President Donald Trump has brought back the Presidential Fitness Test Award, after reestablishing a national school program that measures children’s physical performance through exercises like running, situps and flexibility tests.
The president signed the latest order Tuesday, formally reviving the award for top-performing students as part of a broader push to reintroduce competitive fitness standards in U.S. schools.
The move builds on a 2025 executive order restoring the test itself, bringing back a program that millions of Americans once completed in gym class.
What Is the Presidential Fitness Test?
At its core, the test is a school-based assessment of physical ability, designed to give a snapshot of how fit a student is compared with others of the same age.
It evaluates core areas including:
- Cardio endurance
- Strength
- Flexibility
- Speed and agility
History of the Test
The test dates back to the 1950s, when concerns about children’s health and physical performance prompted the U.S. government to create a national program.
It became a fixture of American schools for decades before being phased out in 2013 by Barack Obama. It was then replaced with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which emphasized overall health and personal progress rather than competition.
The change was part of a broader push linked to former first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” initiative, which aimed to tackle childhood obesity by promoting healthier eating and exercise habits rather than competition-based fitness benchmarks.
But now, Trump’s reinstatement of the more traditional fitness test marks a shift back toward performance-based benchmarks for young people.
The Exercises You Might Remember
The exact events have varied over time, but the test is best known for five core challenges. Including:
- One-mile run (or other timed run), to measure endurance
- Situps or curl-ups, to test core strength
- Pullups or pushups, measuring upper-body strength
- Shuttle run, to test speed and agility
- Sit-and-reach, assessing flexibility
Some earlier versions also included sprint events (like the 50-yard dash) or power moves such as the standing long jump—helping explain why many Americans remember slightly different versions of the test.
Try the Presidential Fitness Test Yourself
The test was phased out in 2013 before being reintroduced this week by the current administration. While those above school age may not be mandated to complete the challenge, it is easy to do at home with this simplified version:
- Run a mile and time yourself
- Do as many situps as you can in one minute with proper form
- Complete pushups or pullups until fatigue
- Set up a shuttle run (short sprints between two points)
- Try a sit-and-reach stretch to measure flexibility
Times are recorded in minutes and seconds, and together, these exercises give a snapshot of overall fitness across endurance, strength and mobility—just as the school test was designed to do.
How Trump Reinstated the Test
Trump announced the revival at the White House alongside Cabinet members and professional athletes, with children invited to take part in sports activities after the signing.
The president, who has often joked about his own fitness routine, told attendees he works out “about one minute a day.”
Officials framed the event as part of a wider push to promote strength and athleticism among young Americans, with participants playing sports including football and golf on the White House grounds.
Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at the event: “We’re now the sickest nation in the world. We’ve gone from 5 percent of our kids being obese to 20 percent, 70 percent of adults are obese or overweight, and 77 percent of our children cannot qualify for military service. And that should be an eye opener for all of us, and I’m so grateful to President Trump for his leadership and his vision of reinstituting the physical fitness test.”
The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data broadly support the trend described by Kennedy.
What’s New in Trump’s Version
Historically, the award was given to students who scored in roughly the top 15 percent nationwide across all events. The administration has not yet released full details on how the modern scoring system or awards will work, though the program is already being introduced in some schools, including those on U.S. military bases.
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