun'. There was a lot of...special folk in that class, but at the very least it encouraged 'normal' fitness - running, biking, fun sports, weightlifting. Just funny that the US seems to have programs that want to pump kids up to be the next Usain Bolt while the fat kids are probably getting yelled at.

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hockey7318 posted...

Damn, that's so much more intense than the wilderness survival class that I had in high school. We pretty much learned to tie some knots, had to make a sweet shelter, and cooked stuff at a fire a couple times a week. Also we had popcorn and watched movies on rain days because our teacher didn't want to get wet.

I got to do the West Coast Trail twice, the Nit-Nat triangle twice, and Sayward Lakes! It was so fun, but definitely a difficult experience. Benefits of growing up on Vancouver Island.

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ReturnOfFa posted...

Just funny that the US seems to have programs that want to pump kids up to be the next Usain Bolt while that fat kids get yelled at.

Well, it's because most of the original expectations of the US gym program was based on toned-down versions of what they'd make people do in the military (I think Kennedy's initial version of the Presidential Fitness Program was actually based on his Navy training).

Supposedly there's been a shift in priority from "Praise the athletic kids and shame the ones who fall behind in an attempt to force them to do better" to "Try to encourage each individual to do the best they can within their own capability", but both methods have their drawbacks, and without a universal lesson plan for every class in every school any given school program is mostly going to depend on what the gym teachers in charge think gym "should" be.

Gym is also going to be limited by funding - a school that can afford state-of-the-art equipment is going to have more options than a school where they're lucky if the floor-boards in the gym aren't warped. Rural areas and inner-cities can suffer in that respect, if their budgets aren't strong enough.

In my high school we were lucky enough to have a fair amount of equipment, so we actually had a full weight room (which is where I spent most of my time in order to avoid the team sports). But even then we still mostly defaulted to seasonal team sports because it's easier for a couple gym teachers to run those with an entire class of 30-50 kids than it is to try and run things like a fitness center where every person has an individual training program and oversight if necessary. Even if that would probably be the best possible way to encourage youth fitness.
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blu posted...

I finishes high school in 2010 and remember doing presidentials and shuttle runs when younger. I forget what high school gym class was about. I just remember slacking off with cute girls in mandatory gym and then taking extra racquet sports electives with friends.

We definitely had done ballroom and square dancing.

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ReturnOfFa posted...

I got to do the West Coast Trail twice, the Nit-Nat triangle twice, and Sayward Lakes! It was so fun, but definitely a difficult experience. Benefits of growing up on Vancouver Island.

That sounds absolutely amazing. I was in BC back in 07 and it was absolutely gorgeous. Would love to go back and explore again.