Jamie’s Dream School | Daley Thompson’s Fitness Test

Jamie Oliver TED talkJamie Oliver has chosen British Olympic Champion Daley Thompson to be the fitness teacher at his dream school. He started by telling the class that research has shown that “kids that do exercise and stuff do better at school”. Wise words.

For the first lesson Daley Thompson got the kids doing some simple exercises in pairs, such as pushing and pulling each other. Each exercise is designed to improve core strength and stability. Many of the exercises Daley taught are done in many martial arts schools.

He then organised a fitness test for the class, which again was done in test. Each exercise was done for 1 minute and the distance / number of exercises recorded.


The indoor fitness test:

  • Rowing
  • Sit ups
  • Step ups
  • Press ups
  • Skipping
  • Medicine ball throws

So the test is how far they can row, how many sit ups, steps ups, push ups, ships and how far they can chest pass the medicine ball. The results are added up to see who is the fittest.

The kids then did a beep test, when you run between 2 points between the beeps, but the beeps get closer each time forcing you to run quicker.

This was a classic circuit training routine really which is used by athletes to get fit and build strength and speed.

Home Fitness Workout

Getting fitter is key to getting in shape and losing weight also. If you do a fitness test like this each week you can easily record your progress. If you do not have a rower you can run in a park or on the street for 60 seconds to see how far you get, then set yourself the goal of running further the next time.


To get fitter it really is important to keep pushing yourself to do more and work harder, and this is how fitness helps to burn fat, because the fitter you are, the more calories you can burn through exercise before your heart and muscles become tired.

Daley Thompson’s Fitness Test

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