The British Association of Sports and Exercise Medicine (BASEM) has endorsed a quick training programme called five-in-five which is designed to address the problem of PE lessons focusing on developing sports skills rather than encouraging flexibility and movement.

Five-in-five provides five exercises in five minutes and is the brainchild of leading international sports coach, Kelvin Giles, who has devised more than 20, five-minute routines with kid-friendly names such as “upside-down bug” and “hot-foot lizard”.

Giles, who has worked with elite sports men and women around the world, from athletics and rugby to football and tennis said “Out of the 40 minutes in a normal PE lesson, there’s eight minutes of activity going on. Very often the kids are standing around and just listening to the teacher talk. So heart rates aren’t being raised and mechanical efficiency isn’t being looked at.”

The initiative has won the backing of the UK’s leading sports doctors and to mark its annual conference in London, the British Association of Sports and Exercise Medicine has called on UK governments to incorporate the programme in all schools.

The Association’s chairman is former Olympic gold medallist rower and chief medical officer for the London Olympics, Dr Richard Budgett. He is deeply concerned about PE in schools.

“If you’re not a natural athlete, not attracted to sport and exercise, there is a real problem. It’s very easy to drop out.”

“By using a programme like five-in-five in schools we can get young people with the skills that they can then use as they get older. So they can keep fit, keep their joints working properly and prevent all sorts of diseases, from osteoarthritis through to diabetes and heart disease.”

The Department for Education in England says it will be up to schools to decide if they want to adopt this initiative.

It wants them to focus more on competitive sport. Sports physicians say five-in-five will help gifted children to excel, while ensuring all receive a proper physical education.