Cardio Cone Conditioning: The C3 Lesson Plan

Most PE teachers have cones in their storage rooms, right? Well, this blog is going to show you how to use just cones to provide an organized, high intensity, yet fun workout for K-12 PE students and athletes alike.

This “nuttin’ but cone” workout I teach is among the favorite lessons my students enjoy! The best part of this lesson is that the setup and cleanup is incorporated into the workout! In addition, we cover cardio, upper body, lower body, and core strength as well. Yes, all are covered using cones!

Below, you will find the diagram and lesson plan for this C3 workout. You can also find video of my students participating in C3 that I posted on twitter (@CortePE).

Enjoy!

C3: Cardio Cone Conditioning Lesson Plan

Directions:

  1. Students divide into teams of 4-6, depending on how many cones you have.
  2. Each team has 4 cones spread out equally the length of the basketball court in front of them. (see diagram)
  3. Each student advances to the next cone after the person in front of them completes the task at the cone directly in front of them.
  4. When the task at the last cone is done, students jog back to the end of their line.
  5. There are 5 rounds; Cardio, Agility, Lower Body, Upper Body, and Core (see below).
Untitled 1Artboard 1

Round 1: Cardio (1-2 rounds)

  1. Wind Sprints: jog to first cone, go to the back of the line, jog to 2nd cone, jog to the back of line, etc.

Round 2: Agility (1 round each)        

1. Slide left, Slide Right, Karaoke Left, Karaoke Right.

2. Butt kickers, Skip, Butt kickers, Skip.

3. Around the cone left, around the cone right, around the cone left, around the cone right.

4. Jog, back pedal, jog to next cone, back pedal, jog to next cone, back pedal, jog to last, back pedal.

Round 3: Lower Body (1-2 rounds)

  1. Lunge to each cone, 5 squat jumps, 5 squat jumps forward, 5 squat jumps backward, 5 jack squats.

Round 4: Upper Body (1-2 rounds)

  1. Jog to each cone, high plank tip cone over/pick up 4 reps, pushups 4 reps, dips (8 reps), Hindu/dive-bombers (4 reps)

Round 5: Core (1-2 rounds)

  1. Walk to each cone, tap feet above cone (8 reps), Russian twists (8 reps), both legs up and over (8 reps), inverted crunches (touch toes with cone) (8 reps)

Closing Games:

  • Cone Flip: first team to successfully flip all four cones wins.
    • First person in line tries to flip first cone. If he/she misses, the player goes to the end of the line.
    • Next student tries at the same cone.
    • If he/she succeeds, the player advances to the next cone to flip.
  •  Knock ‘em Down/Pick ‘em Up: First team to get all members back in line wins.
    • First person in line runs and knocks down all four cones.
    • Next person in line runs and picks up all four cones.
    • Third person in line runs and knocks down all four cones.
    • Last person in line runs and pick up all four cones.
  • Forward Clean Up: First team to remove all four cones one at a time wins.
    • First person in line runs to the first cone and picks it up. He/she carries while running to the second cone. The player replaces the cones. The cone he/she just picked up gets replaced at the third cone, and the last cone that is replaced gets carried back to the line.
    • The second person in line runs to the nearest cone and repeats the above process and carries the last cone back to the line.
    • This continues until all cones are back and stacked at the starting line.

5 Responses

  1. Love this, Maria! Thank you. Any chance you have video of the Forward Clean Up Drill you mentioned? I’m trying to figure it out, but can’t quite picture it.

  2. I love this! I tried it with my students today. They love all the changes I incorporate in my class.Thanks for sharing!

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