Presidential fitness test

Speaking of crazy things in US PE classes, if you learned to Square Dance, it was because Henry Ford was a racist who was afraid of Jazz.

That might be why it was added to the curriculum at first, but that's certainly not why it stayed, nor why we did it at my school. It's a pretty fun activity too, so a good use of that PE time.
- Man. We hated square dancing time in PE.
There’s usually a dance section included in PE instruction, mostly to break up hard physical activity snd allow kids to have fun. The type of dancing depends on the school and the state, we did salsa dancing in Florida.
- “Allow the kids to have fun”
  
  Should have told that to my PE teacher in grade school. I’ve never been good at dancing, and I got pulled aside multiple times in front of the class because I just couldn’t follow some of the dances we were supposed to do. These weren’t for competitions or anything, just as an activity.
  
  That’s when I learned that not all bullies are children.
- We waltzed in german Catholic land, but we also square danced because midwest
- You're younger than I am. For my generation, it was all square dancing.
I never had dancing in PE in any grade. Can’t decide if that sucks or not. Maybe I’d have better coordination now. We did get roller skating week though.
We did square dancing, but I'm from Texas, so our families joined the hoedown. I was so proud of my bolo, fond memories.

And I don't think it was part of the curriculum, I think they were just throwing a party for graduation or something. It's been years, and this was when I was little, in elementary school.

I still have my presidential physical fitness award. I'm old, mine is signed by Nixon. It's a very official looking certificate with a patch that I put under the glass in the frame. Back when I used to hang my work awards on my office wall, I used to have that one in with them. Most people didn't ever notice, but every once in a while someone would be looking at them and I could always see the exact moment they realized what it was.

Mine's signed by Clinton.
- More admirable but not as funny
Is that the same flex as the "I ate a grilled-cheese in Woolworth's" badge of honour?
- I don't think I know the reference, but it sounds equivalent.

Did you know all of those sit and reach boxes were manufactured by Halliburton? Follow the money…

I remember doing the presidential fitness tests; but my school didn't have any equipment for it... My school didn't even fund a rich asshole?! We just did it for funsies?!
- Follow the funsies…
How much could a box cost? $10k?
Man, I had to go check it just in case.
- Was it Lockheed Martin?
- Did you find the proof? I gave it a half-effort on mobile and didn't succeed....
- And?
In Civil Air Patrol they just screwed a ruler into a box.
We were poor rural Canadians. Our sit-and-reach used a wooden ruler and a blocky wood scrap.

I had to impress Bill Clinton. I failed to do so, so he came to my house to call me a loser.

Obama wasn’t mad, just disappointed that I was out of shape
That's why you had to do the sprints. To be ready to escape Bill Clinton when he appears.

They tried to warn you.

Before going to the comments section, I was like "wtf is this post?"

After reading a few comments, I'm fully bewildered. What the fuck is up with your crazy country?

It's a fitness test for students so the government can track public health metrics. That Lemmy has a problem with it says a lot about Lemmy and nothing about America being "crazy."

That's unrelated.
We don't know either. It's just fucked and nobody cares.

What does this mean?

In the US, there was a thing called the "Presidential Fitness Test" that kids had to do in P.E. (not sure if it's still a thing).
- What does this mean?
- I was born in 1999 and I'm pretty sure that I never had to do this.
- I sure as fuck, hope it is. Could you imagine kids today doing it and thinking, "Wait, Fat Cheeto and Sleepy Joe did this? No fucking way."
The presidential fitness test is something us kids had to do every year. It was basically doing a bunch of different exercises, and if you did good enough you got a certificate.

Things like sit ups, push ups, chin ups, vertical jump, running a mile, etc. Based on your height and weight there was an expected level you were supposed to achieve.
- I believe it. I guess I was hanging out with the metal heads, stoners, and hacky sack kids during gym. That's why I got a D. And not the gym teacher's D... That was reserved for the underage girls that used to play with his leg hair. Right there in the bleachers of a New Hampshire school.
  
  (Actual true story... Girls used to play with his leg hair... This was middle school or 9th grade. Larry A. ...I'm looking at you.)
  
  Knowing my town, I'm surprised that guy stayed athletic director and not a paraplegic. He must have paid someone off. 70k to be a shit-town gym director? Riiiiight........
  
  Where I grew up school was for chumps.
  
  The village makes the villains.
If you can't bend over and touch your toes, you can't be President.

Is this some sort of PE meme that I'm too Marching Band to understand?

Marching in the elements, while carrying an instrument, while playing, god forbid you have a wind instrument. That's gotta be more physically gruelling than a PE class catering to the lowest common denominator.
- Marching band was considered a varsity sport at my high school. Because if the golf team are considered athletes, so am I.

This very far predates George w Bush.

This predates George HW Bush

Reagan kid here, can confirm
- Yeah it was Eisenhower. He was concerned our youth would be less fit than Europeans
- Was Reagan impressed?

I did it to impress George Bush Sr. I'm not sure he cares either.

Same reason W wanted to be president and same result
- Haha!

Gotta make sure the youth can be good little soldiers if needed

This is 100% fact. Eisenhower made PE a universal part of education to increase overall fitness in the case of war and conscription.
- I think it was worse than that. It was to test for and increase capability for military life, but the exercises themselves are not a good way to keep a general healthy body so it actually caused physical health to decline in the US.
Fuck yeah!

All those who vote to make this test required for all presidential candidates say aye..

Being fit to be drafted is for the little people. Presidential candidates can just get out of it by claiming to have bone spurs.

Ours had a “Which president would you impress?” scale.
Nobody even reached Calvin Coolidge.

Was Teddy Roosevelt the highest president on the list?

The pain. THE PAIN.

Steady! I warn you not to try jerking away. I am old, but my hand can drive this needle into your neck before you can escape me.
- Does Elmo have choice to not?
- Coach, please let me out of the closet. I want to go home.
- Fear is the mind-killer.

They had to make sure middle schoolers would be ready to fight a war at a moments notice

I topped my school's record score on those tests. I haven't been able to afford to go to the dentist in more than 20 years. I wish they would have focused on making our society sustainable instead.

I had to do it to impress Bill Clinton. Side note, he gave me the worst handshake I've ever had in my life, just competely limp, dead fish style. So I don't give a shit if he was impressed with how many crunches I could do.

The FitnessGram™ Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly, but gets faster each minute after you hear this signal. [beep] A single lap should be completed each time you hear this sound. [ding] Remember to run in a straight line, and run as long as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap before the sound, your test is over. The test will begin on the word start. On your mark, get ready, start.