After years of the left decrying working out and fitness culture as “problematic” and even “white supremacist,” President Donald Trump is putting exercise front and center as part of his broader pledge to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA). While policies addressing serious concerns in the food and pharmaceutical industries have received plenty of attention, equally important are the Trump administration’s efforts to promote regular exercise, particularly among young people.
The United States is currently in the grip of a dire obesity epidemic that has led to skyrocketing rates of arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, depression, and a host of other ailments. As of last November, nearly three-quarters of American adults were overweight or obese – a nearly 50 percent increase since 1990.
This crisis is particularly pronounced among children. Currently, about 20 percent of kids are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another 10 percent or so are overweight, meaning about 1 in 3 American kids today have weight issues.
Unsurprisingly, about half of children and teens do not exercise regularly, defined as 20 minutes of physical activity at least four times per week. While other societal factors like a dramatic increase in screen time contribute to this trend, the complete collapse of robust physical education in most American public schools also means many children today don’t receive foundational knowledge about exercise that could help them live healthier lives.
But the Trump administration is looking to change that – both through policy and by leading by example.
In a development that has garnered plenty of buzz, Trump announced on July 31 a return of the Presidential Fitness Test while flanked by champion golfers and football players.
As the White House noted in a news release, the test “is a time-honored tradition that has inspired millions of American children to strive for their best performance — physically, mentally, and civically — and served as the gold standard for youth physical fitness across the country for generations.”
The Presidential Fitness Test was created in 1966 under President Lyndon B. Johnson following President Eisenhower’s earlier President’s Council on Youth Fitness amid Cold War fears that American children were less physically fit than their European counterparts. Original standards included timed sit-ups, a 50-yard dash, pull-ups (for boys) or a flexed-arm hang (for girls), a shuttle run, and a one-mile run. Under President Obama, however, the test was changed to a “holistic approach” that eliminated any competitive or standards-driven element.
Trump’s revamped version of the test will once again establish baseline standards for all able-bodied American children to meet.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also recently announced a new challenge to encourage all of America to get in shape. Dubbing it the “Pete and Bobby Challenge,” the two Cabinet secretaries challenged Americans to do 50 pull-ups and 100 push-ups in under 10 minutes.
And it wasn’t just talk – both the 45-year-old Hegseth and the 71-year-old Kennedy hit the weight room to complete the challenge, and posted the video to social media, where it instantly went viral.
“It was President Trump who inspired us to do this,” Secretary Kennedy said. “This is the beginning of our tour, challenging Americans to get back in shape, eat better, but also, you need to get out and exercise.”
50 pull-ups and 100 push-ups in 10 minutes is no small task. A 2021 survey found that most Americans struggle to do just five push-ups. But as Hegseth and Kennedy point out, setting a high bar is precisely the point. Americans who can’t complete the challenge should be encouraged to get in better shape in order to meet that goal.
Hegseth also highlighted a clear national security reason to encourage physical fitness – the country needs fit servicemembers to defend our country. Two-thirds of the military is reportedly overweight. About one-third of young Americans are so obese that they would require a waiver to join the military. This is a particularly pressing issue as the military has struggled with its recruitment goals for years.
“Make America Healthy Again. Fit, not fat,” Hegseth said. “We’re going to have a war-fighting force, young men and women who are prepared to defend the nation. We’re doing it as a team.”
Of course, these efforts to encourage Americans to exercise have been met with predictable hysteria from an establishment media whose knee-jerk reaction is to declare every Trump administration initiative to be “dangerous” and “racist.”
The New York Times, in a line that could’ve been straight out of The Babylon Bee, worried that “high-volume calisthenic couplets… may not be for everyone.” The Washington Post, meanwhile, declared that kids “hated” the test and that “researchers aren’t sure about it either.” Gizmodo accused Trump of reviving the test to “torment a new generation of kids.”
Natalia Petrzela, a Professor of History at The New School in New York City, also called the return of the Presidential Fitness Test “problematic” and “outdated.” Petrzela has notably previously said that the history of running could be racist because “people of color” were allegedly viewed suspiciously for jogging, and her most recent book is titled, Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America’s Exercise Obsession.
“Physical fitness has always been central to the far right,” Professor Cynthia Miller-Idriss wrote in another piece for MSNBC, immediately before discussing how Nazi leader Adolf Hitler promoted boxing. “The intersection of extremism and fitness leans into a shared obsession with the male body, training, masculinity, testosterone, strength, and competition,” she laments.
Before Trump, few people on the left or the right viewed exercise as an inherently political act. As Jack Butler succinctly explains for National Review, “Many on the left take care of themselves, and many on the right do not.” That is as true today as it was prior to 2016.
The Trump administration’s push to bring back fitness isn’t about politics – it’s about saving a generation from decline. By making America fit again, Trump and his cabinet are challenging the country to build strength, discipline, and health as the foundation for national renewal.
Matt Lamb is a contributor for AMAC Newsline and an associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.
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