🔴 Website 👉 https://u-s-news.com/
Telegram 👉 https://t.me/usnewscom_channel
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched the “Pete & Bobby Challenge,” a nationwide push to make Americans fit again.
The challenge included 100 push-ups and 50 pull-ups.
“You try to get under five minutes,” RFK Jr. said.
“It was President Trump who inspired us to do this. This is the beginning of our tour, challenging Americans to get back in shape,” he continued.
RFK Jr. and Hegseth invited Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to complete the challenge.
“Make America healthy again. Fit not fat. We’re going to have a war fighting force with young men and women who are prepared to defend the nation,” Hegseth said.
Check it out:
I teamed up with @SecDef Hegseth for the “Pete & Bobby Challenge” — 50 pull-ups, 100 push-ups. This is the start of a nationwide push to get Americans fit again. We’re calling on our friend @SecDuffy to take the challenge. pic.twitter.com/TTlv9VvkCe
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) August 19, 2025
The U.S. Department of Defense wrote:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services, joined service members from five military branches and Defense Department civilians, Aug. 13 to participate in a first-of-its-kind “fitness check.”
The event, held in the Pentagon Athletic Center, featured six, five-person teams representing the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Marine Corps and DOD. Each team participated in a competition where individuals had to complete 50 pullups and 100 pushups in 10 minutes or less.
“We’re going to have a little fun today — a little competition between departments — and I appreciate you taking part,” Hegseth told the joint force contestants at the event’s outset.
He explained to the group that the fitness check was part of an overall promotion by DOD to highlight the importance of physical fitness throughout the chain of command.
“We’ve talked about [how] we’re going to be fit, not fat; we’ve talked about how we’re going to be ready — it’s a real thing,” Hegseth told the group, adding that it matters what service members look like, how they carry themselves and whether or not they are capable of doing what the job requires of them on a physical level.
In his Jan. 25, 2025, message to the force, Hegseth made it clear that having high standards — including high fitness standards — is one of his top priorities that contribute to restoring the warrior ethos.
In addition to physical fitness, Hegseth said physical health is also a key ingredient to having a successful fighting force, which is why DOD is working with Kennedy and HHS to identify pilot programs to improve the quality of food that troops are consuming.
“Healthy leadership in action! Strength & resilience are exactly what we need to Make America Healthy Again. I might have to give the ‘Pete & Bobby Challenge’ a try,” NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya commented.
Healthy leadership in action! 💪
Strength & resilience are exactly what we need to Make America Healthy Again.
I might have to give the “Pete & Bobby Challenge” a try 😉 https://t.co/BxpsUlEBr3
— Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD (@NIHDirector_Jay) August 19, 2025
“Great idea—we’re all in at @CMSGov! Healthy lifestyles could save our country a lot of money, and more importantly it feels a lot better than the alternative,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz said.
Oz posted a video of himself doing pull-ups.
Great idea—we’re all in at @CMSGov! Healthy lifestyles could save our country a lot of money, and more importantly it feels a lot better than the alternative. https://t.co/uaVOyt1lkY pic.twitter.com/j1ZRC0psIl
— DrOzCMS (@DrOzCMS) August 19, 2025
The Independent shared other individuals invited to do the challenge:
Kennedy then challenged Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy while Hegseth challenged Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine and his former Fox News colleague Will Cain to participate in the fitness test.
“We hope Americans will take this challenge and you’ll pass it along so that we’re ready to be fit the way we need to be healthy and to have a healthy fighting force,” Hegseth said.
The fitness challenge comes amid the Trump administration’s push to “Make America Healthy Again.” Last month, the president signed an executive order to revive the Presidential Fitness Test schoolchildren.
The president “wants to ensure America’s future generations are strong, healthy, and successful,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement last month.