Community Physical Activity Leader (CPAL)

Gain the Knowledge and Skills to Inspire an Active Community

If you love to move and get others moving too, this FREE course is for you. It will equip you with the essential knowledge and hands-on skills needed to facilitate and promote physical activity to friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors. You will learn how to develop and lead physical activity programs in your community—outdoors, or in schools, recreation centers, community centers, libraries, or places of worship.

This six-module course equips you to create inclusive, safe, and effective fitness programs for individuals of all ages and abilities - no prior professional training in fitness required. Through real-world examples, interactive learning, and post-course resources, you'll gain the confidence and foundational knowledge to inspire your community to be more active. Become a Community Physical Activity Leader and make a lasting impact—let’s get people moving!

The Foundations for Community Physical Activity Leaders course is intended to be accessible to a wide audience of community members, including those who are new to physical activity and those with intellectual disabilities. As such, the course offers multiple ways to access the information like:

• Adjusting the audio speed to go faster or slower
• Closed captioning
• Video transcripts
• Clear, accessible language for broad understanding

This course was supported in part by the Special Olympics Systems Change for Inclusive Health Subgrant, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The contents of this project are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.

Upon completion, you will be able to:

• Understand what a Community Physical Activity Leader is and what skills you need to be successful as one.
• Identify physical activity basics, including recommended physical activity guidelines and examples of activities for all ages and levels.
• Discuss the mental and physical health benefits of physical activity.
• Develop safe and effective community physical activity programs.
• Lead community physical activity programs for friends, family members, colleagues and neighbors.
• Meet the needs of people with and without intellectual disabilities in your community physical activity program.