Wall Street Journal reporter writes Senator McCain cannot lift weights due to injuries he suffered as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. (Note: There are probably some resistance exercises he could do that would work around his shoulder injury — especially leg exercises).
He hikes whenever he can find the time, according to John D. Eckstein, an internist in Scottsdale, Ariz., who treats Sen. McCain and walked the Grand Canyon rim to rim in August 2006. At 165 pounds, McCain’s weight is slightly above average for a 5-foot-7-inch frame.
Senator McCain is said to have a weakness for Butterfinger candy bars, jelly beans, and coffee and doughnuts from Dunkin’ Donuts.
Barack Obama sinks a three-point jump shot in a Kuwait gym while meeting with U.S. military forces in July 2008.
According to Sen. Obama’s Chicago physician David Scheiner, Obama works out regularly, jogs up to three miles a day when possible, and has “no excess body fat.”
Chubbier as a child, Obama slimmed down when he played basketball regularly in high school.
He avoids junk food and snacks on MET-Rx chocolate roasted-peanut protein bars and drinks Black Forest Berry Honest Tea. Obama is a former smoker who admits that he occasionally regresses to a few cigarettes in stressful times.
During a campaign trip to South Florida in October 2008, Barack Obama was spotted at a Planet Fitness in a strip mall in Palm Beach Gardens walking on a treadmill and then lifting weights (dumbbell work and some leg presses). Obama paid the full day-rate ($10) for his 30-minute workout — about one hour before a campaign speech at Palm Beach Community College.
Senator Obama learned in July 2008 after he made three stops to local Chicago gyms in one day, for a total of 188 minutes, that the press would pick up on the amount of time spent working out. An Associated Press article titled “Obama Becomes a Gym Rat” reported, “Sometimes it’s hard to tell if Barack Obama is running for president of the United States or Mr. Universe.”
In Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign ad that compares Obama to a celebrity, Rick Davis, campaign manager, wrote “Only celebrities like Barack Obama go to the gym three times a day.”
LATEST UPDATES Election day November 4, 2008 & November 5, 2008 … Obama played a traditional Election Day basketball game at Attack Athletics on the Chicago’s West Side — a 65,000 sq. ft. facility with four NBA-sized basketball courts, seating for 1,000 people, a 10,000 sq. ft. weight room, and four locker rooms. Obama plays ball with Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan, who was rumored as a contender for Obama’s Education Secretary. He followed up with another de-stressing workout first thing in the morning after a late night celebrating the presidential victory.
During the 2008 campaign … “Most of my workouts have to come before my day starts. There’s always a tradeoff between sleep and working out. Usually I get in about 45 minutes, 6 days a week. I’ll lift one day and do cardio the next.” — Barack Obama
STRONG & FIT: A few character strength tips from Barack Obama … (featured in Men’s Health Magazine) Show others the way to common ground. If you want to avoid disappointing others, don’t disappoint yourself. Don’t let ‘em see you sweat.
Top 25 “Fittest Guys” Rating by Men’s Fitness Magazine In May 2008, Barack Obama was rated “one of the nation’s fittest guys.” The article credited him for his stamina of enduring months of 16-hour days, playing basketball daily, and starting every day with a morning workout. Not the most scientific definition of fittest, but a good credit nonetheless. The winner of the Men’s Fitness “The 25 Fittest Guys in America” was Tiger Woods. Men’s Fitness editors reported that the world’s premier PGA golfer was selected ‘because of his commitment to being the best and setting the bar, not just for other golfers, but for all athletes.
Others on the ‘25 fittest guys list’ included athletes Dana White (UFC), Ed Donner (triathlete), Brady Quinn, Chase Utley, and Dwight Howard; rappers Romeo Miller and Flo Rida; actors Will Smith, Daniel Craig, and Shemar Moore; and television host Mark Steines.
