Donald Trump Reintroduces Mandatory Pull-Ups in Schools: Why the Return of the Presidential Fitness Test Isn't Necessarily a Good Idea

While the exercise is - for now - little-known in France, it has traumatized more than one American during their school years. The "Presidential Fitness Test" will return in September to high schools and colleges across the United States to "rekindle the urgency of improving the health of all Americans," according to a White House press release.

Introduced in 1966 before being suspended in 2012, this test assesses the physical ability of middle and high school students across the country through a series of tasks. The program includes a one-mile run (about 1.6 km), a progressive stress test, sit-ups, stretches, and a choice of push-ups or pull-ups. Students must perform these exercises in a series, and the best national performers receive a prize.

Since it's not graded, the others aren't penalized academically. On paper, the idea seems pretty good. But in practice, it's also been a source of anxiety for the less athletic students, who are often mocked by the best students for their performance.

Some found themselves suspended in mid-air, unable to get above the pull-up bar. "Doing that pull-up in front of everyone was the worst. I never managed it, I just stood there, taking the jokes," Ivory Burnett, a 41-year-old writer, painfully recalled to the New York Times. She was far from alone, and often the elite were praised while some of those who couldn't do it simply became disgusted with the sport in general.

It was this kind of testimony that convinced Barack Obama to replace this program in 2012 with the "Presidential Youth Fitness Program." Gone were the time-tested tests, where only performance was graded. Instead, classes on nutrition, the benefits of exercise, and the appreciation of progress over time were introduced. Until this strong comeback, announced Thursday by the White House.

"We must ensure that our children have the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed for a lifetime of physical activity and fitness," warned Jacqueline Goodway in an open letter to the government. The expert in children's motor development believes that the return of judging solely on performance is not good for the personal development of the relationship with sport.

She's not alone. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, also a child development researcher, rejects this cult of performance among adolescents. "We don't want children who succeed and others who fail. That would be terrible," she warns. Instead, she would favor the desire to surpass one's own records over time, rather than competition among adolescents at a given moment.

84%

This is the proportion of adolescents worldwide who are "physically inactive," according to a 2024 WHO report.

Despite everything, researchers are seeing the need to get young people back into sport. A report from the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out that in 2024, more than four out of five adolescents (84%) worldwide were "physically inactive" . This is a 4-point jump compared to a similar study in 2019, demonstrating the disastrous impacts of Covid on a sedentary lifestyle. Several studies have already pointed out that the pandemic has amplified screen use and, as a result, reduced sporting activity. The situation is even more serious in the United States, where the obesity rate exceeds 20% among children aged 2 to 19.