Fitness for Life

About This Course

Fitness for Life guides students through a holistic approach to lifelong wellness by blending movement, mindfulness, and safety. Across four interconnected units, students build strength, balance, and mobility through yoga and injury-prevention practices; explore fitness principles that develop endurance and goal-setting skills; and learn how nutrition and mindfulness support energy, focus, and emotional well-being. The course concludes with practical training in self-defense and water safety to promote confidence, personal awareness, and preparedness in real-world settings. Prerequisites:  None

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...

• Demonstrate competency in foundational movement patterns and yoga poses that enhance balance, flexibility, strength, and body awareness (Movement and Mobility)
• Apply knowledge of fitness concepts such as overload, progression, FITT principles, and recovery to design and adapt personal exercise routines (Fitness Principles and Application)
• Set SMART goals for sport-specific improvement, track personal progress through movement journals and self-assessments, and adjust strategies based on formative feedback (Personal Goal Setting and Progress Monitoring)
• Apply mindfulness techniques—such as breathwork, meditation, and stress-management strategies to improve focus, self-regulation, and overall well-being (Mindfulness and Emotional Wellness)
• Interpret food labels, understand macronutrients, and make informed nutrition and hydration choices that support daily energy, recovery, and mood balance (Nutrition and Hydration)
• Execute safe warm-ups, cool-downs, and mobility routines; identify risk factors; and implement recovery strategies that promote long-term participation in physical activity (Injury Prevention and Recovery)
• Demonstrate foundational self-defense techniques, situational awareness, and de-escalation strategies while respecting personal boundaries and consent (Self-Defense and Personal Safety)
• Apply basic water safety and survival principles, including floating, controlled breathing, and recognizing hazardous conditions to promote personal safety (Water Safety and Preparedness)

Course Outline:

Unit 1: Mobility, Yoga and Injury Prevention

Unit 2: Introduction to Fitness Principles

Unit 3: Mindfulness and Nutrition Education

Unit 4: Introduction to Self-Defense and Water Safety

Resources Included: Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.

Additional Costs: Required materials include: Yoga or exercise mat; comfortable/flexible athletic clothing that permits movement; supportive, athletic shoes; water bottle for hydration tracking; towel; stopwatch, timer, or heart rate monitor; measuring tape; a safe area for exercise practice, including a clear floor space for stretching and movement activities; resistance bands, light dumbbells or suitable household substitutes; swimsuit; beach/pool towel; access to a safe aquatic environment (pool facility, public beach or other safe body of water)
Optional materials include: Yoga blocks pr suitable household substitutes; foam roller (for mobility and recovery work); exercise/stability ball; scale (optional, for body composition tracking); mirror(optional - helpful for checking yoga alignment and posture); pedometer or pedometer app; cushion or meditation pillow; practice partner; swim goggles

Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue diplomas. A final score out of total points earned will be submitted to your school mentor for conversion to their own letter grading system.

Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.

Technology Requirements: Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.

Ensure that your school or district network and device administrator establishes network access permissions or exceptions for online resources relevant to the course in which you are choosing to enroll. Ref., Michigan Virtual Course Allow List

Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements.

Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at CustomerCare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.

Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at customercare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building, discussion-based assessments (one-on-one conversations with your teacher), and other forms of authentic assessments.

Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:

• Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• Download and install software
• Use a messaging service similar to email
• Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• Open attachments shared in messages
• Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
• Save a file as a .pdf
• Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• Insert images or links into a file or html editor
• Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• Use presentation and graphics programs
• Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• Create and maintain usernames and passwords

Additional Information: None