Remember the Presidential Fitness Test from elementary school? If you’re reading this newsletter, the answer is most likely, yes. Evidently the program was replaced in 2013, but my daughter’s PE curriculum still includes a nearly identical version, so it’s very much a part of my life again.
Since I didn’t actually enjoy exercise of any form until my mid 30’s (thank you, Peloton), those fitness tests were somewhere between annoying and dreadful. I recall sit-and-reach being kinda fun, but I didn’t like the mile run, and I downright hated the pull-ups. Even when we got to do the remedial version, the “flexed-arm-hang,” I could never, ever seem to do it. I wasn’t alone. I’m pretty sure that...