What Is Presidential Fitness Test? Trumps Brings Back Classic Fitness Assessment

Last Updated:August 01, 2025, 22:17 IST

The signing took place on Thursday, attended by several prominent athletes.

Presidential Fitness Test remained a mainstay in US schools until its replacement in 2012 (AP/File)

US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced his decision to reinstate the Presidential Fitness Test, a once-prominent physical assessment programme that had been discontinued by former President Barack Obama in 2012, reported CNN. Obama had replaced it with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which placed greater emphasis on health education and personal progress rather than athletic performance.

Now, after a hiatus of more than 12 years, Trump has officially brought the original test back into practice. The revived initiative will be implemented in public sector middle and high schools across the country, with the aim of evaluating the physical fitness of American students. “This was a wonderful tradition, and we’re bringing it back," Trump declared during the signing ceremony.

The signing took place on Thursday, attended by several prominent athletes including Paul “Triple H" Levesque, NFL kicker Harrison Butker, NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor, and professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau.

What is the Presidential Fitness Test?

Originally introduced in 1966, the Presidential Fitness Test remained a mainstay in US schools until its replacement in 2012. It was former President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration that first introduced the idea in 1950s, and established the President’s Council on Youth Fitness in 1956. In 1966, then-President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration formalised the Physical Fitness Award Program.

Over the decades, the test underwent minor modifications but consistently focused on five core components: a one-mile run, a shuttle run, pull-ups or push-ups, sit-ups, and the sit-and-reach exercise. According to the Harvard Health blog, the test was designed to “assess cardiovascular fitness, upper-body and core strength, endurance, flexibility, and agility." Students aged between 6 and 17 were traditionally required to complete the various exercises, and those scoring in the 85th percentile or higher were awarded the prestigious Presidential Physical Fitness Award.

The Trump administration has cited rising “crisis levels" of childhood obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and poor nutritional habits as key reasons for reinstating the test. These concerns were recently highlighted in a report by the Department of Health and Human Services, released in May, which warned of increasing chronic health issues among American youth.

Trump has further directed the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, now chaired by DeChambeau, to develop new criteria for the Presidential Fitness Award. The test itself will be overseen and administered by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

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