Landstuhl CrossFit

But study after recent study (30 shown on this site alone) show that children could benefit from more exercise directly integrated into their school day. Exercise not only shows an immediate beneficial impact on test scores in these studies, but fit kids have repeatedly demonstrated superior academic performance than children who don’t exercise.
A possible explanation of why this could be true is explained by Harvard Press:

In a 2008 review article Dr. Charles Hillman and colleagues at the University of Illinois via dissections revealed that physically fit rats have more blood vessels throughout their brains. Exercise causes increased blood flow, which brings more oxygen and other nutrients into the brain. Exercise also increased the number of nerve cells and of synapses, the connections between nerve cells. Other researchers have shown that aerobic exercise increases production of a molecule called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF is a precursor to other neurochemicals involved in mood regulation and executive function.

Some studies have found that the same cognitive and executive functions that are stimulated by aerobic exercise are a better indicator of how young children will fare in school than their IQ score.

Dr. Charles Hillman, a professor of kinesiology and community health and the director of the Neurocognitive Kinesiology Laboratory at Illinois, is among a growing number of researchers cautioning that timing of exercise might be important. His studies show optimal performance within an hour of kids’ workout: “Exercise at the end of the day, or after math or language arts, may not be as helpful.”

A great demonstration of how his theory can be put into practice is found in Finland’s school system. “Schools in Finland have 15 minutes of play after every hour of class, and students there regularly outperform kids from around the world in international education studies”, says Dr. John Ratey, author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.

And look at Naperville, Illinois, recently featured in the press, and now described as “the nexus of the exercise at school movement”. Naperville schools for the past 5 years have made daily PE class mandatory for all their students, and assigned kids with extra difficulty extra workouts immediately prior to their problem courses. Kids involved in the program have demonstrated reading comprehension at over 1.5 years their current grade level – their math scores are 21% higher than students who elected not to enroll in the program. Naperville High School provides stationary bikes and exercise balls within its classrooms. An extreme example? Look at the result – who wouldn’t want their child enrolled in such a program?

At City Park Collegiate Institute in Saskatoon, Canada, a program called Movement Matters for high school-age students is in its fourth year. Students begin their school day with a 20-minute aerobic workout. Not only has the program dramatically improved participants’ math & writing scores, but also their behavior – students are coming to school more regularly and are finishing assignments when they hadn’t in the past. Some students have been taken off their clinically prescribed medication for ADHD. Companies have lined up to donate equipment including cyclist Greg LeMond, who provided Movement Matters with six top-of-the-line spinning bikes.

It will take visionaries, and the support of their higher level education directors to evoke change in school systems, but who’s to say we can’t make DODDS schools another success story? Certainly, at the very least, you can integrate lessons-learned from this research into your own kids’ schedule. Walk or bike with them to school. Before they do their homework, kick the ball around with them outside or enroll them in a school or community sport. Jennifer L. Etnier, Ph.D. in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology recently reported: “Doing a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise may offer the brain the biggest benefits.”

Your best solution may be to get your family to CrossFit together.

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Just in Case You’re Interested: Even More Supporting Research

Science Daily Research Reviews:
Research Finds Vigorous Exercise Equals Better Academics (Aug. 3, 2006)
Physically Fit Kids Do Better In School (Jan. 30, 2009)

PubMed Reported Research:
Physical activity and sports team participation: associations with academic outcomes in middle school and high school students. (2010 Jan).
Physical fitness and academic achievement in third- and fifth-grade students. (2007 Apr)
Associations of adiposity with measured and self-reported academic performance in early adolescence. (2006 Oct)
Effects of two types of activity on the performance of second-, third-, and fourth-grade students on a test of concentration. (1999 Aug)