In yet another example of Gov. Sarah Sanders copying Donald Trump’s national policies at the state level, Arkansas will have its own version of the Presidential Fitness Test, which Trump revived last year as part of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
Sanders announced the “#RazorbackReady2026 challenge,” described as “a statewide initiative to promote the Presidential Fitness Test,” in a press release Monday.
“President Trump is Making America Healthy Again and Arkansas is answering the call,” Sanders’ press release said. The stretch required to imagine Trump as a fitness guru has us all limbered up and ready for a sit-and-reach.
Schools can compete in Sanders’ challenge through May 22 by posting to social media a short video of their students completing the fitness test with the hashtag #RazorbackReady2026. The winning school will get a visit from John Calipari, head basketball coach at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
The winner will be announced “later this summer” and “entries will be judged on components including creativity, social media engagement and student participation,” according to the release.
The reinstated Presidential Fitness Test consists of a 1-mile run; one minute of sit-ups; push-ups or pull-ups; a shuttle run; and a sit-and-reach test. Students who score above the 85th percentile nationally in those activities may qualify for the Presidential Physical Fitness Award.
The test was first established by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 and discontinued by Barack Obama in 2013, who replaced it with the less competitive Presidential Youth Fitness Program.
Trump — who has been reported as calling exercising misguided because he believes people are born with a finite amount of energy, like a battery — re-established the fitness test with a July 2025 executive order, announcing that it would be administered by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with the support of the Department of Education.
Sanders followed suit, signing an executive order of her own in October 2025 establishing the Governor’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, mirroring the Presidential Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, which Trump revived with his executive order. Former WWE wrestler Paul “Triple H” Levesque serves as vice chair of Trump’s council, and several sports executives as well as current and former professional athletes are members, including Wayne Gretzky.
