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Aug 2, 2025  |  
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 | Remer,MN
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Erik Vance


NextImg:Trump Is Bringing Back the Presidential Fitness Test

If you spent your childhood struggling to do chin-ups or groaning over a sit-and-reach box in gym class, brace yourself.

Today, President Trump signed an executive order to reinstate the Presidential Fitness Test in public schools. The move is part of the administration’s goal to “restore urgency in improving the health of all Americans,” according to a statement released by the White House.

The test, which was introduced in 1966, has taken several forms over the years. The most recent version included a one-mile run, modified sit-ups, a 30-foot shuttle run, the sit-and-reach flexibility test and a choice between push-ups and pull-ups.

In the last iteration, children who scored in the top 15 percent nationwide earned a Presidential Physical Fitness Award. The Trump administration has yet to announce which exercises will be included in the new test.

In 2012, the Obama administration replaced the Presidential Fitness Test with a program called the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which was less focused on standardized fitness benchmarks.

Some fitness and child development experts have criticized the Presidential Fitness Test as too rigid. Children who are the same age, for instance, could be very different sizes or at different developmental stages. And focusing on scores, experts said, could risk turning some children off exercise altogether.


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