Canada Fitness

I went looking for information about the Canada Fitness program today, and I couldn’t find anything. Perhaps it’s dead?

During my elementary school years, each spring we were forced to engage in a set of fitness tests — chin-ups and running figured prominently — and based on our individual results, we were awarded either a bronze, silver, gold or the “Award of Excellence.” Or, if you were like me, you received none of the above and instead were “awarded” a small plastic “participation pin.”

Although it’s hard not to laud any program that endeavoured to make us all more fit, I can’t think of any one effort in my time inside the walls of formal education that did more to turn me off physical activity.

Presumably the theory went that we down in the dregs of the participation pin ghetto were supposed to strive to better ourselves, with hopes that one day we could become bronze, silver, gold, or “excellent.”

In practice, we all thought the program silly and perhaps mean-spirited, for it seemed to rate natural abilities more than anything else. And, heck, we couldn’t do anything about that. Not quite eugenics. But not as far off as I’d like, either.

Comments

JENNIFER's picture
JENNIFER on September 24, 2006 - 15:36 Permalink

I was at the gym today trying to a pushup and remembered how in year 7 I was able to do the 60 seconds on the flexed arm hang to get my Award of Excellence. Came across this site today. Often thing the same testing should be brought back. Having fitness goals never hurt me and some kids today could sure benefit from goals. What ever happened to a bit of competive spirit?

Rob's picture
Rob on November 16, 2006 - 20:09 Permalink

I remember the CFT program well, or at least, the late 70s-early 80s version of it. Long before computers and affordable home video game systems, all we DID was spend every minute we possibly could OUTSIDE, running around and doing STUFF. Important stuff! We walked/ran/biked EVERYWHERE. Going to the arcade? It’s only about 20 blocks thataway. Going to the quarry/sandpit to do bike jumps? Only a few miles…(don’t even get me started on how horror stricken parents of today would be if their kids wanted to go to an old quarry sandpit to jump their bikes off 15 foot dunes/sandpiles!) So we were in pretty good shape.

I did ok at the running/sprint tests, pretty good at the situp/pushup tests, but where I kicked serious butt was the flexed arm hang. I dunno how I did it, but I was up there for 23min18sec. Whether it was a locked joint thing, or a zen thing (I do remember just closing my eyes and breathing smoothly/rhythmically), I hung there for nearly half an hour while a host of other kids hung, dropped and cried. Then they made me get down because it was time for lunch.

I do remember being sore as hell the next couple days, though. Our daily recess routine of playing “G-Force — Battle of the Planets” (I was always Keyop!) was torture.

I look at my sister’s kids, especially my 10yr old niece/goddaughter who’s put on about 30 pounds in the last year, and firmly believe that we need to bring back the CFT program! We need to de-pudge our children!

Erin's picture
Erin on January 7, 2007 - 20:21 Permalink

I can’t believe there are so many of us that remember the CFT….now I am a 30 year old homeschooling mom and I would love to try it with my kids. I LOVED the shuttle run and hated HATED the flexed arm hang. Can anyone find this program? Has it been completed deleted like some covert operations file? It would be such a laugh to try it again with friends to see how out of shape we are in comparison with our 10 year old selves. If anyone finds it, please email me. I would love to see the return of some sort of physical activity for children that requires more fortitude than they are used to exerting on video games and movies. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right?

Fred Frederick's picture
Fred Frederick on January 16, 2007 - 00:49 Permalink

So the comments here are clearly in two categories; one — people who think the awards were barbaric, and two — those who realize they were just a way of assessing fitness. Obviously the first group is now ruling Canada! I recently saw the noted Corner Gas episode and became aware of activ8, the “replacement ” for the Awards, which “celebrates” “ability” and “improvement”. Apparently now a grossly obese Canadian who improves their 10 yard walk time from 30 seconds to 29 is worthy of an award??? Give me an f’n break!

Rebecca's picture
Rebecca on January 19, 2007 - 05:55 Permalink

My husband and I are transplanted Canucks living in NJ. We just watched the episode of Corner Gas (got the DVDs — LOVE THEM!!) that was mentioned above about the Canada Fitness Tests. Too funny!!! I had forgotten about those brutal tests too. I absolutely hated the endurance run — it killed me every year. I was never a great athlete — I think my best was a silver — and usually I got bronze or the dreaded participation award. BUT — I do think it was a good idea and if the stupid Phys Ed. teachers would have actually had the kids train for it, it wouldn’t have been so bad. But take a kid that never runs any distance and tell him to run a mile?? Fugetaboudit. It was brutal. And yes, cruel.

Kate's picture
Kate on January 26, 2007 - 19:33 Permalink

The test was discontinued in ‘92, the reason being it didn’t encourage those who needed it the most. Or something like that. However, some schools (certainly mine) continued to do the test without the incentive of a badge. I believe my school continued the program until ‘98 when a new teacher took over. I usualy got silver, a few gold and a few bronze. I don’t remember dreading it, but I don’t remember being overly fond of it. I think it would be a fine idea to start it again, it should no longer be a traumatising experiance to not recieve an award as it seems likely that the majority wouldn’t be capable of getting one. Kids today need some incentive.

Mary-Anne's picture
Mary-Anne on February 12, 2007 - 01:39 Permalink

I have found the information that you all might be looking for. I was able to get my hands on a copy of the program. If done correctly, you were suppose to have had a pre-test in the fall and then been given opportunity to increase your fitness in gym and by yourself. Then in the spring, you should have been tested again. These results were the ones to be used for awards. The events were: push-ups, shuttle run, partial curl-ups, standing long jump, 50 metre run and endurance test. For younger children, the push-ups used to be the flex arm hang. I only have the results for up the age 13. To get an excellence badge, you had to get 39 — push-ups, 11.4sec — shuttle run, 59 partial curl-ups, 200cm — standing long jump, 7.7sec — 50m run & 11:21 — 2400meter run. To get a bronze: 11 push-ups, 13.5sec — shuttle run, 28 — partial curl-ups, 151cm — standing long jump, 9.2sec — 50meter run & 15:35 — 2400meter endurance run.
There is a President’s challenge down in the states that you can find online that is based off of the Canada Fitness awards program. It has most of the same tests and provides results for up to 17years of age.

I enjoyed the fitness testing very much and received Excellence badges every year. It is a shame that so many of you put so much value in a badge. I never did well on my timed math facts and had to call out my score in front of the class, but you don’t see math facts being eliminated from school or anyone calling them brutal or cruel. You can not be good at every subject. It takes hard work and practice to get better. Just because you did not do well, does not mean that the program was bad. It just took work to get better and did any of you actually work at trying to get better? I am a PE specialist now and would love to have the program come back, like it has in the states.

MK's picture
MK on February 24, 2007 - 21:34 Permalink

here’s an update,they’re bringing back ParticipACTION;election coming? Funding’s going to be mostly corporate based this time ‘round,so hope it’s long term.We’ll see what the 21C version of participAction does for the current 16 and under generation who have weight and repetitive use injury issues.

Scott's picture
Scott on April 27, 2007 - 16:11 Permalink

This is great! I’m writing a script, and at one point, the main characters are sitting in a bar trying to remember what the events in this Fitness Test were. I couldn’t remember all of them myself. I only remembered the dreaded endurance run, the flexed arm hang and the sprint. So, I set about looking for some info. It is surprisingly hard to find.

As for my own achievements in this: 1 Silver, 2 Bronze, 1 Sticker. Remember the damn sticker? It was like they were saying, “Thanks for playing.” I got that the year they put me up into the next age group. So instead of four big laps in the endurance run, I had to do EIGHT! And at one point, I tried to cheat by not running all the way around the cones, and this one little bastard (who always got Gold or Excellent) saw me and ran to tell the teacher.

The year I got Silver, I went to a particularly rough school, where more often than not I had to run like the devil to avoid a solid beating after school. It whipped me into shape pretty quick.

Thank you all for the memories. That’s hilarious that the Hip song mentions the flexed-arm hang. I’ll have to listen to it again.

Sean's picture
Sean on May 9, 2007 - 23:13 Permalink

I was just looking to see if I could find the Canada Fitness Test Booklet online and stumbled onto this blog. I was interested to read everyone’s feelings about the Test.

As I kid I moved at least once a year and we were too poor to play organized sports, so it was hard to compare myself to the other kids. I just felt like a loser…. I remember the first time I did the test, I was scared to death!!! I was already at the bottom of the social pecking order and expected the test to demonstrate my weakness for all to see. To my surprise, I was actually good at the things tested in the Canada Fitness Test! It was a big boost for my self-esteem. To see popular, jock kids failing the flex-arm hang when I had just been up there until the teacher told me to come down, was a revelation. I never felt physically inferior again. I hindsight, it is sad that my own elation came at the expense of other kids.

Anyway, if anyone out there has an old Canada Fitness Test booklet packed away somewhere, I would be happy to buy it.

Catherine's picture
Catherine on May 17, 2007 - 21:47 Permalink

The Canada Fitness Test was the single worst thing about elementary school. I wish I had gone to one of those no-flexed-arm-hang-for-girls schools that some of you talk about, then maybe I wouldn’t have played hookey week after week in order to miss phys ed class. The jocks’ comments about their own academic failures not resulting in math being taken out of the curriculum have no relevance in the discussion of the CFT’s demise. No one at my school who scored badly on a math or spelling test was ever mocked and taunted day in and day out for weeks on end for it, but the same cannot be said for those of us whose time on the flexed-arm hang measured in the deciseconds! All this test made me do was miss a lot of school in order to avoid it, and count the days till the middle of Grade 10, when I would never again have to attend another phys ed class for as long as I lived. If we want Canadians to do better at the Olympics, how about giving kids the opportunity to try a wealth of sports? Chances are, a great deal more children will find something they’re good at, perhaps even leading them to lifelong fitness. I have since gone on to bicycle to Mexico and back from Edmonton, to Atlanta (one-way), around Ireland, across France, and around Tasmania. I’ve even (VOLUNTARILY) run a few 5-K races, no thanks to the CFT!

Tyler's picture
Tyler on May 18, 2007 - 22:47 Permalink

I remember this test well. I consistently got bronze on account of being unable to do a single sit up and yet it was the only thing about elementary school gym that I really liked. I was proud that I always placed near the top in about 3 of the 6 events. I could then complain bitterly about the injustice of a scoring system that surely, in no way, properly recognized the level of my achievement. The only respect I ever earned in gym class may have come from getting that little bronze patch and knowing that I flat out beat all the “award of excellence” winners in the 50 yard dash and 300 yard run.

Susan's picture
Susan on May 23, 2007 - 17:19 Permalink

As soon as I heard the word, Canada Fitness Test, I immediately had flashbacks of my fifth grade white and blue North Star running shoes which were anchored to the floor of a stinking gritty gym by a classmates hands, while I, straining and turning red and purple, desperately tried to crank out 60(?) sit ups in 2 minutes. I can’t remember if I got Silver or Gold but I do remember how hard I worked to do well on those tests and how important it was to do well on them. I concur with the other females who cursed the flexed arm hang. It was torture-pure and simple. Fun times. I often wondered if those tests were still in existence. Perhaps it is my rose coloured glasses but I also remember how few of us were fat back then, not because we were super athletes but because we were always outside playing. Remember the Participaction commercials? Was that the same era?

Peter's picture
Peter on May 23, 2007 - 18:46 Permalink

Curious…can anyone confirm that the Canada Fitness Test/Program that we all had to endure was an initiative of ParticipACTION? Any help is much appreciated!

Jonathan's picture
Jonathan on June 2, 2007 - 23:57 Permalink

I just did this in Air Cadets (yes, this test still exists). I got Bronze, but the reason I didn’t get Silver is that the timekeeper on the Shuttle Run was rounding to the nearest second instead of tenth of the second.

Here’s a link to the full scoring matrix and test instructions: http://titanous.com/cadets/fit…

Mark's picture
Mark on July 4, 2007 - 23:22 Permalink

I live in the UK and was a keen follower of the RCAF 5BX in the late sixties and achieved chart 5 A+ in my late 20’s. Now in my late 60,s I strive for a chart 2 C…….anno domini.

For those of you wanting a link to the 5BX for men and the SBX for women, visit the following url for free downloads of both.

http://www.idmclient.com/getti…

I feel that whilst being the forerunner of the ParticipAction Awards/tests the 5BX and SBX should have remained as they were and extended down from RCAF cadet age into the juniors. These regimen offered no hangups for participants as the grades made allowances for body weight and builds and did not include the giving of badges, nor did they prompt Physical Capability (PC) grade announcements.
What is more 23million copies of th *BX publications were sold globally and became the defacto standard for practically all commercial aircrew to use prior to their contractual medical examinations. What a shame that Dr Bill Orban did not receive a cent in recognition of his work.

Liz's picture
Liz on August 9, 2007 - 11:22 Permalink

Watching the episode of Corner Gas with the ParticipACTION spoof in it brought back vivid memories of doing the Canada Fitness Test in elementary school in the early 1980s. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it completely turned me off any kind of exercise until adulthood. Perhaps my school implemented the program incorrectly, but we never had the opportunity to learn or practice the skills we needed to succeed at the test — it was just given to us toward the end of the school year, usually without warning. To me it was akin to writing a math test without having taken a math class — with 26 of your peers and one disapproving teacher looking on. I’m not one to whine about things that happened in my childhood and I’m definitely in favour of all kids getting plenty of opportunities to exercise, but geez, there has to be a happy medium between humiliating kids who aren’t naturally athletically inclined and the current trend toward lavishing praise on everyone for fear of damaging their precious self-esteem.

Claudia's picture
Claudia on August 21, 2007 - 20:09 Permalink

Canada Fitness Test
Does anyone rememeber the distance we had to run for the Canada Fitness Test? Was it 2400 m, 6 laps around a 400 m track.

How many sit-ups did we have to do in a minute to get Excellence?

Bob's picture
Bob on September 7, 2007 - 16:55 Permalink

I remember consistently getting the “thanks for trying” participation pin. I had two problems. For one, I was much shorter and smaller than the norm so events like the standing long jump left me markedly disadvantaged. Secondly, having cerebral palsy made it more difficult for me to run. I usually finished with a silver in the 50m dash but the 2400m killed me. I remember being paired with a jock in the grade eight flexed arm hang and decided I would just hold on until after he let go. It was the highlight of my Canada Fitness career.

In grade seven we did the first try in the fall and the second try in the spring thing and actually worked at my situps and improved from 18 in a minute to 45.

I was very strong at Math and was willing to help any of my peers in that subject so generally nobody mocked my handicapped Canada Fitness tests.

paul's picture
paul on September 8, 2007 - 01:10 Permalink

I was wondering of anyone was able to find a copy of the canada fitness test. i am teacher and would love to give it to my students. thanks

Tania's picture
Tania on September 20, 2007 - 14:12 Permalink

I enjoyed reading all the comments on the Canada Fitness Test — I live in BC, and the government in its eternal wisdom has decided that our kids are all fat, and has mandated 30 minutes of exercise per day, and is banning junk food from our schools. Duh, I say. Just bring back the Canada Fitness Test, but make the flexed arm hang optional. I am and was a scrawny little runt, but I couldn’t do the flexed arm hang to save my life. The endurance run and the speed sit-ups, however, those were my areas of expertise!!

Matt's picture
Matt on October 31, 2007 - 02:38 Permalink

At our school in the late 70s the endurance run was 1600m. As a 10km runner now, I recall thinking back then that that distance seemed incomprehensively long, and I couldn’t figure out why anyone would ever need to be able to run that far. I too remember the flexed arm hang being more as some sort of bizarre mental test of will rather than anything to do with fitness. Some of the most athletic kids in our class couldn’t last more than 10 seconds. Why didn’t they just call it the pain threshold test? In a strange way this seems to have been a unifying rite of passage for Canadians of our generation.

Pauline's picture
Pauline on November 2, 2007 - 02:21 Permalink

I’m currently in high school and the pass two classes we had a fitness test. Today we had a beep test …. I passed level 3. Now I have no idea if that is good or not compared to the average in Quebec or Canada I have been looking and I can’t seem to find anything. Would anyone be able to tell me the average for 12-16 girls for:

-Beep Test
-Sit ups
-Push ups
-Flexibility
-Grip test
-Standing long jump

So if anyone has this information I would be very thankful. :)(Please just post it on this board)

Thank you,
Pauline

Mike's picture
Mike on November 29, 2007 - 01:41 Permalink

I confirmed with the re-invented ParticipACTION that the Canada Fitness Test was NOT developed or implemented by them, but was a government initiative. I have the standards for kids ages 12-18 but nothing below this age. If ANYONE (retired teacher etc.) has a copy of the standards for the younger groups PLEASE e-mail me directly or post on this site!

Thanks in advance!

Mike

Cathie's picture
Cathie on March 8, 2008 - 03:43 Permalink

Just reminiscing about my elementary school years when me and another girl won the “award of excellence” in the Canada Fitness Challenge. We had our pictures taken by the local newspaper, Prince Albert Daily Herald. I recall my friend donned a “summer outfit” of white slacks and a summer blouse. Me.. I turned up in a pair of denim cutoffs, tank top and bare feet (my usual summer attire). Anyway, I am proud to say the that the “Canada Fitness Challenge” inspired me my whole life. I am now a 46-year-old-soon-to-be-grandma and I continue to make fitness and health my addiction.

Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness.
- Earl of Derby

ba's picture
ba on June 20, 2008 - 02:18 Permalink

I loved doing Canada Fitness — likely because I received the Award of Excellence every year. Until reading the comments here, I never really considered how the not so athletic kids must have felt. Regardless, I think the skills tested were a fantastic way of pushing kids to the limit to achieve their best. I suppose a more modern spin on this program could be to do the testing several times through the year and present awards based on improvement from a previous result rather than using a predetermined standard. I think this would be motivating for all the students and a great way to encourage physical fitness.

mike's picture
mike on July 15, 2008 - 05:03 Permalink

i remember waiting forever for the gym teacher to time us on the flexed arm hang. By the time he got over to us I had burned out my arms trying to see if I could do it. I never even got a bronze but I did manage to make the school soccer, volleyball, basketball(team mvp), cross country and track teams. I don’t think the testing was a very good measure of ones abilities and my non-athletic wife is constantly reminding me as I head off (at age 50) to the soccer field that she has her award of excellence.

Rory's picture
Rory on August 4, 2008 - 15:15 Permalink

It was the shuttle run that killed me and prevented me from attaining my Award of Excellence. I am a teacher now. One of the subjects that I teach is Phys-Ed. I was saddened to learn that these awards are no longer available. I have read many of the above posts and find some of them suggest a double standard. Why is it okay to relegate Phys-ed to an improvement/participation based model when every other subject is rigorously tested? Just a thought.

Michelle's picture
Michelle on August 29, 2008 - 16:34 Permalink

I looooved the CFP!! I always got the award of excellence (which included the arm hang for girls). I was always so excited when the time came for it every year. Thanks for all the memories everyone! :o)

Matt's picture
Matt on August 29, 2008 - 16:41 Permalink

I actually have in my possession a complete chart for the Canada Fitness Award. So, if there are any questions regarding it throw them on here and I will endeavour to answer them. The chart has the standards from ages 6 to 17. My question is does anyone remember how the shuttle run was run and what was the distance you ran between? I can’t remember for the life of me…

Vic's picture
Vic on September 11, 2008 - 04:09 Permalink

Ok so after a bottle and a half of wine, we somehow came to the subject of this test, the CFT. Sorry, but this blog has brought back memories for us all and we literally have never laughed so hard reading the comments………we can so relate. As many of you, we are were completely traumatized by the test although some of us managed to attain the Award of Excellence (small dig there). From what we recall, the shuttle run took place in the gym. So it appears to be a dash of 25m, running to grab the ‘bean bag’ of which there were 2. Total distance covered was probably 100m. Start, run 25m, grab bag 1, return to start, run back to grab bean bag 2 and return to start. As far as we can remember anyway. Thanks for the memories.

Michelle's picture
Michelle on October 29, 2008 - 10:18 Permalink

Ah, the beloved/ begruged CFT…LMAO well I never got an award badge, despite excelling in sports. were we really supposed to get a participation pin/ sticker? the endurance run didn’t take asthma into account anymore more or less then any disability, illness, or injury. my teacher called it the neccesary evil, we were never graded on this, i was always forced to stop on the endurance run because i wasn’t breathing properly.

watching my kids in school and going through 3 gym teachers i’ve noticed the quality is different. the current teacher has tested them at the beginning of the year in things like flexibilty, coordination, strength, endurance and balance. the goal is to see an improvement by the end of the year.

these days the education system seems more concearned about social growth then achieving academically or physically. with the lack of discipline and pushing kids ahead without the neccesary skills, is it really a surprise that that our kids lack self control/ self discipline when they seldom hear the word no? tv/ game systems/ computer babysitters , convienient for parents wanting time for themselves. let’s hope the past 20years have taught us what we need to know and we can move forward. really the testing is ok, it’s all the to do with badges and singling people out that’s not so great.

antoinette's picture
antoinette on November 26, 2008 - 21:22 Permalink

I wish to find and acquire the 2 booklets 5BX and SBX, which I had 40 years ago. I am 80 and out of shape. Perhaps the exercises will do me a lot of good.
Thanks.
antoinette

dan faddegon's picture
dan faddegon on December 6, 2008 - 18:04 Permalink

hi i am writing this to see if anyone still has the badge for excellance i won one before and have lost it over the years and am just wondering if anyone has one and they would like to sell please email me if your interested…if not sell even email me pics so i can show my son when he gets older it funny how after you have children thing like that all of the sudden mean much more then what they did thanks and hope to here from you guys soon….

Ingrid Green's picture
Ingrid Green on January 6, 2009 - 19:35 Permalink

Ok so the original posting was entered March 10, 2003… nearly SIX YEARS ago!! Not only are people seeking this info, but we’re still relishing the discussion and sharing memories— the good, bad & ugly. This page contains spectacular feedback on what worked and what did NOT work with the Canada Fitness Test. Anyone heard of Nike SPARQ training?

check out http://www.sparqtraining.com and http://sparqmagazine.com

There is a basic multi-sport 5-event SPARQ test.

20m sprint
kneeling ball toss
agility shuttle
vertical jump
yo yo recovery

The cool part is that you receive a score for EACH event and an OVERALL score. Based on feedback here it might be ultra cool to feature different Cdn Olympic athletes and their scores to show that the best excell in DIFFERENT AREAS. For example a decathlete will score poorly on the shuttle run but a football player is likely to excell at this event. It’s kind of like featuring different “heroes” for the various Briggs-Meyers “personality tests”.

I’m eager to hear feedback on whether people think this would be an improvement over the current/obsolete fitness testing model offered by GO ACTIVE! (Stellick Mktg. Comm.)
Please feel free to contact me with your thoughts.

McDonald’s sponsoring a fitness test for elementary school kids. Anyone else see the irony in that?

peace, Ingrid

paul hangle's picture
paul hangle on January 12, 2009 - 21:53 Permalink

I loved the Canada fitness test. The 50 m was, at times, my stumbling block. Has anyone found a booklet that shows the events and standards?

Sandy's picture
Sandy on January 24, 2009 - 23:34 Permalink

I just found the booklet and card that you would fill out for this. So if anyone wants a copy I can make a .pdf of it and send it to you.

Gary's picture
Gary on June 25, 2017 - 01:44 Permalink

Hi Sandy,

Would love to get a .pdf of the booklet and card.

Gary

Rob's picture
Rob on January 9, 2019 - 12:09 Permalink

Do you still have a copy of the booklet/standards? Could you send a scan?

Thanks!

R

Laurie's picture
Laurie on January 29, 2009 - 19:42 Permalink

I have my booklet and my results from grade 6. All I had up till then was a gold, and I decided that I would earn my award of excellence! I worked at it all winter, sit up, my feet tucked under the coach, long jump in the living room until my Mom could not handle the noise. As soon as it was dry enough in the spring I started running 1 mile a day. And I pracised the flexed arm hang in our barn, my Dad had hung up a swing from the rafters, nothing came easy for me, but I earned it that year, and best of all I beat all the boys except for one in the flexed arm hang, I stayed up for 78 sec! I was really proud of myself, I guess that is why I still have all the stuff, the booklet, the badge and the signed paper for Trudeau, and a pic of me grinning ear to ear, dated June 1977.

David Chase's picture
David Chase on February 3, 2009 - 08:42 Permalink

I remember this torture with fondness, only because I actually improved from one year to the next. I think this got started in my school district in 1973 or 1974. Anyway after a couple of years of achieving only recognition for participation I finally managed a bronze in 1976 then a silver in 1977. I felt pretty proud of myself since I was one of those kids with medical excuses and would be given to the last team by the default of being last to be picked. I considered this program to be a competition with a set standard and since I knew I would never be a Gary Nylund who went on to a much anticipated but unfortunately short NHL career I thought silver was pretty good for an athletic underachiever. No body explained it to us but once we reached high school the program was no longer graded and the awards were put to an end, however our school’s Phys Ed department decided to continue the program and I recall another fellow student and myself breaking, or so our teacher told us, the best recorded time for the dreaded flexed arm hang. We didn’t get to compete head to head but I know I managed 3 minutes and 12 seconds. I stopped because I was shaking so hard that my fellow classmates were making fun of me. I don’t know that I could have lasted much longer anyway but the alleged achievement felt pretty good. I remember only the 6 events; Flexed arm hang, Shuttle run, Standing broad jump, 100 meter dash, 400 meter run and Speed sit-ups, all very punishing. However I have yet to use any of these skills in my daily life.

Paul Murphy's picture
Paul Murphy on February 13, 2009 - 19:52 Permalink

Is food our next tobbacco ??????
I welcome your feedback at my facebook site or the youtube channel.

AGAINST OBESITY ———————————NOT AGAINST OBESE PEOPLE. Lets talk about the Fault Based Model. The unmotivated ,unhealthy eating ,lazy,personal choice,lack of willpower and lifestyle model. When we consider that 90 % of people feel that obesity is a personal choice and there are no other hidden factors , the lens is narrowed.
Factors like poverty ,fastfood marketing ,urban vs rural ,where you are born ,and countless other issues . All of this effort narrows the lens . Particapaction has many corporate sponsors . What industry would make an investment so as to keep the lens on PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ??????
Stop by my youtube site to view 11 videos . Several from the Rudd Center at Yale . The goal is to discuss the issue and share the materials .
Thanks Paul

micah's picture
micah on February 27, 2009 - 03:14 Permalink

I am doing a science project on the Canada Fitness test. If anyone has a booklet that they could scan with the results page, that would be great. I will be testing 12 year old students and want to compare scores today with those when the CFT was used in school 20-30 years ago to see if student’s are more or less fit now. Anything you could send would be appreciated.

WRG's picture
WRG on March 24, 2009 - 01:50 Permalink

Just for all the people still asking about the standards, this link to the cadet program was previously posted, and will tell you everything you need to know about the CFP, diagrams of the events and time requirements (for 12 — 18 years old). Page two says that this is reprinted with permission from the Canadian Fitness Program, so it’s the real deal. lol
http://titanous.com/cadets/fit…

WRG's picture
WRG on March 24, 2009 - 01:54 Permalink

Sorry page 4:
8. The ACFP is based on the Canada Fitness Award, a programme
of Fitness Canada Government of Canada. The figures are reproduced
with permission.
9. If you have achieved a Canada Fitness Award level from school or
from another organization, you can get credit for this at Cadets. You will
probably have to bring in proof of this level. Check with your instructor or
training officer to determine the procedure.
Don’t know if my perennial silver achievement would have got me into the cadets.

Carys's picture
Carys on April 3, 2009 - 00:13 Permalink

Wow! My husband (who grew up in the States) just asked me, out of the blue, if there was a Canadian equivalent to the Presidential Fitness Test. Am I right in reading that it was based on the Candian Tests? That’s pretty crazy.

My memories were pretty much of dread and fear… thankfully, I never scored “Participation,” but I was a perennia “Bronze” achiever. I always score in the excellence category for the crunches, and beat nearly everyone in my class. We had this teacher who used a piano metronome to keep time, and I always thought that was funny.

My nemesis, however, was the endurance run. I used to practice with my Dad, but no matter how much I practiced, I never scored high enough on the endurance run to get anything more than a bronze overall. It was devastating. In my grade 8 year, I had done well enough all the other events to get my first gold! I kept time on the endurance run, and I had my friends cheering me on, but it was such a hot day, that I got heat exhaustion, and had to slow nearly to a crawl just to finish the last lap. I cried so hard because it was so close. I got another bronze that year.

On a more positive note, one boy in my class, who never got anything but “Participation,” let everyone in the school know that his goal was to get a medal that same grade eight year. The entire class was cheering him on, and he got a bronze. He recieved a standing ovation from our whole class on achieving his first and only medal in Canada Fitness.

Steve Vecchiola's picture
Steve Vecchiola on April 24, 2009 - 15:48 Permalink

I have a few comments in regards to the Canadian Fitness Testing. I was always one of the smallest, shortest, skinniest guys in my classes every year until grade 10. Perhaps I was better suited for this testing than someone overweight or obese but I busted my back and put every single ounce of energy and strength into Canada Fitness. I grew up in a home where sports outside of school was not an option until i was 13. My family simply couldn’t afford any of it.

Canada fitness was not only from my experience the most fun part of the entire year in gym class. It’s the first thing in my memory that I fully 100% put forth my greatest effort. This is academically, physically, mentally, all of it. Achieving a high level in Canada Fitness was for whatever reason super important to me. It’s the first thing in my life that I achieved myself, for myself, by myself and the first real thing I truly “applied” myself to.

I can understand how some kids could find getting a “participation” award from the program but that should not be the focus, or the topic of your pain or your ill memory. What should be remembered is that you tried your best, you applied yourself and wasn’t it super fun? I had many friends that got the participation award and were happy, proud of themselves because they finished the long distance run, they finished everything and those were huge goals for them to simply finish! The program pushed them, it pushed them hard, it made them set goals and achieve them. What’s negative about that?

If in fact some were made fun of because of the grade they got on the testing, that’s truly heinous, but I remember it happening and myself and my friends used to freak out on people that would brag or make fun of others for not getting something better than a bronze. I never got anything but Excellence in any year (and still have my patches and certificates), and yet I still stuck up for those that didn’t achieve that, but they tried their best, they had fun and that’s the best possible scenario with this testing.

Lighten up, it was fun, it was a break from “dodgeball” or “european handball” or whatever dumb game we were playing in gym that day. You got to be in cool little groups, a buddy to record your results and broke the boring same old thing every day.

Kids today should only be so lucky to have such programs in place.

Evert's picture
Evert on April 27, 2009 - 20:21 Permalink

I’m with you Steve. I was always a scrawny kid but held my own in the Canada Fitness Test. I graduated with a degree in P.E. and now teach in an elementary school. I got a hold of the old standards and run the grade 7&8’s through the program. I don’t give awards but use the results as part of their fitness evaluation. Too bad that schools have taken the emphasis off “excellence” and replaced with “participation” and “self-esteem building”. Maybe if society went back to encouraging personal responsibility and effort, our students wouldn’t be in such poor physical shape.

Dale's picture
Dale on May 17, 2009 - 05:05 Permalink

I loved these tests! I was always way above excellent in the long distant run, but usually around gold or silver in the rest. The all around jocks did best, I remember, as they were pretty good at everything. I remember that flexed arm hang like it was yesterday. We did in the guy’s bathroom on some shower rod. We’d all watch as our peers would hang red-faced for as long as we could.

Shane's picture
Shane on May 30, 2009 - 04:51 Permalink

This was great fun! It was a true measure of your total fitness and athletic ability.This should be incorporated in the schools today, along with some mentoring and encouragement from our teachers, maybe we could get our children motivated to have fun and interact while working out. The overall health benefits would also surely reflect better grades? Lets get our youth moving and the blood pumping, and in participating in these tests, goals to strive for.

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