What is it about CEOs and their intense — and often oddball — workout routines?
These days, some top corporate honchos take their exercise rituals to extremes. Consider P.F. Chang’s CEO Damola Adamolekun, who recently told Fortune that he begins each day waking up at 4:30 a.m. and then running for seven to eight miles. He explained that the routine stimulates his nervous system and sets the tone for the day ahead. “You’ll feel better the whole day; you’ll be smarter, you’ll be sharper, you’ll be more energetic,” he said.
But Adamolekun is in good company when it comes to training hard. Here are how five other executives break into a sweat and otherwise stay healthy.
Jack Dorsey
The Twitter co-founder who now heads the tech conglomerate Block, Inc.
SQ,
does it all: two-hour meditations, food fasts (he has said he eats only once a day during the week and has almost no food on the weekends) and alternating saunas and ice baths. But he isn’t a gym rat: Dorsey gets his main exercise by walking one hour and 15 minutes every day. “I might look a little bit more like I’m jogging than I’m walking. It’s refreshing … It’s just this one of those take-back moments where you’re like, ‘Wow, I’m alive!’” he once observed.
Mark Zuckerberg
The Meta
META,
chief isn’t one to get up at the crack of dawn, according to GQ, but he still runs three times a week after getting out of bed. “I also try to take my dog running whenever I can, which has the added bonus of being hilarious because that’s basically like seeing a mop run,” he told GQ. As for diet, he once was said to experiment with an eating plan that involved only devouring animals he had killed himself — say, freshly-slaughtered goat for dinner. But he also apparently skips meals – or at least he said as much in a 2021 Facebook post. “Do you ever get so excited about what you’re working on that you forget to eat meals?” he asked.
Richard Branson
Kite surfing, anyone? The founder of the Virgin Group swears by it as one of his favorite ways to stay fit, according to Men’s Health. And he once even crossed the English Channel by kite surfing. Other Branson activities: tennis and biking. He’ll also work with a trainer if he’s on the road, but otherwise he likes to exercise outdoors on his private island in the British Virgin Islands. “I just want to be sure that when I’m 150, my body still looks as good as it is today,” said Branson, who’s currently 72.
Alex Karp
The head of software company Palantir Technologies takes advantage of the fact he lives near the White Mountains of New Hampshire, so he has a regular cross-country skiing routine. Key to his approach: taking it slow on the slopes, he told Axios. “To run like a deer, you have to spend 90% of your time running like a snail,” he explained, adding that his unhurried pace “builds a cardio base.” He also adds tai chi and stretching to his routines. But he isn’t 100% fussy about his diet. “If I’m traveling and someone has a really nice Danish, I enjoy every minute of eating it,” he said.
Martha Stewart
The 81-year-old lifestyle entrepreneur and founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has been in the spotlight for her recent cover appearance in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. So, what does she do to stay in shape for beach season? Stewart swears by pilates, according to various media reports. And she goes horseback riding. She also says she doesn’t smoke, eats very well and drinks a healthy glass of “green juice” every morning, made with pears, cucumbers, celery stalks, parsley, fresh ginger and two oranges (with the rinds on). “This is so spectacular,” she said of her special recipe.
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