WATCH: Mike Tyson reveals why he is backing the 'Congressional Fitness Challenge'

Fox News

08-04-2025

FIRST ON FOX: Schools around the country could soon be able to opt into the "Congressional Fitness Challenge," including legendary boxer Mike Tyson's own academy.
House Concurrent Resolution 20, introduced by Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., would create a voluntary program that would allow students who successfully complete the challenge to receive a signed certificate from the speaker of the House, president pro tempore of the Senate, and the student's senator and congressman.
"Listen, because we need to be in shape, man," Tyson told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"We can't physically get into an army because we're out of shape. And that's embarrassing. So it comes across we're the most heavy, heaviest people in the planet. We're the fattest people in world, Americans," he continued. Specifically, Tyson noted 77% of Americans aged 17 to 24 would need a wavier in order to serve in the military, according to the Department of Defense.
"It's just mental. It's just a shame, but it can be helped," Tyson said of the issue.
It would apply to students in K-12 public and private schools, groups that provide the testing to home schoolers, and members of Congress who hold a "community-based event" for the challenge, the current text states.
According to the resolution, the benchmarks will be inspired by "historical" lines for the Presidential Physical Fitness Test, which was popularized under the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations in the 1960s.
"So we got to make sure that they're physically fit. Now is the perfect time to be instituting this once again, because we understand President Trump through his Cabinet picks and through what his campaign promises have been with the America First agenda, where he wants to make America healthy again," Hamadeh said.
The test itself would entail a mile-long run or walk, pull-ups or a flexed arm hang, curl-ups, sit-ups, shuttle runs, and sit-and-reach. Those who perform well would be divided into gold, silver, and bronze levels. The gold level would be in the top 85th percentile, silver would cover the top 75th percentile, and bronze would be in the top 50th percentile, the legislation states.
Tyson added that actions like this give him hope for the future.
"I think this is going to improve, and people are going to get better, and people want to get healthier. I just believe that," he said.
Tyson is at the helm of Tyson Transformational Technologies Academy, a private school in Arizona that is part of the My Life My Power International Preparatory Academy, which has campuses in Florida and West Virginia as well. The academies plan on taking up the challenge.
"I believe in this country and I believe we're going to get well and we're going to be in good condition. And we're gonna be able to go into the army and defend our country," Tyson said.
Other athletes have come out in support of the resolution, including former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre and former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown.
"Love this! So important for our Youth," Brown posted to X.
"As a former pro athlete, one of us knows first-hand the doors that physical fitness can open— confidence, leadership, the drive to succeed. As a Member of Congress and former US Army Captain and Intelligence Officer, the other sees the broader picture – healthier kids mean a healthier, more prosperous America," Favre and Hamadeh co-wrote in an op-ed for OutKick in March.
The resolution is co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Tony Wied and Martin Stutzman.
"Right now, people are really focused on what foods have been going into their bodies and how come the obesity rate has tripled," Hamadeh said. "And it's a real problem in terms of a national security perspective. So the government has an invested interest in this. but also the American people do it themselves as well."