"Army Strong" is more than just a tagline — for soldiers, it’s a requirement for duty. The U.S. Army requires that all active-duty soldiers prove their physical ...

The changes to Army fitness testing have been constant and confusing, even to soldiers, over the past decade. The first ...

In July of 2025, President Donald Trump reinstated the Presidential Physical Fitness Test,[1] a standardized evaluation of fitness for American school-age children. It includes a one-mile run, ...

The Army’s physical fitness test has remained unchanged for some 40 years: two minutes to do as many push-ups as possible, then two minutes for sit-ups, then a two mile run. Recruits need a certain ...

I was on my fourth and final lap around the track during the mile run for my fifth-grade Presidential Fitness Test when it happened. My stomach gurgled, I stopped abruptly, and I bent over and heaved.

Air Force basic and technical trainees no longer have any alternative exercises available in the service’s fitness test, as only the three traditional events are now being used in the assessment for ...

While the initial physical assessment is a crucial entry-point event, it hardly scratches the surface of what is necessary for success as an active-duty member of the U.S. military. Preparing for a ...