**1. Introduction**

What does it mean to practice (educate) in a developmentally appropriate way? In essence, it means we go at the pace of the participant as they acquire the targeted and potential learning through meaningfully planned activities (scope) in a sensible order (sequence). There is a wee bit of nuanced room for emergent movement properties, beyond the planned foundational skills and accompanying competencies. Designed learning sequences need to be appropriate for the child's developmental level, rather than age or class level [1]. Within a practical learning domain, a developmentally appropriate scope and sequence will be informed by inclusive principles for children diverse in how they think, move and ultimately learn. Encouraging children to

become more active for the sake of appreciation is an important objective for physical activity provision. Enjoyment has long since served as an antecedent of physical activity [2] and remains a subconstruct and strong indicator of intrinsic motivation [3]. To promote health relatable activity that interests and engages children during lessons in a developmental way is together challenging. Curricular time around meaningful physical activity is limited. Quality experiences, when meaningful and enjoyable, are likely to promote participation beyond mandated curriculum opportunities [4]. Often activity choice is curricular-driven and directed with carefully planned staged outcomes. Barriers and perceived barriers by children and youth need to be sensitively illuminated and addressed and related issues constructively resolved in efforts to increase the desire and the means to participate. Adolescence is acknowledged as a vulnerable phase. Growth slows and inactivity increases [5]. Youth can be very aware of how they look, and or how they feel they look in comparison to peers and or some external expectation. Body image satisfaction around perceptions and feelings around how one looks remains of seminal importance into early adulthood [6–8]. Unfortunately, body image is often low across the developmental stage [9]. Physiologically, children who are more active, tend to have lower levels of adipose tissue (body fat) as part of their body composition in contrast to more active peers [10]. This may also be an unfortunate, avoidable barrier as children try to engage in physical activity [11] where how they move is partly influenced by body composition. It is crucial to use only functional language. Communicating the function and purpose of body parts around body composition allows participants to learn and gain awareness in how to manage their bodies in non judgmental ways. Educating participants on the functional value of adipose tissue is a definitive starting point, and how to use empowering and task-oriented language is also a means to modelling ways to communicate around the body without triggering judgement of self and or others, performance and or body-wise. Furthermore, resistance problems can offer children and youth, diverse in needs and abilities and collective opportunities to learn through accessible yet resistance movements, sequences and challenges. Creative means to help children grow up respecting how they move and feeling comfortable enough to do in nurturing environments is crucial. Advising children on the need and benefits of all body composition components as well as the importance of their management of how they move makes for meaningful ways to keep the focus on the learning and away from spotlighting students as they enter the learning progressions. They too will present a broad range of needs and competencies and so program use needs to remain dynamic and responsive. It adopts more of a descriptive than prescriptive ethos whereby other ideas emerge as competence and confidence around such movement increases. Body image and mental health can be negatively impacted when social interactions are untoward [12]. I Can Resist is found to be effectively situated as just one part of a varied and contextually dynamic curriculum or complementary extracurricular affordance, rather than as a fixed point. Its components can also be applied through a wide range of topics, themes and curricular areas (subjects). It is but one means to advantage of limited space and engage children and youth in health-related experiential education. The accessibility is to ensure that educators varied in their competence, just as with our students, and have an equitable opportunity to include resistance movement as part of a holistic educational movement series.

In summary, a holistic, non-linear approach to the presented program is recommended. An explicit way to provide movement content knowledge and movement competence using individually preferred ways of being mobile create means by which participants take over ownership to use, adapt or progress beyond the first

iteration is then possible. A functional approach can assist in accessibility and social acceptance, with the resistance band acting as an extension of the body and potential movement.

#### **1.1 Not the 'F' word**

What is it about fitness that turns thoughts, conversations and decisions? Skillrelated fitness (SRF) consists of agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time and speed [13]. Through SRF children are better able and equipped to access more ways to improve health and go on to explore other ways to enjoy a vigorous active life. With strategies to develop an independent understanding of exercise, in knowing what to do, how to do it, for how long and at what intensity, children can exercise informed judgements over making decisions important to living a healthy life [14]. These resistance challenges start from a simple to complex nature and remain engaging through creative use of FITT principles (frequency, intensity, time and type). Practically speaking, each component can be progressed through the incorporation of resistance work. Resistance training, generically defined as 'a form of periodic exercise whereby external weights provide progressive overload to skeletal muscles in order to make them stronger and often result in hypertrophy' [15], p. 208), is popular across society and used for a variety of purposes inclusive of strength training for recreation, for health and rehabilitation and for sports performance. In parallel with a lifelong approach to health and well-being denoted through physical educational guidelines across the globe [16, 17], the UK presents guidelines that adopt a lifelong approach through physical activity participation [18]. Through policy, physical activity is encouraged across the day from as early as infancy, from such a thirty-minute distributed time allotment, toddlers extend at least three hours daily in a variety of distributed physically active time. Pre-schoolers are then encouraged to increase the effort exerted within that time. Children of school age ought to be physically active for at least 60 minutes daily. Again, variety is encouraged and importantly, activities that develop movement skills, muscular fitness and bone strength [19] are advocated. The UK Chief Medical Officers emphasise the importance of strengthening activities in childhood. Furthermore, activities that provide periods of high-intensity interval exercise provide beneficial effect to fitness, body weight and insulin resistance (2019; 8). Children across elementary health-related require a daily average of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity. Physical education is acknowledged as part of this, alongside after-school activity [18, 20]. How much is too much and hard is too hard? Children in most deprived areas of England are found as most obese in relation to peers living elsewhere [21]. Surely, we can position a socially just exciting affordance for children and adolescents regardless of home address and zip code? Worldwide adolescents are trending as inactive and therefore not meeting guidelines [22]. This means moving beyond traditional activities and/or traditional ways to access appear salient ways to arouse interest and increase engagement.

'I Can Resist' provides a range of body resistance challenges across a varied series of ways to try these ahead of explicit implementation of choices to use the bands. Of itself, this also provides a super field formative assessment to inform the tutor of how the participant manages their body and manages their body when movement skills are presented, modelled and explained, and then made into more complex sets and sequences and implemented into other activity and game forms. Intensity-wise, it is also vital we provide practical means for children to develop their awareness of what effort means and how their bodies respond to such exertion. A student-directed

approach reflects the ecological nature underpinning the program and its holistic implementation. *'I can talk and practice*'—light, '*I can talk and engage but am out of breath'*—medium, '*I need to do the exercises first and then rest and talk*'—high intensities can be gently introduced, modelled and experienced within programmed time. Pedagogically, effort, together with actual challenges, can be experienced and increased through solo, peer and group endeavours.

#### **1.2 F-word summary**

For a series of timeproof reasons, many students are turned off by fitness, and sadly statutory linear outcome expectations have further impoverished its image. Let us clean up and embrace functional language as we live this F word!

#### **1.3 Physical activity, motor competency through physical education**

From a motoric standpoint, Gabbard [23] illustrates the significant role of motor competence through life span. Physical education programmes should provide concentrated instruction in basic movement skills needed to enjoy a variety of skills [24]. Fundamental skills need to be acquired ahead of advanced and for that reason, expectations to experience and master these through elementary physical education are depicted [25, 26] as policy enactment exemplars of the UNESCO Charter of Physical Education and Sport (1978). Freedoms to 'develop physical, intellectual and moral powers' when facilitated through developmentally relevant means within the respective educational system, open opportunities beyond these. As an 'essential element of education and culture', physical education (and sport) has been prioritised as an 'essential element of lifelong education' ([17]; Article 2.1).

In England, the nominal expectations for elementary-aged children are two hours of physical education a week [25]. This length of time is acknowledged as insufficient to appropriate adequate physical education active learning time for children to become proficient in movement skills [1]. Students should be actively moving 50–80% of this time [27]*.* There are pupils within the national primary curriculum temporal span who lack competency in movement proficiency [28]. This is all the more complex when emergent movement is part of the joy of the experience. Moves, unplanned and unanticipated, are often part of an exciting movement experience. If then, motor skill competence promotes participation [29], we do need to have contemplated how we balance planned and emergent skill acquisition and implementation. Keeping that ambiguity is part of a wider embodiment of the complexity of physically educating [30]. Such complexity thinking can serve as a principle to further opening access to enjoyable physical activity.

In England, some children are found to be inactive from as young as five years of age [31]. Children participating in the United States can expect a minimum of 150 minutes weekly at the primary level, increasing to 225 minutes through secondary levels [26]. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommend that students engage in more than 50% of class time at moderate-to-vigorous activity levels [32]. Regular physical activity promotes a variety of physical and mental health benefits yet a majority of children have systematically struggled to meet guidelines [33, 34]. Intensity levels within these expectations become even more problematic to attain let alone measure when children are less motor competent. Pupils without proficiency in movement skills have exhibited lower levels of physical activity

participation than their peers during school break times [35, 36]. Barriers (such as screen time) and facilitators (such as physical education and home-based activity) to physical activity are varied [37]. Nonparticipation in physical activity is attributed to equal complexity and decisive action and has been prominent through holistic approaches to increase physical activity within physical education [38]. Cognitive functioning is accepted as pivotal for the successful engagement in health-related elements of developing health [39]. Further compromise was created by the educational closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic reductions in physical fitness, together with increases in mental distress [40].

Physical education programmes should provide concentrated instruction in basic movement skills needed to develop a variety of skills [24]. As determined through its philosophical underpinning and attributed value, it will seek to educate through determined criteria to attain and surpass curricular expectations for all children of all abilities and needs. The notion of attaining fitness-specific outcomes with all children, diverse in needs, is inherently challenging [41]. Some children do not enjoy the subject. Some children do so yet may be less enthusiastic regarding fitness-specific activities. Others may thrive across the settings regardless of pedagogies or topics. Explicit strategies to support child enjoyment are required [42]. The environment offers potential interest for children. In schools where space beyond the school building is a premium, the use of the playground can exploit limited areas and offer opportunities to develop motor skills, providing opportunities for action as determined by the environmental stimulus [43]. When physical education is constrained through time and space, such additional affordance can extend learning beyond the physical education experience. Greater creativity during the multiple considerations for children regarding their health through physical education widens the scope of plausible solutions. Health-related fitness, namely flexibility and coordination, cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, with metabolic components [44], is accessible and improved as motor competence improves. Motor competence, motor ability and coordination as practised through fundamental motor skills [45] are determined essential for the development of a healthy and active lifestyle [46]. Motor competence has been found to be a significant predictor of HRF through locomotor skills and for boys using locomotor and manipulative skills [46]. Globally, such essential skills are incorporated into curricular elementary education.

#### **1.4 Summary**

If we wish children to get more excited about how they move, we need to facilitate exciting movement opportunities. We need to listen to our adolescents even more so that they get the chance to do more of what they enjoy in and around the school setting. That way they will become part of the solution in creating other opportunities in the wider community. Physical education has effectively used a part of a wider approach to educate and engage children and adolescents. Pedagogy—how we teach this Pedagogy and the way we enact it communicate so much to students as regards who we are and who we think they are. A social constructivist approach to knowledge acquisition would place emphasis on the active role of the learner in constructing respective knowledge with appropriate and explicit guidance and scaffolding form an informed entity; traditionally a teacher [47]. Personal and social perspectives toward the creation of knowledge can each play an important role in pupil education [48].

How we facilitate learning is as important as the knowledge, competencies and concepts explored themselves. The role of the program, in part, is to improve awareness and functionality so that participants become more able and apt to explore other activities and pursuits following completion of both the scaffolded body movement management learning sequence and the commitment resistance band program. From a participant's perspective, interests and preferences will vary greatly across family and community contexts and so the way the information is shared and how it is experienced during and around the curriculum wants to sound and feel exciting. Accessing physical activity relies upon being motor competent and cognizant. The I Can Resist program goes through all basics in what, how and where and we move practical means using, managing their bodies as they move through different planes and directions in closed to more open environments, without and then using manipulatives. Its pedagogical element ensures that an understanding of why we do so is developed through the experience. The development of self-awareness enables the collective body to become more aware of one another. Being and keeping a conscious awareness of the diversity across the class/group enables us pragmatically to open our awareness in non-judgmental ways [49] and model that to our participants. As educators, how we support learning through our language, as expressed through what and we say what we communicate, is collectively as important as what we actually do. Such practice sits companionably beside a curriculum as well as within it. Once 'bodies' have experienced how to move in differing directions, at different levels and using varied points of contact (e.g. one wheelset and two feet, for example, equate one to two points of contact) through varied movement concepts (e.g. explored alone, shared with a partner, mirroring or following a partner, at a very slow tempo and so on), participants are invited to participate in other tasks and challenges and resistance-based games drawing from (and thereby learning) the I Can Resist movement bank (**Tables 1** and **2**). The I Can Resist introductory progression spiral prepares the participant for a series of traditional resistance exercises, each and all of which can be more meaningfully implemented through a progression spiral approach. Movement challenges can be created by tutors and students, games can be modified to incorporate lower, core and upper resistance tasks, all of which proffer benefits without or with the added resistance band. Once participants can manage their bodies through resistance with coordinated control, they can attend to the added cognitive and physical challenge of doing so with the resistance band [50]. To create an accessible and enjoyable experience series, all children should have the appropriate time needed to gain self-body management through resistance exercises before progressing to an added piece of equipment. Participants become accustomed to an educational progression spiral (viz. learning driven such as through skill-task-challenge-game application). However, if you choose to implement the program to reflect your philosophies and desired to learn, avoid slipping into a fitness set. It always ends with the cessation of something. Keeping it educationally accessible is an authentic attempt to do just that. You may have other helpful means. Use sporadically as part of a spiral wider curriculum/program so that the experience stays meaningful. You can return to and progress it as when it supports your learning and resistance experience intentions. A simple A-B-C approach works well and can be conflated to work toward goals and intentions.

a. A light dynamic movement warm-up and educational elicitation to the experience (skill-activity-game-based challenges to open the inquiry and the interest to learn more).

#1. Squats (quadriceps and hamstrings) Begin in a standing position and feet shoulder-width apart. With your hands in front begin to squat down (as if to sit in and get out of a chair). Squat down until you feel tightness in your thighs. Again, keep your hands in the front and stand back straight. #2. Hamstring (and gluteus maximus) resistance curl and extensions Begin face down using four point contact stable position. Anchor band under hands and set around foot (like a stirrup). Drive one leg back and hold. #?. Floor star shapes. Floor 4-point contact points (hand-hand-foot-foot\*\*) position Star positions can incorporate L, C, and U areas. Face down extended body position Feet and hands can contact (4 points) or be raised off the ground. Can add resistance band over shoulders, anchoring band at each hand contact over shoulders.

*Accessible Resistance Movement Experiences for Elementary Students and Educators DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110179*

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