Teens lifting in the modern world – Evidenced-based resistance training in HPE

The rapid advancement in technology and its association with sedentary behaviour and physical inactivity have in resulted in significant health, economic, and social consequences for young people. Australian guidelines recommend young people accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) every day and participate in muscle-strengthening activities (e.g., resistance training) on ≥3days/week. Alarmingly, only 2% of Australian adolescents meet both the MVPA and muscle strengthening guidelines. This research project, funded National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) partnership funding, reflected that Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers are uniquely placed to assist young people safely develop lifelong physical activity and resistance training skills, and school-based physical activity interventions need to be ‘scaled-up’ to improve population health. The investigator team worked with >60 NSW Department of Education secondary schools and HPE teachers to assist in implementing the Resistance Training for Teens (RT4T) program and assessed the effectiveness of three support models (i.e., Low, Moderate and High). Preliminary findings indicate that both teachers and students viewed the program favourably, with differing opinions on the amount of support required for implementation. Findings from NSW schools provided a platform for investigating prospective scalability of the program. Insights from interviews conducted with HPE curriculum leads from across Australia are drawn upon in discussing the future prospects for RT delivery in HPE nationally. Findings will inform strategies to address differing barriers and enables for implementing RT in HPE to advance and innovate pedagogy in this area.