![]() ![]() ![]() Maybe that’s because I’ve fallen into a common fitness trap: playing to my strengths while avoiding my weaknesses.īottom line, the Presidential Fitness Test isn’t a foolproof measure of fitness (if I turned in these scores as a teenager, I wouldn’t get the award) but it can be a fun way to challenge yourself and see where there’s room for improvement. I’ve always had decent upper-body strength, and over the last few years, I’ve worked to develop good flexibility.īut running speed and explosiveness were never my strong suits and haven’t been training priorities, so those results are predictably subpar. One-mile run: 8:30 (far below 50th percentile)Īs much as I hate to admit it, these scores are fairly accurate reflections of my athletic strengths and weaknesses.30-foot shuttle run: 9.6 seconds (just below 50th percentile).Sit-ups: 53 in one minute (just below 85th percentile).V-sit-and-reach: 7.25″ (over 85th percentile).I compared my results against the standards for 17-year-old boys on the chart found here. That’s why, on a recent Sunday morning, I put on my sweats and headed to the track to put my fitness-obsessed 45-year-old body to the test (again). Nowadays, the Presidential Fitness Test has been replaced with comprehensive health and fitness programs like Let’s Move and, more recently, the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which touts itself as “ more than a test.”īut for a fitness nerd like me, the allure of those original, uncompromising fitness standards still looms large. If memory serves, I bested over 90 percent of the country’s 10-year-old population with my 60-second score on the flexed-arm hang. I was middling at dodgeball and mediocre at freeze tag, but boy, could I nail those Presidentials. I even trained for it, banging out sit-ups and shuttle runs in the backyard. ![]() In elementary school, I swallowed the whole thing hook, line, and sinker. Her students’ average pass rate went from 50 to 90 percent - a win for the future psychological well-being of kids everywhere. In other words, it was no longer about identifying exceptional performers, but about improving the health of the entire class. “Instead of being pitted against each other, kids were tested to see if they fell within a healthy standard in each component,” Franzoni says. Anyone below the 50th percentile “would do best in French Club.” Ouch.īut in 1987, the test changed. “We were taught to teach to those who got into the or above because they were the ones going on the athletic teams,” Franzoni said. teacher who administered those tests at my elementary-school back in the ’70s and ’80s. Through the magic of the Internet, I tracked down Debby Franzoni, the P.E. Because you were pitted against other kids in your age group nationwide, success depended not just on being fit, but on being fit- ter than other students. Now that I’m a fitness pro, however, I’ve come to recognize the Presidential Fitness Test as essentially flawed. The good thing about this test - and any fitness test - is that it gives you something to track and improve on. ![]()
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