If you're as old as me, you may remember the President's Council on Physical Fitness. The program, a project of President John F. Kennedy, established benchmarks for the physical fitness of high school students nationwide. If you could get hit their standards, you would receive a medal. Few did. Why? Because it was difficult.

This video shows you a typical workout for a phys ed class in California. Unless you're doing CrossFit, you're not matching what these kids could do.

“The program, in sum, not only builds physical fitness, but good Americans.”

That’s how Look magazine summarized the physical education program of La Sierra High School (Carmichael, CA) in January 1962 [PDF]. If you’re wondering how a gym class got a major spread in a national publication—as well as an endorsement from President John F. Kennedy—take a look at this.

Students moved through the program based on a color scale: white shorts were for rookies, while red, blue, purple, and gold signaled serious ability. White shorts had to do a minimum of six pull-ups. Today, a Marine can pass a physical doing only three. Most boys, Orchard says, got to at least red. Getting to blue was a big deal; gold athletes were “crazy impressive.” Those who wanted a rare Navy Blue rank had to do 34 pull-ups and carry someone on their back for five miles. Only 19 students in the history of the school ever earned one.

La Sierra High School students were in such great shape at the height of the program, that their standards for physical fitness were more difficult than those of the Naval Academy.

Some participants in the program want to begin reinstating those standards into today's schools, so they are working on a documentary film about the project, hoping to inspire a national discussion on physical fitness.

They have an IndieGoGo page to fund the film, and hopefully achieve that goal.

 

 

 

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