If you dread physical activity the same way you loathe waking up early for school, online gym is just what the doctor has ordered.

Here I present you the chance to skip first block every day, along with dramatically reducing your required exercise. As peculiar as it may sound, and despite the horror stories you may have heard, I’ve personally found online P.E. to be a pleasant experience.

Online P.E. requires three 30-minute workouts a week, using a heart rate monitor to prove your activity.

Now when I say “workouts,” I mean anything that raises your heart rate. It doesn’t matter whether you’re running a marathon or playing the drums, as long as you get your heart rate in it’s target zone.

If you’re on a sports team, you already have this covered.

Just wear the heart monitor watch during practice (it would look a little strange during a game, but whatever makes you happy), fill out a sheet saying what you did, and you have completed the exercise portion of P.E.

Unfortunately, there is a catch.

While the workouts may be a walk in the park (pun intended), there is a buildup of written assignments to go with them. From five page assignment sheets to posting online blogs and discussion boards, a good chunk of work is involved.

(Please note- as you’re up late completing the written assignments along with your other homework, think about the extra sleep you’ll get in the morning. This itself is an automatic spirit booster, which will speed up your work pace as well.)

But don’t fret, the discussion boards are not as bad as they sound. After attending your online class, you simply have to write in your opinion on a topic that was discussed. For example: “Why do you think people have a hard time sticking to an exercise program?”

Even the assignment sheets are just answering questions directly off the textbook. Yes, there is a P.E. textbook.

Now you may be wondering, “What the heck is an online class?” Once a week we meet up on a “collaborative chat” where everyone wears a headset and essentially attends a class online. You can listen to the teacher talk as he pulls up different slideshows, and virtually raise your hand to ask a question.

Put together the workouts, written work, and classes, and you have online P.E. All in all, if you don’t mind a little extra writing, I’ve found it to be a great alternative class option.