Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Dru Calloway conducts pushups as part of the Corpsman Cup on June 13, 2025, aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. Active-duty sailors will have to complete two physical fitness assessments per year starting in 2026, the Navy announced. (Thomas Cieslak/Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point)
Active-duty sailors will have to complete two physical fitness assessments per year starting in 2026, the Navy announced this week in a return to its pre-coronavirus pandemic fitness testing schedule.
All sailors in the active component will now be tested during cycles between Jan. 1 and June 30 and July 1 and Dec. 31, according to a Naval Administrative Message governing fitness standards published Monday. Reserve component sailors must complete at least one fitness test during the year, according to the message.
The increase in fitness testing aligns with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s push for increased physical standards across the U.S. military. The service has also made its fitness tests and body composition standards — which include a measure of waist-to-height ratio and body fat percentage — gender neutral, per Hegseth’s orders.
The Navy will now require commanders to integrate some physical training into every workday for their sailors, according to the message. The Navy did not provide specific guidance for commanders to accomplish that goal.
Most sailors will take the Navy Physical Readiness Test twice per year. That test includes a two-minute pushup test, a timed forearm plank and a timed 1½-mile walk or run. Commanding officers or officers in charge may authorize a 2,000-meter row, a 14-minute stationary bike ride, or a 500- or 450-meter swim instead of the walk or run, according to the Navy.
Sailors in combat arms jobs — including SEALs, special warfare combat crewmen, explosive ordnance disposal and fleet diving positions — will take the Navy-wide PRT once per year and the new Combat Fitness Test once per year, according to the guidance.
The combat arms test includes an 800-meter swim with fins, a two-minute pushup test, an untimed pullup test and a 1-mile run. The pushups, pullups and run are to be completed with 20 extra pounds via a weight vest or plate carrier, according to Navy documents.
The service’s new fitness policy also changes the requirements to remain in the service. Any sailor who fails three fitness tests during a four-year period will be administratively separated, according to the policy. Those failures do not have to be consecutive. Previously, the Navy moved to kick out sailors after two or more consecutive fitness test failures.
However, on Jan. 1, the Navy will conduct a one-time reset of all past fitness test failures to zero, according to the new message. That means sailors who have a failed fitness test on their record before Jan. 1, 2026, will not have that used against them for reenlistment, promotion or continued service purposes.
Pregnant and postpartum sailors are exempt from physical fitness testing during pregnancy and for an additional 12 months “after giving birth, loss of pregnancy or having a stillbirth,” according to the service. After the 12-month period, postpartum sailors are required to obtain medical clearance and participate in the current Navy fitness assessment cycle, according to the service.