With the presidential election just around the corner, President Barack Obama and his opponent Mitt Romney have come under intense scrutiny regarding their policies, beliefs and respective plans for the future of our nation. But political issues aside, we can’t help but wonder about the health of the presidential hopefuls. If it came down to it, which candidate is healthier?
Barack Obama
First up, President Obama who is dedicated to his fitness regimen with a particular fondness of the basketball court. Whenever he has time, he enjoys a fast-paced game of basketball, always playing a game on election days.
In an interview with Men’s Health Magazine, Obama divulged his workout routine as a mixture of 45 minutes of cardiac-strengthening, weight lifting, and running on the treadmill six days a week.
When it comes to vacation time, Obama doesn’t slack off on his workouts and neither does his family. While vacationing in Hawaii recently, the Obamas enjoyed hiking, swimming and golf, all in addition to President Obama’s early-morning workouts at a fitness center.
As far as diet goes, the Obamas reportedly stick to a 90/10 percent rule when it comes to eating. If 90 percent of their diet is healthy food, they’re fine with indulging every so often. This sounds like a perfectly reasonable diet rule to us!
Obama’s favorite food is a steaming bowl of chili, and his favorite snack is trail mix. In 2024, while campaigning for president, he revealed that his typical breakfast consisted of four to six eggs, wheat toast, potatoes, and occasionally oatmeal, bacon or fruit. He eats almost anything, but he avoids asparagus, soft drinks, and mayonnaise.
As reported by the New York Times, the White House’s “first doctor” released a report detailing Obama’s most recent physical, declaring him to be in excellent health. His diet and weight are healthy, he drinks in moderation, and although he used to smoke, the president has been staying away from cigarettes with help from Nicorette.
Mitt Romney
When it comes to republican candidate Mitt Romney, the presidential hopeful reportedly runs three miles every morning. At age 65, he shoots for about 40 minutes of simple cardio daily either on a jogging trail or treadmill, stationary bike, or elliptical machine. If there’s nowhere to go while he’s traveling during the campaign, he’ll even run around his hotel to reach his three mile goal.
As with the Obamas, the Romneys also stay fit on vacation frequently holding the “Romney Olympics, ” which include such physical feats as a mini-triathlon, nail-hammering competitions, and football-throwing contests.
Romney’s eating habits are very disciplined as well. A typical meal is turkey breast, rice, broccoli, and a glass og water. When he eats pizza, he pulls the saturated-fat-laden cheese off the top and eats it plain. He also ditches the skin on fried chicken at places like KFC.
Though Romney’s eating choices are less well-known than Obama’s, he’s known to enjoy sub sandwiches from restaurants like Quizno’s, Subway, and Jimmy John’s. He also loves ice cream and apparently has a sweet tooth for hot cocoa, muffins, and homemade cookies.
Overall, Romney tries to eat healthy while on the campaign trail, though stops at local greasy joints and fast food eateries are still a semi-frequent occurrence. He enjoys homemade granola that his wife makes and packs for him, as well as fruit and yogurt. Because of his Mormon faith, Romney abstains from all forms of caffeine, but he does enjoy an occasional caffeine-free Coke.
Biden vs Ryan
Though the political focus may be primarily on Obama and Romney, it’s also good to know where the vice presidential hopefuls stand when it comes to staying fit. Vice President Joe Biden stays in shape by focusing on core strength conditioning. While his regimen may not be as strenuous as the other candidates, his running and biking routine is terrific maintenance for his 69-year-old frame. Biden reportedly lifts weights regularly and squeezes in a cardio workout whenever he can.
Considering Paul Ryan is more than 20 years Biden’s junior at just 42 years old, it’s no surprise that he’s in slightly better shape when measured up to the competition.
An avid mountain climber, Ryan has the bragging rights of having scaled 40 out Colorado’s 54 peaks standing 14,000 feet or higher.
It seems no matter where Ryan is residing at any given moment, he is fully committed to a regular workout routine. As we reported earlier this year, the candidate is frequently spotted in the Capitol Hill gym leading his fellow Congress members through workouts. And when he’s on the campaign trail, he hits up the hotel fitness centers to get in a sweat session.
Not to mention, Ryan’s enthusiastic loyalty to the P90X workout has helped boost sales of the 60-minute intense cardio/weightlifting DVDs developed by Tony Horton. In an interview with Politico.com, Ryan said his extreme routine helps keep his body fat percentage between 6 and 8 percent.
Though we couldn’t pin it down to just one clear winner, it seems all of the presidential and vice presidential candidates are in fairly good health. Paul Ryan may have a slight advantage over Biden, but Obama and Romney seem neck and neck! We’ll just have to wait until election day in November to see who the true victors are.
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