Special Olympics Iowa encourages athletes to pursue fitness outside of their competitive sports! Incorporating physical activity along with proper nutrition and hydration into your daily routine is important for preventing injury, achieving new personal bests, and maintaining overall optimal health. Special Olympics Iowa fitness programming empowers athletes and their supporters to take charge of their own health and fitness by providing the necessary education, social support, opportunities, and tracking of progress. Let’s get fit!
Fit 5
Fit 5 is a fitness initiative based on the three simple goals of exercising 5 days per week, eating 5 total fruits and vegetables per day and drinking 5 water bottles of water per day. The Fit 5 cards and guide were designed to be utilized with flexibility, giving programs the opportunity to integrate and implement the resources in a way that aligns with their current goals and objectives.
School of Strength
School of Strength is a fun, engaging workout video series that features WWE Superstar Becky Lynch, as well as Special Olympics athletes from across the country. The workout series is made up of four videos that focus on strength, balance and endurance. Video one is a great way to start things off before jumping into the harder workouts. The difficulty of the exercises increases in videos two through four, see if you can work your way up to the “Master Trainer” level.
Video 1: Welcome and Warm-Up
Video 2: Ignite Your Endurance
Video 3: Getting Schooled on Strength
Video 4: Boost Your Balance
To use this resource as a full fitness program, be sure to use the supplemental Caregiver’s Kit and Coach’s Playbook. The Caregiver’s Kit gives fun nutrition tips and tricks that will encourage your athlete to begin making healthy choices on their own. The Coach’s Playbook provides insight on how to make workouts fun and a list of exercises athletes can do on their own.
Caregiver’s Kit
Coach’s Playbook
Health and Fitness Tracker
Setting both long-term and short-term goals is important! It helps keep us moving forward and striving to reach our full potential. Use the below downloadable health and fitness tracker to check off daily health and fitness wins and keep yourself accountable throughout the week.
For more information about Special Olympics Iowa Fitness programs, contact:
Maya Knudsen, Health Programs Coordinator.