Background: In the context of the knowledge economy and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, increasing dependence on technology and machinery has led to sedentary lifestyles and a significant decline in physical fitness, particularly among university students—the nation’s future workforce. Hanoi Metropolitan University (HMU) faces substantial challenges in ensuring comprehensive educational quality. While Physical Education (PE) plays a pivotal role, it is currently hindered by limited facilities, low student engagement, and inflexible pedagogical methods.

Methods: The study combined conventional scientific research methods: document analysis, a status quo survey using questionnaires distributed to 1,249 students, in-depth interviews with 17 experts and lecturers, and pedagogical tests evaluating six physical fitness criteria according to the standards of the Ministry of Education and Training.

Objectives: This research aims to systematically and comprehensively evaluate the current state of PE teaching and learning at HMU. Based on these findings, the study developed, selected, and experimentally applied a system of six solutions to innovate teaching methods, thereby enhancing training quality and improving students' physical foundations.

Results: The situational analysis revealed that facilities met only 40-50% of quality requirements, while student physical fitness especially endurance was low (approximately 36-37%). The study proposed six solutions, which were highly rated by experts for their feasibility (mean Likert scores ranging from 4.47 to 4.88). Experimental results indicated that both physical fitness indices and academic performance significantly improved following the implementation of these solutions, with statistical significance at P < 0.05.