DONALD TRUMP HAS announced he’s planning on reinstating the Presidential fitness test. First things first, that is not a fitness test for Presidents. It’s a national program for children aged six to 17 that started in the 1950s and was phased out by Obama in 2013.
In a statement released by the White House this month, Trump argued that “we must address the threat to the vitality and longevity of our country that is posed by America’s declining health and physical fitness… Rates of obesity, chronic disease, inactivity, and poor nutrition are at crisis levels, particularly among our children.”
Trump hasn’t said what the new Presidential Fitness Test will look like. Previously, it involved a one-mile race, a shuttle run, sixty seconds of sit-ups, sixty seconds of pull-ups and a sit-and-reach flexibility assessment.
The standards participants needed to reach varied by age and gender, but they were all rather high. Case in point, only 15 per cent of participants reached the standard for their age in every category. Those who did were awarded with a Presidential commendation.
Could you pass the Presidential fitness test? Below, we’ve compiled the standards in each category for 17-year-old boys, the oldest participants.
Presidential Fitness Test standards:
1 mile (1.61km) run in 6:06 minutes (that’s a 3:47 per kilometre pace)
55 sit ups in 1 minute
13 pull ups in 1 minute
7.0 inch V-sit and reach
8.7 second shuttle run
Those are some high standards. Particularly the mile run and pull up requirements. We’d wager there aren’t many adults that can do 13 pull ups or run a mile in 6:06, let alone the average 17-year-old.
But there you have it. Now you can test yourself and see if you’d get a Presidential commendation.
