Global health reports indicate declining physical activity levels for children and adolescents, which has coincided with troubling trends in muscular fitness. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these trends, with Governments implementing health orders that included lockdowns and citizens confined to their homes. These health orders and home confinement reduced children’s time for engagement in physical activity and access to supervised, structured physical education (PE) lessons, leading to a further decrease in physical activity and muscular fitness. The effect of physical inactivity and poor muscular fitness on physical health literacy, lifelong pathological processes and associated health care costs have created an increasingly urgent need to identify strategies to reverse these troubling trends. To develop effective strategies to reverse the trend, scholars need to recognise the increasing evidence indicating that muscular fitness is foundational for ongoing participation in active play, exercise, physical activity and sport, since a prerequisite level of neuromuscular power support is moving proficiently. Therefore, developmentally appropriate interventions targeting neuromuscular deficits are needed for children to engage competently in physical and sport-related activities. Strategies should also recognise the shared importance of strength, skill and aerobic activities rather than focusing solely on aerobic activity. PE provides an opportunity for all students to have regular exposure to developmentally appropriate and inherently enjoyable physical activities early in life, to reverse the contemporary trends in physical inactivity and reduced muscular fitness. The clinician expertise commentary aims to argue for the inclusion of muscular fitness movement activities in physical education to the reverse effect of home confinement and propose pedagogical approaches to develop student muscular fitness.
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