Army’s Quest to Muscle Up Stirs Row Over U.S.-Made Fitness Gear

Not all fitness equipment is created equal, especially for soldiers training to go to war.

The U.S. Army is overhauling its physical fitness test for the first time in 40 years to make its soldiers stronger and less injury prone. That’s created a need for a huge amount of weight-training equipment that can stand up to heavy use by thousands of soldiers, indoors and out, in extreme conditions.

Yet what should be a major contracting opportunity has some American-owned suppliers worried that a new acquisition process will allow gear sourced from a key adversary, China, to save money. Key lawmakers ...