Exclusive Interview: Barack Obama on Health and Fitness

8 Oct 2008 14:00 Africa/Lagos

Exclusive Interview: Barack Obama on Health and Fitness

On Newsstands October 21st, 2008

NEW YORK, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Senator Barack Obama opens up in an exclusive interview in the November issue of Men's Health magazine, on newsstands October 21, 2008, about how health and fitness has driven his success in life, love and leadership. Only weeks from the presidential election, Obama shares how he balances his time on the campaign trail, the promise he made his daughters, how he avoids disappointing others and his personal battle to stay fit and healthy while running for President, which he admits has not been an easy road, "I wish I was getting a 90-minute workout. Most of my workouts have to come before my day starts. There's always a tradeoff between sleep and working out."


(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081008/NY37704 )


On Why He Works Out:

"My blood pressure is pretty low, and I tend to be a healthy eater. So I probably could get away with cutting [my workouts] back a little bit. The main reason I do it is just to clear my head and relieve me of stress. It's a great way to stay focused."


On Staying Healthy On The Campaign Trail:


"I wish I was getting a 90-minute workout. 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 do cardio the next."


On Trying To Quit Smoking:


"There have been a couple of times during the campaign when I fell off the wagon and bummed one, and I had to kick it again. But I figure, seeing as I'm running for president, I need to cut myself a little slack."


"There wasn't some dramatic moment. Michelle had been putting pressure on me for a while. I was never really a heavy smoker. Probably at my peak I was smoking seven or eight a day. More typical was three. So it wasn't a huge challenge with huge withdrawal symptoms."


"Eliminate certain key connections--that first cigarette in the morning, or after a meal, or with a drink. If you can eliminate those triggers, that should help."


On How He Would Improve The Health Of Americans:


"We need to have an awareness built in throughout various agencies charged with improving health. I'll give you a specific example. My grandfather died of prostate cancer. As men age, regular checkups are critical. But it's hard to get them to go in for that mildly unpleasant checkup. Increasing awareness of the difference it could make shouldn't just be the activity of the Department of Health and Human Services."


"A good friend of mine who was the head of the Illinois department of public health designed this wonderful program targeting black men, where health information was provided through barbershops. The idea was that black men underutilize doctors and don't talk about health much. But they go to the barbershop, and that's where they kind of let loose. The department designed programs where clinics at different barbershops would provide various health screenings, talk about prevention. Those kinds of strategies have to be developed and targeted, perhaps, because a lot of the time we're most resistant to going to doctors. That kind of thinking should be embedded in a lot of the work we're doing."


On What He Would Change In The White House:


"We're going to do a thorough evaluation, but it may need an upgrade. The bowling alley, I understand, offers us some potential for expansion."


On Managing His Time on the Campaign Trail:


"I'm part of an organization, and one of the things I really try to push in the organization is to make sure that everybody is focused on the two or three things that are really going to be game changers. I ask them to design my schedule in a way that focuses not just on what's coming at us, but on being active instead of reactive. I think we've been pretty successful. I don't spend a lot of time returning phone calls or e-mails. If somebody needs something, most of the time there's somebody else who can handle it.


"Eliminating TV has been helpful-- I'm still a sucker for Sports Center."


"The most difficult thing is to carve out time to think, which is probably the most important time for somebody who's trying to shift an organization, or in this case, the country, as opposed to doing the same things that have been done before. And I find that time slips away."


On Being a Father and Presidential Candidate:
"The pledge is, they'll get their dog, win or lose."


"Their main concern was, 'When are we going to get a dog?' They did ask about what they called 'secret people,' which were the Secret Service folks. 'Are we going to have to have these people with sunglasses and earpieces following us around all the time?' And I told them, well, not right away. They've adjusted wonderfully. And I've tried to make sure that they haven't had to participate too much in the political process."


"What I've been able to do is create a zone of normalcy for my kids. I have been able to transmit to them my absolute interest in them and my absolute love for them."


"I don't miss the important things. I haven't missed a dance recital. I haven't missed a parent-teacher conference. But there are some things I do miss, and those are some of the tradeoffs you make."


"But, look, there's no question there are sacrifices involved here. I'd like to say that quality time replaces quantity, but sometimes it doesn't. You know, a lot of the best moments of family life happen spontaneously. If you have less time to devote to them, there are fewer of those moments."


What Being A Father Means To Him:


"I would like to think that most of the issues related to my father have been resolved." "That's part of what writing Dreams from My Father was about: understanding him, his own personal tragedy. He wasn't a presence in my life, he was an idea that I had to wrestle with for a long time."


"Somebody once said that every man is either trying to live up to his dad's expectations or make up for his dad's mistakes. And I'm sure I was doing a little bit of both. But I feel that somewhere in my late 20s or early 30s I sort of figured out what his absence had meant. It is part of what I think has made me a pretty good dad. I don't think it would have too much of an impact on my decision-making as president. There's no doubt that it has contributed to my drive. I might not be here had it not been for that absent father prodding me early in life."


On Not Disappointing Himself Or Those Around Him


"I always try to make sure that my expectations are higher than those of the people around me."


"A lot of people have a lot at stake in this election. The American people are having a tough time."


"I never want people to feel as if I've overpromised to them. I try to explain in a real honest way how difficult some of the changes I'm talking about will be. But I never want the effect to be that I'm not working as hard as I can on their behalf...that I'm not continually trying to improve. I'm actually glad for the high expectations."


"One of the interesting things about a campaign like this is that it really does push you to the limit and then some. And it turns out that you have more in your reservoir than you expected."


Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081008/NY37704
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
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Source: Men?s Health magazine

CONTACT: Allison Falkenberry of Men's Health, +1-212-573-0524,
Allison.Falkenberry@rodale.com; or Meghan Holston of Coburn Communication,
Inc., +1-212-382-4450, Meghan.Holston@CoburnWW.com