CatholicFIT Curriculum | Module 1
SPECIAL NOTE: All worksheets, lesson planning forms and posters are linked below just above the exercise videos. Here is the primary Week/Module 1 Worksheet (also linked below.)
We kick the program off asking two key questions:
- What does it mean to be Catholic?
- What does it mean to be fit?
These answers differ between a 35-year-old PE teacher, 10-year-old student, and 65-year-old Catholic priest, in that while we celebrate universal Truths and Catholic practices (Mass, Sacraments, sacramentals, Beatitudes, etc), our daily practice is individually unique, and to understand and embrace this is key to developing a strong and personal Catholic (or fitness) identity.
We introduce the three pillars of CatholicFIT (right):
Finally, we start our journey to becoming a disciple of faith and fitness by assessing a few simple strength and mobility movements.

Activity Review & Learning Objectives
After viewing the exercise video about learning to move, students perform a curl up test and deep squat mobility assessment. The three pillars are introduced, and the students are asked to reflect on what faith, Catholicism, and fitness mean to them. After this week, students should be able to:
- have a basic understanding of the three requirements for good movement literacy: stability + mobility + motor control.
- assess their own core strength and total body mobility by performing two simple tests (curl up & deep squat)
- understand how faith, fitness and service are related, and know that faith requires works, and fitness requires movement, referring to James 2:14-18.
- think a bit more meaningfully about some healthier definitions of faith and fitness, and how this applies to the questions Jesus asked his disciples in Mark 8:27-35 (“Who do THEY say that I am? Who do YOU say that I am?”)
Reflection Questions
- What does the word “fitness” mean to you? What words or phrases come to mind when you hear the word “fit.”
- What does the word “faith” mean to you? What does being Catholic mean to you? What does it mean to be a practicing Catholic?
- Why does faith matter? Why does fitness matter?
Week 1 Resources & Worksheets
Click on the link below to open up the PDF, and watch the videos for more.
- Week 1 Worksheet: I Am Fit To Serve (Click here to open PDF and print for your students)
- Program SMART Goals Kit – 3 goals: Deep Squat, Curl Up, Faith & Fitness Discussion at Home (Print if recording assessments)
- CatholicFIT_Week 1 Lesson Plan and Extra Notes
- This Week In CatholicFIT Flyer (PDF to print and post or attached to your Friday newsletter.)
- Exercise of the Week: Deep Squat & Curl Up (See videos below; can be shown in homeroom or at the beginning of P.E. class)
Cathletic Exercises
Here we introduce a more advanced, athletic version of each week’s exercise(s). These are Catholic + Athletic = Cathletic moves allowing the student-athletes and fitness enthusiasts who have mastered the regular exercises to take it up a notch.
Next Module | Water and Locomotor Exercises
In week 2 we talk about the first CatholicFIT Principle – WATER,. , and we get moving with some fun “locomotor exercises” like skipping, grapevine, and animal crawling. In the meantime, keep practicing your curl ups, and we will add fun moves as the program continues.
Remember, as we hear in James 2:14-26, “faith without works is dead”, and we like to add, “fitness without movement is the same.” Keeping moving, keep working, and we will see you next week.