Welcome to the Iowa FitnessGram Initiative

The Iowa FitnessGram Initiative is a participatory research network focused on supporting and enhancing physical education programming in Iowa schools. The project is coordinated through the Iowa State University (ISU) Physical Activity and Health Promotion (PAHP) lab. Programming is led by Dr. Greg Welk (Professor in Kinesiology) who has served as the Chair of the FitnessGram Advisory Board on behalf of the Cooper Institute for more than 20 years. See the links below for insights from the project. 

Current Programming Priorities

Youth Activity Profile

The promotion of physical activity is an underlying goal of physical education so it is important to better understand youth activity behaviors. The Youth Activity Profile (YAP) is an online tool designed to help youth become more physically active. Schools in the network get free support  in using the YAP to enhance the assessment and promotion of physical activity in their schools. Contact the YAP programming team at yap@iastate.edu or visit the YAP website at www.youthactivityprofile.org.

SWITCH Obesity Prevention Program

The SWITCH obesity prevention program provides a way for schools to take coordinated action to help promote healthy lifestyles in their students. A customized PE curriculum (SWITCH PE) is specifically designed to facilitate coordination through Physical Education programs. Click here to download a brochure. Click here to read more about SWITCH on our page and to learn how to register.

Musculoskeletal Fitness Warmup Activities

A student project conducted in 2017/2018  through the network helped to evaluate the utility of a brief musculoskeletal fitness warmup routine that could be readily incorporated into most PE lessons. The brief warmup included dynamic stretching activities followed by a series of 1 minute circuit stations that included simple strength and plyometric activities. The evaluation demonstrated meaningful gains in musculoskeletal fitness (assessed with handgrip and vertical jump) following 8 weeks of use in PE. The materials are available for schools / teachers involved in the Iowa FitnessGram network. Click here to learn more.

Open Enrollment

Free FitnessGram Software for Schools
The network is open for new enrollment. Through the generous support from the Cooper Institute, we are able to offer 100 free FitnessGram licenses to Iowa schools through this initiative.  Licenses will be distributed to schools until they have been used up. Please complete the interest form below to get additional information. The form will just capture contact information and enable review of the participatory agreement