For Obama, Working Out Still A Priority

Washington Post: President-Elect Hits The Gym For 90 Minutes A Day, With Few Exceptions

(Washingtonpost.com)  Being elected president forces a man to take inventory of his life, so Barack Obama has trimmed his schedule to the bare essentials. He's not in the White House yet, but gone are the hours he once spent reading novels, watching television and obsessing over the daily transactions of Chicago's sports teams. He eats out only once every few weeks. He visits friends rarely, if at all.

But one habit endures: Obama has gone to the gym, for about 90 minutes a day, for at least 48 days in a row. He always has treated exercise less as recreation than requirement, but his devotion has intensified during the past few months. Between workouts during his Hawaii vacation this week, he was photographed looking like the paradigm of a new kind of presidential fitness, one geared less toward preventing heart attacks than winning swimsuit competitions. The sun glinted off chiseled pectorals sculpted during four weightlifting sessions each week, and a body toned by regular treadmill runs and basketball games.

The more Obama's life intensifies, friends said, the more he relies on the gym -- which is why he might be taking office in the best shape of his life. The gym is where he releases stress, maintains a routine and thinks without interruption. He sometimes wears headphones and barricades the outside world.

"He does it every day like clockwork," said Marty Nesbitt, one of Obama's closest friends from Chicago. "He doesn't think of it as something he has to do -- it's his time for himself, a chance for him to reflect. It's his break. He feels better and more revved up after he gets in his workout."

To accommodate Obama during the 18-month presidential campaign, aides arranged workouts for him in several dozen states. The staff called gyms a few days before his arrival and persuaded them to close late or open early to oblige the candidate's schedule. Once, on July 17, Obama visited a gym three times within 16 hours. Other days -- often before primary election nights -- he flew in half a dozen friends to play a few hours of pickup basketball.

"That's one of the first things you learn working for him: You better make sure he gets his workout," said Jim Cauley, who managed Obama's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign. "If there isn't any time, he's not going to feel his best that day. If he only gets 30 or 40 minutes, he's still not really happy.

You have to make time for him to exercise, at least an hour or so. You block it out and put it on the schedule, because that's what makes him happy."

Since the election, Obama's daily schedule has revealed an intense focus. Until he went to Hawaii for the holidays, his routine in Chicago was unchanging: breakfast at home with his family before heading to his downtown transition office, where he puts in as many as 10 hours a day. At night, dinner at his Hyde Park home, and more talking to advisers and reading preparatory documents. On some days, he spent as little as five or 10 minutes outdoors.

But every morning around 7:30 he traveled by motorcade to the gym at Regents Park, a luxury apartment complex where his friend Michael Signator owns a condominium on the 18th floor, and where he usually worked out with Reggie Love, a personal aide and a former Duke University basketball player, or with Marvin Nicholson, his travel coordinator.

Left: In this April 29, 2008 file photo, then Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama plays basketball with University of North Carolina player Jack Wooten in Chapel Hill, N.C. Obama has made regular workouts a priority since become the president-elect.

The members-only gym features a sauna, a whirlpool and a row of machines pressed against a bay of windows overlooking Lake Michigan. Obama, 47, devotes half of his workout to weight lifting and the other half to a cardiovascular rotation that includes a stationary bicycle, elliptical machine and treadmill. Between his warm-up and cool down, he sometimes moves through a dozen different exercises in an hour.

"It's something he takes seriously, and that's why he's in great shape," said Alexi Giannoulias, a friend of Obama's and a former professional basketball player. "When people picture him running or whatever, they might think he's just going through the motions. But he goes hard. He's fit. He could convince you he's half his age."

Even Obama's closest friends said they marvel at how he has maintained his commitment. He went to Regents Park at 9 a.m. the day after his victory rally in Grant Park, on Thanksgiving Day and hours before traveling to Washington for his first tour of the White House. On Friday, Obama rushed to the gym before boarding a plane for his 12-day stay in Hawaii. He woke up the next morning on vacation, went to a gym and exited 45 minutes later in a sweat-soaked gray shirt.

For the small group of reporters tasked with following Obama's every move, his fitness has become a running joke repeated in the stories they file. They sit at McDonald's while he exercises in Hawaii. They eat calorie-rich scones while he sweats at Regents Park. One reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, filing his report about one of the president-elect's gym trips last month, noted: "While Mr. Obama worked at maintaining his lithe look, your pear-shaped pooler spent quality time at a local coffee shop."

Obama still suffers from one vice -- smoking -- although he has worked hard to quit since he started the presidential campaign. He's down from three or four cigarettes each day to what he terms the occasional "slip."

When Obama visited the White House in November, he toured the gym with President Bush and talked about exercise, said his wife, Michelle. It is one interest the two men share. Bush equipped Air Force One with a stationary bicycle, and he spends weekends biking with friends -- with anyone and everyone, really -- at Camp David. He has often said that exercise has helped him cope with the pressures of the job.

Several presidents have found creative ways to stay in shape while in the White House. John Quincy Adams swam in the Potomac, Theodore Roosevelt boxed and Herbert Hoover invented his own sport -- an awkward combination of volleyball and tennis -- to play at 7 each morning. Harry S. Truman installed a horseshoe pit. Bill Clinton liked to jog and then head for breakfast at McDonald's.

Obama, who favors a post-workout snack of a protein bar and organic iced tea, has already disclosed some of his own plans for his new home. He wants to build a full basketball court where he can hold games on the White House grounds, and to maintain his usual routine of exercising at least six days a week.

It's a schedule he started as a 22-year-old student at Columbia University in New York, and it immediately transformed him. In his 1995 autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," Obama said he was a casual drug user and an underachiever until he decided to start running three miles each day. He stopped staying out late, fasted on Sundays and became a voracious reader, spending most of his time alone in his apartment reading classic literature and philosophical texts.

Physical fitness yielded mental fitness, Obama decided, and the two concepts have been married in his mind ever since.

"It's always been a priority in his daily routine," said Christopher Lu, a marathon runner who worked as Obama's legislative director in the Senate and was named Cabinet secretary last week. "I think it's an example of how disciplined he is. It's one of the things that really keeps him balanced."

[toolmangler-2009]

I smoked for 55 years then it killed me, Now I exercise and look forward to at least another 55 years to make up for my bad choices.

[ace_face1]

A typical example of the hard hitting journalism we have come to expect when the Messiah is mentioned.

Posted by downsteamjim at 10:35 AM : Dec 26, 2008

-----------------

downsteamjim just wants to hear stories about Obama''s bowel movements.

[wlmrtpatriot]

I hope the new President will do well by this country.
We definitely need help.
It''s Wa Po''s fault for writing such garbage as "the sun glinted off chiseled pectorals". I don''t blame the new P.E for bad journalism.

[freeanswers1]

I know plenty of people who smoke and have smoked for 40 years or better who are in good health. So what is your point about smoking?



Posted by DJ_Houston at 09:26 PM : Dec 26, 2008

Its not healthy & it is a dirty filthy disgusting habit.

So I could care less about how Obama sets an example by working out everyday. He would set a better example by quiting such a habit that kills hundreds of thousands a year.

Dont believe the American Cancer Society or The American Heart Association...

Believe your fellow smoker freinds who claim to be so cool !!

Haaaa ! yeah cool !!!

[freeanswers1]

IF you''''d pay attention when you go to the mall or anywhere else in this nation you''''d realize just how important it is for our New President to have such habits.

MAYBE it will wear off on the rest of us??


Posted by irmcvet971 at 08:07 AM : Dec 26, 2008

Are you talking about his habit of smoking ?

[freeanswers1]

So we have elected a president who likes to exercise. And to some of you that is a terrible thing. What''''s wrong with you people? It seems to me that what he is doing is setting a good example for the nation. It is no secret that many of you hate Mr. Obama and will grasp at anything he says or does as something evil. I did not like Bush but there was not a day that went by that I did not hope that he would do something that would help the country. In other words, just because I did not like him did not mean that I wanted him to fail. Obama is a good man and I believe, if given the chance, he can do a lot to help our country get back on track. If that is what you want, than why not try supporting him instead of looking for a way to stab him in the back? I will continue to support Mr. Obama because I think he will be a good president and nothing will change my mind.



Posted by Element51 at 05:48 PM : Dec 26, 2008


Yep

He is the new poster boy for Camel Cigarettes.

During basketball breaks he has a smoke.

[element51]

So we have elected a president who likes to exercise. And to some of you that is a terrible thing. What''s wrong with you people? It seems to me that what he is doing is setting a good example for the nation. It is no secret that many of you hate Mr. Obama and will grasp at anything he says or does as something evil. I did not like Bush but there was not a day that went by that I did not hope that he would do something that would help the country. In other words, just because I did not like him did not mean that I wanted him to fail. Obama is a good man and I believe, if given the chance, he can do a lot to help our country get back on track. If that is what you want, than why not try supporting him instead of looking for a way to stab him in the back? I will continue to support Mr. Obama because I think he will be a good president and nothing will change my mind.

[downsteamjim]

A typical example of the hard hitting journalism we have come to expect when the Messiah is mentioned.

[dagrandma]

A lot of people like me who didn''''''''t vote for Obama want him to be successful and do well for the country. I want to get on his side. But this constant barrage about every little thing Barack is irritating. Keep the news about something that matters.

Posted by runningralph at 11:17 PM : Dec 25, 2008

Do you mean Brittney Spears and Angelina Jolie?

[wdrussell1]

This is just another reason the beached whale AKA Rush, will be opposed to him.

[dagrandma]

I see the vicious nasties who like to comment on CBS were at it on Christmas Day. That pretty much tells me everything I need to know about them.

[irmcvet971]

A lot of people like me who didn''''t vote for Obama want him to be successful and do well for the country. I want to get on his side. But this constant barrage about every little thing Barack is irritating. Keep the news about something that matters.

Posted by runningralph at 11:17 PM : Dec 25, 2008

IF you''d pay attention when you go to the mall or anywhere else in this nation you''d realize just how important it is for our New President to have such habits. MAYBE it will wear off on the rest of us??

[tmittelstaed]

This gym workout is nothing more than another addiction - when working out, a person gets what''s known as "the endorphin rush". And if you work out regularly your body gets accustomed to it and if you stop doing it you go through withdrawl. And it''s also no secret that while under stress a person''s brain runs at a much higher level as well.
Long, vigorous workouts of the type Obama enagages in are over and above what is needed to maintain a healthy body. As to whether this is a "bad" thing, that''s debatable. From a health standpoint, not at all - while the extra exercise doesen''t help you be "healthier" than a ligher-duty workout, it doesen''t hurt your body.
Where these kinds of workouts -could- be harmful to Obama is if they become a way to bypass trust-building. And that is a concern. For example, Obama and Bush have exercise in common - well fine. In every other way they are polar opposites, and their supporters hate the opposing sides ideas. As long as Obama doesen''t allow their shared love of exercising to sway his view of Bush as fundamentally an enemy to his ideas, these workouts aren''t harmful.
My concern though is I''ve seen these heavy-exercise types use the subconscious logic that their workout buddy must be trustworthy just because he works out all the time with them.

[goodntru]

I know this has nothing to do with the article but we can not let this story about what Galveston Police did to this 12 year old girl and her family: sojournertruth wrote: Another question raised by this shocking incident is: Why didn''t the DA''s office and the Galveston Police Department inform the public that 4 adult male officers had beat up a 12 year old child and attempted to drag her into their van? Instead, the GPD and the Galveston County DA''s office filed charges against the girl''s father 2 days AFTER the event based on actions by the same division of the GPD that beat the child (Narcotics). The poor child''s father was hauled off to jail for 2 years, and she was arrested publicly in front of her classmates and humiliated. It''s disgusting behavior that one would expense for a third-world dictatorship police force. I encourage everyone here to call the Galveston County District Attorney''s office and express their outrage at the DA''s role in this horror story.

[runningralph]

A lot of people like me who didn''t vote for Obama want him to be successful and do well for the country. I want to get on his side. But this constant barrage about every little thing Barack is irritating. Keep the news about something that matters.

[wtcmedic911]

remember when he used to go to church also? was good until election eve.

[prohb]

Keep it up Barack. We need you to model wellness. If more of us were in shape we would pay less on health care and energy costs.

[cyndilu9]

Excellent discipline. I''m thinking of a 2009 New Year''s Resolution now for myself!!! Thanks, Barack for the inspiration.