Yahoo News Richard Branson's Workout Routine is Insane
Billionaire businessman and serial entrepreneur Richard Branson is on a quest to get you, and everyone else on the planet, healthier.
He’s nothing if not up for the challenge. The dashing, daredevil-adventurer (the 2016 documentary “Don’t Look Down” was made about his near-death and other hot-air ballooning experiences including crossing the Atlantic) is known for manifesting the big ideas other people just dream about. And he does it with his signature, charismatic flair that makes it seem as if he’s actually having fun.
Virgin Group, the British multinational corporation venture capital conglomerate founded by Branson, has forayed into music, airlines, mobile communication, financial services, trains, wine, retail, health services - even spaceflight. Next up: Virgin Sport. Imagine a music festival with fitness, designed to bring families together in actual real life - not 'my-God-I’m-just-sitting here-getting-fatter-mindlessly-scrolling-on-Facebook' virtual life.
“People’s bodies are screaming for relief and screaming for activity and nature,” says Branson. And he wants to give it to you. Virgin Sport festivals have already been held in San Francisco and London and his team (including Virgin Sport CEO Virgin Sport CEO Mary Wittenberg, former President/CEO of New York Road Runners and Race Director for the New York City Marathon) are taking a mind/body/spirit approach to health incorporating yoga and other mindfulness practices into the events. Branson, who's said that 'ah-ha' moments around business and other ideas have come to him while playing tennis and other sports, chats with us about his fitness regime, the difference between fitness in America and the UK, and more.
What does your average workout routine consist of?
I get up every morning at around 5:30 and I go and play tennis with somebody who’s better than me - good, hard, singles tennis - and every day I try to get better than them. Then, if the wind is up, I’ll go kitesurfing. I repeat all of that in the evening and have a lot of fun doing it.
Is exercise crucial to your success as a businessperson?
There’s no question that when it comes to running a business with 80,000 people spread out all over the world and doing a lot of traveling in between, and being 67 years old, that everything flows from [fitness.] If I didn’t keep fit and healthy I would not be enjoying life in the way that I do.
I notice that if I can get up in the morning and play tennis, go kitesurfing, do a little bit of swimming, and jump on a paddle board - the rest of the day goes swimmingly. And when the sun starts setting down in the evening I’m back out again enjoying myself, getting fit and having some fun.
Do you think Americans approach fitness differently than Brits?
U.S. people are slightly heavier - I think that’s fair - than, say, European people. And if you’re going to have to generalize, I suspect that has to do with the quality of the food in the U.S., which is by and large, pretty unhealthy. So, yeah, the need may be slightly greater in the U.S., but I think every country - everybody in the world needs to get out and move their bodies.
Tell us about Virgin Sport. What was the impetus behind it?
At Virgin over the years, I’ve set up climbing mountain challenges, hiking challenges, and bike riding challenges - many of which I've done with my family. We wanted to come up with a way for families everywhere to participate in similar challenges. I was talking with my son-in-law, Freddie Andrews, during a fairly grueling bike ride through the mountains of Capetown when he was pitching the idea, and in order to get him off my back I just said “yes”.
What can people expect at the events?
Think of a music festival with camping, bonfires, and physical challenges that try to make fitness something the whole family can participate in.
It also seems like an opportunity to connect with other people in real life - not just behind a screen.
The camaraderie is a big part of it. I just did a fitness challenge with my kids in Italy and Switzerland and I never would have made it if I weren’t doing it with other people.
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