The Origins of the Presidential Fitness Test

It was born out of Cold War fears of an overweight and lethargic population. This caused distress to the students who watched in horror. And it persisted for generations, although educators were unclear at best about its benefits.

It was a physical fitness test for the president (or presidents). For decades, students have taken (or have taken, depending on how you look at it) this test, proving their physical fitness through tests like running, sit-ups, pull-ups, and more.

And then it’s gone.

The Presidential Fitness Test, like many things in modern American life, was born out of national defense concerns.

The U.S. military intensified its nutritional research before and after World War II, and this was in no small part influenced by the decade before World War II. The Great Depression led to widespread hunger.Just before the war, it was Estimation One-third of draft refusals were related to malnutrition.

But by the 1950s, other problems began to arise. The Cold War was in full swing, and with the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the United States was losing the space race. ” There was a concern.missile gapAnd there were also concerns about the fitness gap, thanks to the fact that Americans have a standard of living that is unmatched in the world.

In 1955, Jack Kelly, Olympic rower and construction millionaire (and father of actress Grace Kelly, future Princess of Monaco). bring up This troubling research caught the attention of Pennsylvania Sen. James Duff, who shared it with President Dwight Eisenhower. Soon, the president, Sen. Kerry, and more than 20 other sports luminaries gathered at a White House luncheon to hear directly about the study from co-author Hans Kraus, a physician and associate professor at New York University. heard. , Bonnie Pruden, director and owner of Physical Fitness Institute in White Plains, New York.

Scientists have revealed that nearly 58 percent of young Americans failed at least one of six athletic performance tests administered, including sit-ups and whether they can touch their toes. . And if that’s not worrying enough, only 8.7 percent of European children do. At least he failed one test.

In the August 1955 issue, a new magazine was published with the following names: sports illustrated called it “a report that shocked the president,” and quoted Kraus. “We are paying the price for progress…Older generations were tougher because they had to have adequate physical activity in their regular lifestyle. We got rid of cars and television. We don’t want to change our standard of living because of this. But we have to make sure that we compensate for this loss of physical activity. In other words, let’s reduce the burden of benefits.”

Eisenhower took action in 1956 and signed the agreement. presidential order Establishes the President’s Council on Youth Fitness, chaired by Vice President Richard Nixon.The following year, a conference was held held Research was conducted at the U.S. Military Academy (Eisenhower’s alma mater) to develop the plan, and the first youth physical fitness test standards were published in 1958. yard dash, 600 yards running/walkingpull-ups, standing long jumps, sit-ups, and softball throwing (which supposedly demonstrated the same skill set as throwing a grenade).

Eisenhower’s tenure in the White House ended in 1961. Vice President Nixon lost the 1960 presidential election to Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy. Kennedy showed a marked change from his predecessor. Eisenhower was old enough to follow his father (who was also Nixon’s father) and did very well after founding the Council. a bit To actually do it. The new president’s own energetic activities (contrary to expectations) serious health problems(back pain, colon problems, Addison’s disease, etc.) inspired me to encourage others to stay active and healthy.

Kennedy believed that fitness was not just a problem for young people.I have written Published in the December 26, 1960 issue sports illustrated “Human activity, the labor of the human body, is rapidly being eliminated from working life.”repeat some of the same points raised by His predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt, said in an 1899 speech:intense life(He even quoted directly) Kennedy said, “In a very real and direct sense, our increasing softness, our increasing lack of physical strength, is a threat to our security.” …Such softness on the part of individual peoples sap and destroy the vitality of the nation.” In 1962, Kennedy, under one of President Roosevelt’s executive orders, ordered U.S. Marine Corps officers to work for 20 hours in three days. His council developed it into a national fitness campaign and gave it great publicity. (Kennedy’s brother, lawyer) General Robert F. performed in his oxford). Kennedy also changed the name of the council to the President’s Physical Fitness Council.

The Kennedy Council developed a curriculum to improve physical fitness and encouraged participation. Lyndon Johnson, who became president after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 and was elected to a full term in 1964, conducted another presidential fitness test in 1965. The results were significantly better than his previous decade. In 1965, he implemented the President’s Physical Fitness Award, given to students who: scored She scored above the 85th percentile on a series of physical fitness tests similar to the 1958 test (by that point, bent-arm pull-ups had been replaced by a modified version of the women’s pull-up; apparently (This is because a more reliable score was obtained). She also changed the name of her council again, this time to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. The presidential physical fitness test was complete but final.

As soon as the Presidential Fitness Test was introduced, and for generations thereafter, the Presidential Fitness Test was the gold standard. be traumatized. “For a kid who was out of shape, the worst part of the fitness test wasn’t the actual exercise,” Roger Sherman wrote in SBNation. “It was the fact that everyone in the class was watching you trying to exercise and seeing how bad you were at it…many of us felt humiliated.”

Even physical education teachers recognized that the effects of testing were offset by the fear-inducing shaming of students. “We knew who was going to finish, but we just embarrassed them,” said physical education teacher Joanna Farber. I remembered “We were pointing out their weaknesses.”

This test was revised again in 1976. Softball throwing was abolished (the theory was that throwing was a test of skill, not fitness), and sit-ups were changed from extended-leg sit-ups to timed sit-ups with bent legs. Ta. ; Longer runs have also been added as an option. Another study was conducted 10 years later and additional changes were made to the test (including the addition of the dreaded sit-and-reach), but nothing has been done since then. In fact, if there’s anything the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports has since become known for, it’s that it was chaired by such luminaries as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Florence Griffith Joyner, and Lynne Swann. Thing.

In 2012, the Presidential Physical Fitness Test was replaced by the Presidential Youth Fitness Program as part of “Let’s Move!” The initiative was aimed at a more holistic approach to teaching children lessons about keeping them physically active and ensuring they make good choices when it comes to health, activity, and nutrition. Although youth fitness programs include assessments, the skills and parameters tested vary widely.

“The mindset has completely changed,” Farber told NPR. “Now you want to get into a healthy fit zone instead of being the person who can throw a softball the farthest.”

What began as a youth fitness test has evolved in both skill and name since its creation in 1958. Originally, this test was based on the work of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (AAHPER; later he AAHPER). d change association to allianceand add more later dance and becomes AAHPERD). In the mid-1980s, the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (later President’s Council on Physical Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, abbreviated as PCPFS and PCPFSN) took the lead;Other school fitness programs also emerged during this era, but here’s how the skills included in the more government-sponsored tests have changed over the years.

Table source: AAHPER Youth Fitness Test Manual, 1958. “The emblem that motivates the president to achieve extraordinary physical strength.” Durham Sun, 1966. AAPHER Youth Fitness Test Manual, 1976 [PDF]; Presidential Physical Fitness Award Program featuring presidential challenges;Instructor’s Guide, 1986 [PDF]; Get fit! How to stay in shape to meet the presidential challenge. Handbook for youth aged 6 to 17, 1997 [PDF]; “State plans to evaluate new test as measure of physical fitness.” hartford coolant1997

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