[noscript_1]
Millions of American students will once again have to undergo the Presidential Fitness Test after the Trump administration reinstated the gym-class challenge.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced the return of the test in Atlantic City this week after President Donald Trump signed a memorandum in May restoring student awards for the test.
Typically conducted twice a year, the set of fitness challenges was first enacted in the 1950s and was phased out in 2013 during the Obama administration and replaced with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program.
However, RFK Jr said bringing back the challenge is a key part of the administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.
He said: ‘More than 60 years ago, my uncle, President John F Kennedy, challenged America to make physical fitness a national priority because he understood that the strength of our nation begins with the health of our people. Today, President Trump is restoring that vision.
‘By bringing back the Presidential Fitness Test… we are giving parents, schools, and communities the tools to help children build healthy habits, strengthen their bodies, and discover what they’re capable of achieving.’
RFK Jr told News Nation at Monday’s announcement: ‘I think it was a huge mistake to get rid of it… our children are sicker [and] have a higher chronic disease rate than any country in the world.’
President Donald Trump greets the Washington Nationals ‘Racing Presidents’ following a proclamation signing in the Oval Office last month restoring the Presidential Fitness Test Award for students
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced the return of the Presidential Fitness Test. He is shown above doing pull-ups in August 2025
A statement from HHS added: ‘America’s children are facing a chronic disease crisis. Nearly 1 in 5 children is overweight or obese. Seventy-seven percent of young Americans are ineligible for military service, with poor health and physical fitness among the leading reasons.
‘That’s why HHS is helping families, schools, and communities make physical activity and healthy habits part of everyday life.’
Critics of the program, however, say the fitness test is bad for some children’s self confidence if they don’t perform well on the exercises in front of their classmates.
Exercises include how many sit ups kids can do in a minute, how long they can hold a plank, how fast they can run a mile, how many laps they can complete of the shuttle run and how many right-angle push-ups and pull-ups they can complete before failure.
If students are looking to earn the National or Presidential award, their results can be compared and ranked based on age (ranging from six to 17 years old) and split between boys and girls.
For example, to earn the Presidential Award, a 16-year-old boy would need to either complete 57 sit-ups in one minute or hold a plank for 156 seconds, either run a mile in six minutes and eight seconds or complete 84 shuttle run laps, and either complete 44 right-angle push-ups or complete 11 pull-ups.
Critics of the program say the fitness test is bad for some children’s self confidence if they don’t perform well on the exercises in front of their classmates
For a 16-year-old girl, the benchmarks are either 48 sit-ups or a 145-second plank, either a seven minute and 59 second mile or 50 shuttle run laps and either 24 right-angle push-ups or three pull-ups.
Trump first announced the return of the Presidential Fitness test in 2025 and signed an executive order in July of that year.
When signing it, Trump said: ‘We are building a nation of strong, proud, and unstoppable young Americans. The Presidential Fitness Test is not just about physical strength – it’s about character, competition, and confidence.
‘Together, we are making fitness fun, competitive, and cool again.’
