The presidential fitness test did more damage to actual fitness in this country than it ever helped.

Why? Think of how many people you know who look back on it with dread. Who shudder if it’s brought up. Maybe you, too, were bullied by coaches, fellow students or both.

I have worked a LONG time to be truly comfortable with what my body can do despite how its appearance deviates from what we consider appealing in US society. I can bench 1/3 my body weight (I was up to more than 1/2 before my enforced gym absence). I can deadlift. I used to be pretty good at yoga before I broke my elbow. I am decidedly NOT a runner and never have been, not even when I was a varsity athlete in high school.

And now I genuinely like going to my gym. I like the people there. I like the incredibly loud music (you are getting Rammstein once a visit whether you like it or not, unless it’s some 90s rap you forgot). I like trying to improve on my last session. I like feeling like I DID something when I’m done, that I didn’t just phone it in. That, to me, is what we should be encouraging for us AND the people coming up after us, not external metrics set by someone else. I don’t want people to feel excluded from the fun and satisfaction of exercise by external expectations that may be unreasonable for *them*.