No Sweat: Obamas Work Fitness Into Daily Routine

“Both President-elect Barack Obama and the future first lady have exercise routines that would put most people to shame. Michelle Obama used to join a friend for 4:30 a.m. workouts, and Barack Obama usually starts his day in the gym. Michelle Obama has hosted ‘The View,’ been interviewed on ‘60 Minutes,’ graced the cover of Newsweek and hit the campaign trail, all with her buff arms bared. ‘One of the things I always talk about is got to exercise,’ the 44-year-old mother of two told an overwhelmingly female crowd at a campaign event last year in Chicago. That's sure to continue when the Obamas and their girls — 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha — move into the White House, which has plenty of places for them to stay active. Fitness is a tradition for residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. President George W. Bush is an avid mountain biker, former President Bill Clinton jogged around Washington and former President George H.W. Bush liked to golf and jog, play tennis and pitch horseshoes. ‘Most of my workouts have to come before my day starts,’ Barack Obama, 47, told Men's Health magazine in an interview for its November issue. ‘There's always a trade-off between sleep and working out. Usually I get in about 45 minutes, six days a week. I'll lift one day, do cardio the next.’ His preference, he said, would be to work out for 90 minutes. On the campaign trail, even during the busiest periods, Obama made it a priority to start the day with a workout. That often meant a small motorcade of Secret Service agents and reporters following him to a local gym. The president-elect has said his favorite fitness activity is basketball, and the game became a kind of campaign ritual. He got in the habit of shooting hoops with friends on the days of primary elections, and that carried over to such major events as his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention and Election Day. Michelle Obama is equally devoted to her fitness routine, telling People magazine this summer that she manages a 90-minute workout three times a week. Friend Sandy Matthews, who used to work out with her at 4:30 a.m., said the future first lady is a fan of cross-training, a mix of strength and cardio exercises usually involving weights, the treadmill, the stair-stepper or a spin bike.”

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