The President's Physical Fitness Test

The shuttle run! The flexed arm hang! The v-sit reach! These terms are seared into the memories of an entire generation of American schoolchildren. But did the President's Physical Fitness Test actually make us fitter? (Spoiler: lol no)

Thanks to Ashley Smith for editing assistance and Doctor Dreamchip for our lovely theme song!

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Links!

• The Report That Shocked The President
• JFK’s Sports Illustrated article, “The Soft American”
• 1958–2008: 50 Years of Youth Fitness Tests in the United States
• The President's Council on Physical Fitness and the Systematisation of Children's Play in America
• Why is there so little critical physical education scholarship in the United States? The case of Fitnessgram
• The Modern Era: Blossoming of the Olympic Movement and the Conquest of Acute Disease
• The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports: The First 50 Years
• Do Fitness Test Performances Predict Students’ Attitudes And Emotions Toward Physical Education?

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