How Hegseth’s Critics Just Handed Him A Win

Wherever he happens to be in the world, War Secretary Pete Hegseth often posts photos or videos of himself doing PT (Physical Training) with the troops — and critics are now using some of those videos to mock Hegseth’s fitness level.

Guys, the Secretary of War is not doing PT with the troops to prove to the terminally online fitness experts that he’s the baddest and the buffest soldier of them all. He’s doing it because it signals to every service member that he’s with them. I went through Army Basic Training in 1999, and it’s more clear than ever that some things never change: the leaders who earn the respect of their soldiers are the ones who get down in the mud with them.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth joins Marines from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing for a workout at the Miramar Sports Complex in San Diego.

The session included push-ups, pull-ups, weighted lunges, burpees and other exercises across 10 stations. https://t.co/fEc5pYOASt

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 7, 2026

It’s also clear that some critics have no idea how military calisthenics are supposed to work. They post their videos and claim that Hegseth is “struggling” to finish — and never consider the possibility that the workout was designed to push soldiers to their absolute limits.

Pete Hegseth struggles while working out with troops in San Diego https://t.co/e1sSWtrBDv

— FactPost (@factpostnews) October 7, 2026

Calisthenics workouts, from the very first days of training on, are absolutely brutal and intentionally so. I can recall more than a few core-focused workouts from my time at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, that reduced grown men to tears. If you don’t look like you’re dying — or at least feel like you are — by the end of the session, then you’re not doing it right. Every workout is designed to push limits, test stamina, and drive you to muscle failure — after which you’re told to walk it off and do it again.

They’re made to induce failure — and then push you past it — in a safe environment because failure is not an option on the battlefield. The enemy is not going to give you a water break, and if you’re only halfway to safety when your legs give out, you have to be able to tap into that muscle memory.

So when the War Department posts these videos — even the ones that show Hegseth and some of the other service members eating sh*t at the end of a workout — the point is not that Hegseth is the verybestever™ at PT, and it never has been. It’s that he’s a leader who is willing to put himself in with his soldiers.

And it’s clear that the troops understand that. During Hegseth’s recent trip to greet the beleaguered sailors aboard the USS Lincoln, they watched as he held himself accountable for a verbal gaffe in real time. After announcing that at the outset of Epic Fury, they’d performed “60 hours of constant combat flight ops,” someone in the crowd shouted that it was actually more than 100 hours.

“I’ll do two push-ups,” Hegseth said, immediately acknowledging his error and taking the traditional military punishment upon himself. The sailors laughed and cheered as he knocked them out right there on the deck — and then corrected the record: “160 straight hours with 60 strike hours, okay, I stand corrected!”

“I’ll do two pushups.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth drops to the deck for two push-ups after correcting himself while praising service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln for their combat flight operations during Epic Fury.

The sailors erupt in cheers as Hegseth knocks out the push-ups before jumping back into his remarks.

“160 straight hours with 60 strike hours. Okay, I stand corrected.”

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 7, 2026

So does it matter, as critics suggest, if Hegseth lags behind some of the troops on a run? Of course not! He’s 46 years old and no longer on active duty. I’m 47, and it might shock you to learn that I’m not only quite a bit slower than I was during training (when I was 20), but I can no longer do the nine pull-ups I could at peak condition. The fact that professional soldiers in their late teens and early twenties can outrun a man old enough to be their father is not sad; it’s expected — or at least it should be.

EXHIBIT A: My dad, CPT John Greenplate (1954-2017), was 44 when he received his commission into the U.S. Army Reserve — just two years younger than Hegseth is now — and because the age cutoff at the time was 37, he had to request a waiver in order to be accepted. The recruiter warned that the waiver would hinge on how well he did at PT. Dad just laughed.

A four-minute miler for much of his high school and college career, Dad held the Delaware State High School record in the two-mile (9:21) from 1972-2012 and went to the NCAA championships with William & Mary’s 4th-place cross country team in 1973. At 44, he could still lay down a mile in under six flat.

After several reserve drill weekends, he called me to complain, asking, “What’s wrong with these kids?”

His concern: he was outrunning them. Easily. To him, the younger soldiers were supposed to be faster and stronger than he was, and it worried him that they weren’t.

It’s also worth noting that any time a big name shows up at PT, the rank and file interpret that as an open challenge — they all know that the guy who outran or did more pull-ups than the War Secretary will never have to pay for a drink again, especially if there’s proof.

So keep posting videos of Hegseth getting tired at the end of a session, “struggling” to finish a calisthenics workout, and “trailing behind” the troops on a run. You’re missing the point — and making his.

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