Obama Exercise Program: What Keeps Them Moving?

By now, workouts have become an ingrained habit for both Barack and Michelle Obama, says Jim Cauley, a political consultant in Louisville, Ky., who managed Obama's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign.

During that campaign, Cauley says, "Everybody fought for his time. [But] he was adamant he got his workout time."

Even when the schedule was jam-packed. "His logic was always, 'The rest of my time will be more productive if you give me my workout time,'" Cauley tells WebMD. "I never worked out with him, but I can speak to his need for it."

The workout time got penned in, more often than not. "When he had a big moment in the campaign -- like a debate -- we always gave him time," Cauley says. "It was almost part of the debate preparation."

He kept up that same routine during his presidential bid and after he won the election. Last month, it was reported that he had gone to the gym for 90 minutes a day for at least 48 days straight.

Besides using fitness to stay in shape and help clear his head, Cauley thinks Obama saw it as valuable "alone" time, especially after he gave up driving himself to campaign events. "He had less time to himself," he says of those days after he had a driver. He thinks that made the workouts, especially the solo ones, even more precious.

The same seems true for the new first lady, Cauley says. "She used to get up early" to work out, he says. "The two of them are pretty methodical and very into working out." According to press reports, she gets in 90-minute workouts three times a week.