Using energy efficiently builds strength and endurance. That's the goal of high intensity workouts,whether you are rapidly lifting heavy weights, stimulating your heart through aerobics or playing asupercharged game against your peers. High intensity physicaleducationgames need to get your adrenaline rushing, your heart pounding and your mind racing. These are the keys that make highintensity physical education games successful. Add a small dose of healthy competition and it's arecipe for success.

Capture the Flag
Whether you're playing in the woods, neighborhood, park or schoolgym,Capture the Flagis a high energy game of intense physical activity. Each team tries to find and capture the other team's hiddenflag. As they do, team members get captured by opposing teams, and released by their own teammembers. Depending on the playing field, strategy is involved, as players duck and cover, createdistractions, and rush to deliver their opponent's flag safely to their own territory.

Dodge Ball
Dodge Ball is an excellent game of high intensity physical activity, especially when you separate all theplayers into four teams and implement a few paint ball tactics. Give each team a separate color ball soyou can keep score. Turn the game into a tournament, and students will get an aerobic workout thatstimulates mind and body.

Relay Races
Add the intensity of a few relay races to boring and monotonous sports drills. Separate players intoteams or let them play as individuals, and have them compete against each other while working onspecific skills needed to improve game play. Basketball layups are supercharged when players have todeal with the added twist of racing to the basket to beat another teammate. Tackles are more intensewhen football players can't back down for fear of losing to their peers.

Duck, Duck Goose
In this classic variation of tag, players sit quietly, listening for the signal that tells them to get up andrace after their opponent. Duck, Duck Goose is geared to younger children, but everyone loves to playit. All the children sit facing each other in a large circle, while the person who is it walks around behindthem calling, "Duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, goose," tapping each player on the shoulder as he doesso. As soon as the player who hears "goose" gets tapped, he gets up and races the other player around the circle back to his spot.

Obstacle Course Races
Obstacle courses are known for being intense. There's usually at least one activity that challengeseach player, and the race against the clock never stops. You can incorporate just about anything in anobstacle course, making it as long or short as time and space permits. Laughter and fear combine tomake obstacle courses high intensity physical education games that students almost always enjoy.

Tug-O-War
Who doesn't love helping pull their friends into the big pit of sand, water or mud? Teamwork never hadit so good when the object of the game is to get the entire other team off balanced and humiliated.Even if you're the team that ends up in the pit, Tug-O-War is a blast to play. Talk about intensity, as youwedge your heels into your teammate to get a better grip on the rope. This is one high intensityphysical education game everyone loves to play, and not just at school either.