CatholicFIT Coach | Module 5/5
What is a Coach?
(Module 1/5)
What does it mean to be a coach? How do we facilitate growth and lead by example? We discuss our role as a coach and disciple, while setting goals in our Goal Setting Workshop.
Understanding Identity.
(Module 2/5)
Why is developing a unique and personal faith and fitness identity so important? What questions can we ask to help our students develop this identity?
What is Health?
(Module 3/5)
How can we teach a tangible, workable definition of spiritual and physical health? CatholicFIT health units and more are in development.
What is Fitness?
(Module 4/5)
What are the fitness skills we use every day? How do we define fitness, and ensure we are using our fitness for good? What connects our faith to our fitness?
Pillars & Principles
(Module 5/5)
There are 3 foundational pillars and 7 principles that comprise the CatholicFIT curriculum. Learn about these and more as we prepare to begin the 8 week program.
CatholicFIT Pillars, Principles & Exercises
CatholicFIT, in its simplest form, is three things: (1) have FAITH in God, (2) allow this faith to lead us to a life of purpose that requires FITNESS, (3) and use our fitness to honor God and SERVE others. This is our basic roadmap to becoming a disciple of faith and fitness.
Week 1 of the program kicks off with these three pillars, and you will receive a poster with the identity statement and references for each.
CatholicFIT Principles
Each week we discuss one of the principles – a universal idea and behavior that may lead to more physical and spiritual health and fitness. Teachers receive extra lesson planning sheets with more ideas to help with how to share each principle with your students.
- WATER. We begin with water the same way we begin our lives as Christians at baptism when blessed with holy water. We aim for drinking half of your body weight in ounces, and are mindful of how much we drink liquids other than water. Except for milk, (usually) we want to be mindful of liquid calories.
- FOOD & FASTING. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith. Fasting can improve our body and hunger awareness and remind us of the sacrifices Christ and others have made for us. We are thankful for our food. We aim to eat natural, “God-made” food 80% of the time.
- SLEEP, REST, & RECOVERY. Arguably the most important, yet under-appreciated and practiced principle. Even God rested on the 7th day. We need to rest and unplug from our busy lives and technology. We turn off screens an hour before bed time and get 8-10 hours of sleep per night.
- FAMILY & COMMUNITY. We are thankful of our supernatural family called the Catholic Church. We surround ourselves with good people who support and challenge us. We strive to be this type of person for others in our lives.
- SELF CONTROL. This is not about restricting ourselves, but rather ordering our behaviors according to God’s will for happiness in our lives. We prioritize our wants and habits, understanding what “first things first” means – rather, what is most important to us, and focus there. Self control is staying focused on what is important.
- LEARNING & SHARING. Our eyes and ears are the windows to our heart and soul. This lesson is becoming increasingly important as our students (and us) are bombarded with social media, the internet, music, and other media with questionable messages and themes throughout. We hope that anything we learn is a positive lesson we are also meant to share. The patron of this principle is St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of education.
- PRAYER & REFLECTION. Starting with unplugged silence, sitting with our thoughts and praying is a prerequisite for developing a relationship with God. Spiritual health, as Mother Teresa reminds us, begins with silence, this leads to prayer, and prayer leads to faith. We encourage unique prayers said from the heart. We always offer an “active prayer” by dedicating exercise or any other physical activity to those too sick and injured to be active or exercise themselves.
CatholicFIT Exercises
Each week you will receive a video to view with your students. Eventually, you can combine exercises together to make up circuits, games, and warm up routines to practice these moves. These moves based on fundamental movement patterns, and should be practiced weekly.
Scroll below to watch the Week 1 video, and to learn about the more advanced Cathletic Exercise Videos.
Cathletic Exercises & Assessing Fitness. Each week includes a more advanced version for those students who are up for the challenge. This week 1 video includes the Curl Up (stability test) and Deep Squat (mobility test) for the program.
