Life Fitness Committed to Helping Students at 13 More Schools in Chicago, IL and Ramsey, MN to Get Physically Active

SOURCE: PHIT America

CALIFORNIA, MD – August 22, 2019 – Life Fitness is committed to living out its mission of inspiring healthier lives by increasing the physical activity of 22 schools in the communities where most of their employees live and work.

In recent years, Life Fitness has partnered with PHIT America and KIDS in the GAME to help schools in Chicago and Ramsey, Minnesota areas. Life Fitness will provide PHIT America’s #1 recommended school-based fitness program called AMPED.  To date, nine schools in the Chicago and Ramsey areas have been awarded AMPED, which is helping more than 4,400 students get more physically active every day at school. Life Fitness is committed to bringing AMPED to 13 more schools this fall in those two cities.

“We feel that it's important to practice what we preach,” stated Life Fitness CEO Chris Clawson. “The culture at Life Fitness revolves around what our products stand for. By helping these schools increase their physical activity, we are inspiring the students, families and staff to live healthier lives. By bringing AMPED to these schools, we are furthering our mission and helping these children reach their full potential.” 

AMPED is a school-based running program designed to engage students and get them physically moving, ideally before school. 

“Getting 20-30 minutes of vigorous exercise before beginning their school day primes the students’ brains for learning and helps to create a positive culture at the school,” stated Natalie Hummel, Executive Director and Co-Founder of KIDS in the GAME. “We have 86 schools across the U.S. that are now running AMPED. The results have been amazing.” 

The AMPED program includes:

(1) two Bluetooth sound systems. so the students can move and groove to music while they run; (2) incentives to encourage the students to run every day;

(3) an online lap-tracking and award-tracking system to keep track of their progress and awards earned;

(4) lap-tracking bands to track laps and everything needed to easily run the program. 

Each school that uses AMPED will receive supplies to run the program for three years, at no cost to each school.

Interested schools can apply to receive AMPED from KIDS in the GAME by entering this link: https://everykidsports.org/. 

Schools will be awarded the AMPED program on a first-come, first-served basis.  

To date, AMPED has a successful track record with schools that are implementing it. 

“The upbeat music that is played while the students earn their tokens while running the track is an outstanding motivator,” said physical education teacher Terri Pitts, M.ED., M.S., Colonial Hills Elementary School (San Antonio, Texas). “The kids also love the necklaces and charms. It really pushes them to do another lap. The combination of all these motivators has been beneficial to our campus. We increased our VO2 max. Also, our BMI improved during our Fitnessgram on our campus.”

“National research reveals American children have become more and more sedentary, which has both a negative effect on children’s health and their academic performance,” said Jim Baugh, Founder, PHIT America.  “That’s why these PHIT America GO! Grants and AMPED are so important. They help stimulate physical activity for children.”

AMPED is awarded to schools by the national charity, PHIT America, with the support of KIDS in the GAME. In the past four years, 730 PHIT America GO! Grants have been awarded nationally to school P.E. programs – helping more than 400,000 school children get physically active. GO! Grants have helped schools that are in desperate need of gear, programming or training for physical activity programs.

There is a huge need for AMPED, as many school districts have also cut recess. With the median budget for physical education programs throughout the U.S. at only $768 per year for an entire school, it is estimated more than 40,000 schools throughout the U.S. are in need of help.

For more information about PHIT America, visit www.PHITAmerica.org. For more information about KIDS in the GAME, visit www.kidsinthegame.org.