“We know it would be a great tool, but we really didn’t have a great way to use them,” said Washington High School physical education teacher Wendy Seaman.

Seaman is talking about heart rate monitors. She uses them in all of her freshman girls PE classes.

“I worked with Ironbody Lifestyle Fitness to come up with a curriculum to actually get my kids to understand how to get in shape cardiovascular,” Seaman said.

The curriculum is called Operation Ironbody.

“We have them run the mile at 80 percent of their maximum heart rate,” Seaman said. “And it’s hard for some of them because they have to go slower than they’re used to, but the great thing is as the year goes on, we do this throughout the year, and they start seeing their time increase as they’re fitness level goes up.”

Seaman knows first hand how well this technology works. She lost more than 80 pounds last year, after doing a program with Ironbody Lifestyle Fitness that not only uses the monitors, but gave her a personalized meal and exercise plan.

“So what we’ve done with the kids is teach them about target heart rate,” Seaman said. “How to exercise in your correct zone, what happens while you’re in that zone and what kind of fuels you burn.”

The goal is to get her girls ready for a one mile run at the end of April.

“Now, I think it’s good for us and with it being about our health and stuff,” said Aileen Fernandez

Now another school using Operation Ironbody is Saint Thomas the Apostle in Phoenix. It's headed up by Ironbody team member Megan Keller.

The six week program is not only getting these 5th through 8th graders ready for that mile run, but learning lifestyle skills is equally as important.

“Everything from self-esteem, comradery, nutrition and setting goals,” Keller said. “So those 4 elements are often things that are not covered in a school’s curriculum. But building in life skills with a physical outlet is what is so important in those schools.