As if there weren’t already plenty of reasons to be envious of Richard Branson, now you can add his being jacked to the list. The 69-year-old billionaire recently answered Will Smith’s call for him to get active,
Branson took to Twitter to reveal his efforts. “When @willsmith challenged me to get active,” Branson wrote, “I pretended to do some pull ups. But this time I did it for real—here’s the proof. I got six pull ups before the @strivechallenge, no I’m up to 10, aiming to get to 20 this Autumn.”
Branson isn’t relying just on pull ups for his health. In an interview with Men’s Health, Branson revealed, “I get up at 6 in the morning and play a hard game of singles tennis with somebody better than myself. Then if the wind is up, I’ll go kitesurfing and I’m just beginning to do a little bit of weight training to strengthen a body that’s getting on a bit in age.” That weight training is done with his fitness coach, Ronny, and includes both weights and band stretches.
For Branson, and everyone else, the most important part of the workout is being consistent. “The key for everybody is sticking with it—we all know that feeling of the high we get when we do an hour of exercise—I never want to stop getting that wonderful endorphin rush. But it’s easy to stop into a ‘not today, I’ll do it tomorrow’ mindset. You have to keep going even when you don’t feel like it,” explains Branson. “It’s also a good idea to set yourself targets—what are you going to achieve in six months?”
Branson has always been active, and even completed the Virgin Strive Challenge, which consisted of biking, hiking, and kayaking 125 miles across Europe. Branson notes that fitness has been a key to his success. “I seriously doubt that I would have been as successful in my career (and happy in my personal life) if I hadn’t always placed importance on my health and fitness” he wrote in a blog. “I’ve always believed that the fitter you are and the more time you find to look after yourself, the more time you’ll have for everyone else.”
