Echuca College’s two VCE Physical Education classes travelled to Ballarat to get some hands on experience of the curriculum. The day included fitness testing, laboratory experiments, a plyometric circuit and lectures covering technical aspects of the PE course.

Morgan Carr chose to test his leg power on the Wingate 30 second cycle ergometer test and was happily surprised when he recorded the highest power output of any student who had attended the program that week. The test involves cycling on a stationary bike for 30 seconds as hard as possible and measures your peak power (watts) and average power output.

Connor Brown volunteered for the VO2max test, which measures the total amount of oxygen that your body can utilise relative to your body weight. This test is a good predictor of endurance performance. Connor began the test on a treadmill but after a malfunction completed the test on a stationary bike. The test intensity continually rises until the participant can no longer continue and Connor was able to push himself to the very limit allowing testers to get a very accurate result and collect some excellent data.

After the Federation University visit it was on to Melbourne for Dinner and the football at Etihad Stadium. The exciting match between Essendon and Sydney ended with the bombers running away with a convincing win and was a great way to cap of a full on day.