MORE THAN SWEATIN' TO THE BASICS.

Byline: Jenifer Hanrahan Daily News Staff Writer

Gym class. For a few, it inspires memories of glory - lapping your classmates on the track, getting picked first for teams.

For most everyone else, it brings back nightmares of ill-fitting polyester uniforms and a first brush with public nudity.

But what if gym class meant time to practice your golf swing instead of hauling yourself to the top of a rope? What if you got to do step aerobics instead of headstands on a balance for an A?

Physical education has changed since the 50-minute boot camps of the 1970s and earlier, when gym teachers barked orders as kids did straight-kneed calisthenics and ran basic football plays.

Today's gym classes give kids a chance to try a variety of activities - dance, golf, aerobics, even juggling - they can continue to do decades after they retire their gym uniforms.

The aim, believe it or not, is getting young people to actually enjoy working toward physical fitness.

``It's much more health- and safety-conscious,'' said Steve Franklin, chairman of the physical education department at Parkman Middle School in Woodland Hills. ``It was still really militaristic when I started teaching. It started changing little by little,'' said Franklin, a P.E. teacher for 18 years.

Said John Liechty, director of Los Angeles Unified School District middle school instruction: ``The goal is that youngsters ... will continue to participate athletically for health benefits.''

Kids getting fatter

The emphasis on ``lifetime sports'' is due in part to a growing concern that children aren't getting as much exercise as they should.

Even as the fitness and diet industry targeting adults flourishes, America's children are getting fatter. Studies by the Harvard School of Public Health show that since the 1960s, obesity in 6- to 11-year-olds has increased more than 50 percent; obesity in 12- to 17-year-olds has increased more than 40 percent.

Almost 14 percent of 6- to 11-year-olds and 12 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds are overweight, according to a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Health experts agree that three primary factors contribute to weight gain: heredity, overeating and a sedentary lifestyle. For every child on a soccer team, countless others are snacking in front of a television set.

``When I started teaching 30 years ago, kids were almost naturally fit - they rode bikes, they went to the parks more, they would stay after school and play on the leagues,'' said Dick Lufkin, chairman of the physical education department at Hale Middle School in Woodland Hills.

Years ago, Lufkin said, he assumed kids played sandlot football or baseball, so he might work on improving their technique. Nowadays, he's more concerned with making sure his students reach a basic level of cardiovascular endurance and flexibility.

Hitting the track

At Holmes Middle School in Northridge, Carol Cuccia puts her P.E. classes through their paces every day.

Fifteen minutes of crunches, push-ups and other stretching and strengthening moves, followed by a -1/4-mile run, start every class.

Like the rest of the fitness world, gym teachers are recognizing the benefits of good technique and a proper warm-up more than they did when Cuccia started teaching 27 years ago.

Today's instructors are better trained in how to get the most out of a workout by eliminating potentially harmful exercises. Read: No more straight-legged sit-ups and bouncing toe touches.

Physical fitness tests have been modified accordingly.

Sit-ups have been replaced by crunches, with the hands crossed over the chest. Pull-ups for boys and the flexed-arm hang for girls have been replaced by a modified pull-up for all: Lying on the floor, the student pulls his or her chest up to a low bar.

Height and weight measurements - formerly the sole criteria for determining who was a healthy size - is now supplemented by tests that measure the percentage of body fat.

That's not to say life in gym class is easier these days.

``Physical education is as rigorous a course - or should be - as any course in the school,'' said Bob Collins, director of instruction for Los Angeles Unified School District senior high schools. ``It's not a play type of situation. It's a real, regular course with objectives that they expect children to meet.''

From juggling to Frisbee

Along with the challenge of teaching students about nutritional eating habits, helping them understand how their body works and making sure they get a good cardiovascular workout, gym teachers still have to keep it fun.

It is, after all, about keeping kids motivated.

At Holmes Middle School, students play paddle tennis, practice marching band-style drills and learn aerobics routines that they perform for classmates.

At Parkman Middle School, they can try juggling, hackeysack, ultimate Frisbee and step aerobics. Once a year, Franklin takes students on a field trip to a golf driving range.

Some school kids even can choose their activity or do extra-credit projects, such as writing a report or making a collage about their favorite sport.

``We try to keep the competitiveness out of it,'' said Parkman's Franklin. ``We're trying to teach that it's more important to get into shape and participate than to win.''

Of course, for some, there's always a drawback to the ``new P.E.''

``Last year, we had to learn the Charleston step and the Electric Slide,'' said Rusty Homer, an eighth-grader at Parkman. ``Man, was that embarrassing.''

Schoolmate Jazen Anderson, another eighth-grader, drew the line at the do-si-do during a gym class last year focusing on square dancing.

``I did my own moves in the back of the class,'' Anderson said. ``The teacher still gave me an A because it was my creative expression.''

Whatever works.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) NO MORE JUMPING JACKS!

Today's P.E. focuses on fun, lifelong sports

(2) Veronica Perez does a warm-up exercise during gym class at Parkman Middle School in Woodland Hills. The aim is getting young people to actually enjoy working toward physical fitness.

(3) Today's physical education is ``much more health- and safety-conscious,'' says Steve Franklin, chairman of Parkman's P.E. department, as he shows his students how to juggle scarfs.

(4) Parkman eighth-grader Michael Huff warms up, following the lead of today's instructors, who are better trained in how to get the most out of a workout by eliminating potentially harmful exercises.

Terri Thuente/Daily News