SerpApi.Org
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s widely shared workout videos have faced heavy criticism from military fitness experts for poor form and failing to meet the Armed Forces' official standards.
The backlash intensified following an investigative report by The Atlantic that analyzed footage from the "Pete & Bobby Challenge," a timed fitness challenge that Hegseth launched alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the summer of 2025.
“Hegseth’s push-ups wouldn’t pass muster in any branch,” wrote The Atlantic’s Tom Bartlett in an article titled, “Pete Hegseth, You Call That A Pull-Up?”
'Hegseth's Push-ups Are More Like Half-Ups'
"Hegseth’s work is, by Marine standards, poor," Bartlett wrote, explaining that he consulted military exercise experts to rate the embattled Defense Secretary’s workout performance. "Hegseth’s push-ups are more like half-ups."
Experts point out a stark irony in the footage, given that Hegseth has actively advocated for stricter physical testing and publicly mocked the physical capabilities of others.
They noted that Hegseth routinely fails to go through a full range of motion. His elbows do not properly lock out, and his chest lacks the depth required to count as a legal repetition in any branch of the military.
During his pull-ups, Hegseth can be seen raising his knees to his chest and kicking to build momentum. Marine Corps fitness guidelines strictly forbid "kipping," requiring strict, dead-hang movements.
Maureen LeBoeuf, a retired brigadier general and former head of physical education at West Point, noted that she would have immediately ordered him to stop.
She stated that none of his demonstrated exercises met basic grading standards, noting that the military does not accept fatigue as an excuse for corner-cutting.
His pull-ups or chin-ups and the kicking that he does — you would never allow that. You’d stop somebody; you’d say, ‘Okay, you’re done,’ ” LeBoeuf told Bartlett. “He just keeps kicking, and it’s not a good look.”
Joel Del Rosario, a Marine veteran and fitness coach, flagged separate footage of Hegseth swinging kettlebells at UCLA.
Del Rosario noted that Hegseth drops the weight far too close to the ground, risking severe lower back and shoulder strain, and noted that "pretty much everyone fails" when attempting this, saying he'd be happy to show him the right way to do it.
Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez defended the Defense Secretary, dismissing the criticisms as political nitpicking from "left-wing" media. Valdez questioned why media outlets never scrutinized the physical form of previous defense secretaries, such as Lloyd Austin.
Critics counter-argued that Austin never posted self-promotional workout videos to social media, nor did he center his platform on enforcing rigid, uniform physical benchmarks across the military.
