For those who bemoan that physical education class does nothing to improve their physiques or who wish to stay in shape during their sports’ off-seasons, hope lies just around the corner. Beginning next year, Athletic Director Matt McGinn will be teaching a new course focused primarily on improving the fitness levels of Gunn’s students.

Upperclassmen who have already finished their required two years of physical education will be able to participate. McGinn noted his rationale in beginning this course. “There were a number of reasons to start this class,” he said. “[They were] to encourage juniors and seniors to participate, to help reduce student stress through fitness, and to bolster the fitness and athleticism of [Gunn’s] athletes.”

Though McGinn hopes athletes will take this course, it is also open for non-athletes. “The class is aimed at athletes, but is not limited to athletes,” McGinn said. “We are encouraging anyone who is interested in resistance training and improving his or her speed and agility.”

Diverging from the more general “fun-and-games” approach of regular physical education, the new class targets students whose main focus is to train their bodies. Instead of participating in typical physical education activities, students in the new fitness class perform activities that help develop specific muscle groups.

“The students of this class will participate in flexibility exercises involving dynamic, ballistic and static stretching routines,” McGinn said. “Also resistance training using weights and resistance bands as well as plyometric exercises which help to increase one’s speed and explosiveness using jumping exercises, and agility training using such tools as ladders and jump-ropes [will be included].”

This course also boasted a more flexible routine based on the individual as opposed to the class. “One day we might do stretching and the next day we’ll be in the fitness center,” sophomore Molly Duncan-Stone said. “There’s more freedom as we can work on what we want to do in the fitness center.”

A current trial run of the new fitness-based physical education course has been popular with students, with full classes in its two test periods. Judging from the success of his current classes, McGinn hopes to teach at least two periods of his advanced physical education course, with a limit of 30 to 34 students per class.