Personal Fitness Merit Badge

Five cross-references between requirements, all pointing backwards, and a twelve-week programme that cannot start until the measurements are taken.

10 steps (33 parts inside them). 2 parts depend on questions you have not answered yet. · Version 1, published 10 August 2026 · About Personal Fitness Merit Badge

No questions answered

This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering the question at the address above takes out the parts that are not for you.

Which of this applies to you

You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering one question will take out the parts that are not for you.

Answer the questions

30 steps can be started now; 11 are waiting on something else.

Clear ticks

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The steps

Stage 1 of 5

2 steps

Read all eight requirements before you begin Often forgotten Document

On this badge more than any other. Requirements 5 and 7 measure each other, and the first measurement has to be taken before the work starts.

Read all eight requirements before you begin. Requirement 7(b) asks you to show improvement over the results you recorded in requirement 5(a), and a pre-assessment cannot be taken retrospectively. A Scout who trains for three months first has done the exercise and not the badge.
5. Measure yourself BEFORE you start Often forgotten Requirement

The pre-assessment. Everything requirement 7 shows improvement against is recorded here, and it cannot be done afterwards.

This whole requirement happens BEFORE the twelve weeks start. It is the single most common way this badge goes wrong, and it cannot be put right except by starting the programme again.
4 parts
- 5(a). Take every test you defined, and record the results Often forgotten Usually comes after 4. Agree which tests you will use.
- 5(b). Name your strongest and weakest area, and pick a target Usually comes after 5(a). Take every test you defined, and record the results.
- 5(c). Log what you eat and drink for three days Often forgotten
- 5(d). Set two diet and nutrition goals from that log Usually comes after 5(c). Log what you eat and drink for three days.

Stage 2 of 5

5 steps

1. What personal fitness means Requirement

Five things explained to your counselor, covering fitness of body, mind and spirit.
5 parts
2. Monitoring your health Requirement

Two conversations about the examinations that catch what you cannot feel.
2 parts
- 2(a). Why an annual physical examination matters
- 2(b). Why a routine dental examination matters
3. Your own knowledge and habits Requirement

Seven honest conversations about how you actually live. Done with your counselor.
7 parts
4. Agree which tests you will use Approval

With your counselor, before anything is measured. These same tests are repeated at weeks 4, 8 and 12, so they are chosen once and kept.

Usually comes after Read all eight requirements before you begin.
3 parts
8. Careers or a hobby, one of the two Requirement

A piece of research discussed with your counselor. It does not depend on the programme, so it can be done at any point.
2 parts
- 8(a). Explore three fitness careers, then one in depth Optional May not apply
- 8(b). Explore fitness as a hobby or healthy lifestyle Optional May not apply

Stage 3 of 5

1 step

6. Outline the 12-week programme Document

With your counselor, built on the goals you set in requirement 5 and on what you can actually do. Six elements, all required.

Usually comes after 5(b). Name your strongest and weakest area, and pick a target.
6 parts, 1 ticked
- 6(a). A warm-up
- 6(b). An aerobic element
- 6(c). A strength and endurance element
- 6(d). A flexibility element
- 6(e). A cool-down
- 6(f). A plan for the two diet goals Usually comes after 5(d). Set two diet and nutrition goals from that log.

Stage 4 of 5

1 step

7. Do the programme, twelve consecutive weeks Event

The long one. An interruption of less than two weeks for illness or an unavoidable conflict may be resumed, adding the missed days back.

Usually comes after 6. Outline the 12-week programme.

Twelve CONSECUTIVE weeks. If illness or an unavoidable conflict interrupts you for less than two weeks you may resume where you left off, adding the missed days back. Read 7(a) for the exact wording. This is what decides when you can finish the badge.
4 parts
- 7(a). Keep a log for all twelve weeks Usually comes after 7. Do the programme, twelve consecutive weeks.
- 7(b). Re-test at week 4, week 8 and after week 12 Often forgotten Usually comes after 5(a). Take every test you defined, and record the results and 7. Do the programme, twelve consecutive weeks. The week 4 and week 8 assessments happen during the programme, not at the end. Miss them and there is no way to go back for them.
- 7(c). Log your food again in week 8 and week 12 Often forgotten Usually comes after 5(d). Set two diet and nutrition goals from that log and 7. Do the programme, twelve consecutive weeks.
- 7(d). Discuss the results with your counselor Usually comes after 7(a). Keep a log for all twelve weeks, 7(b). Re-test at week 4, week 8 and after week 12 and 7(c). Log your food again in week 8 and week 12.

Stage 5 of 5

1 step, all ticked

Counselor signs it off Milestone

The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.

This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.