HomeCelebListsWashington political figures' fitness

Washington political figures’ fitness

Politics isn’t a sport, but a surprising number of people in D.C. train like it is. Between retired Army colonels, a former Navy SEAL, a pro MMA fighter turned senator, and a Defense Secretary who keeps posting his PT sessions online, Capitol Hill and the Cabinet are stacked with people who take their conditioning seriously.

It’s become a real political story too. Pete Hegseth spent much of 2025 rewriting military fitness and grooming standards, telling a room full of generals at Quantico that the Pentagon was done with “fat generals and admirals.” That put body composition, PT tests and height-weight tables back in the news cycle for the first time in years.

Here are 10 Washington figures whose fitness is actually part of their public record — with the stats, the training, and the receipts.

1. Pete Hegseth

Image: U.S. Department of Defense / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Born June 6, 1980, Hegseth stands around 6 ft and played basketball at Princeton before commissioning into the Army National Guard, where he earned two Bronze Stars and deployed to Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s an open CrossFit guy who regularly films himself doing PT alongside service members.

As Defense Secretary he ordered a single, sex-neutral fitness standard for combat arms jobs, revived twice-yearly height and weight screenings, and pushed body-composition checks for senior officers. No Pentagon chief in decades has made personal conditioning this central to the job.

2. Kimberly Guilfoyle

Image: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Born March 9, 1969, Guilfoyle is listed at about 5 ft 7 in. Before Fox News and politics, she modeled to help pay her way through law school — including catalog work — and she’s kept a lean, camera-ready frame into her mid-50s.

Trump named her his pick for U.S. Ambassador to Greece in December 2024. The former prosecutor has spent 20-plus years on television, and her gym habits have been a recurring topic in profiles of her since her San Francisco DA’s office days.

3. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Image: Office of the Director of National Intelligence / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sworn in as Health and Human Services Secretary in February 2025 at age 71, Kennedy has turned his own training into messaging. Videos of him banging out push-ups and pull-ups at Gold’s Gym in Venice went viral during his campaign, and shirtless photos of him in his 70s did the rounds too.

He’s listed around 6 ft and backed the July 2025 executive order reinstating the Presidential Fitness Test in schools.

4. Tulsi Gabbard

Image: Xplormtn / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Born April 12, 1981, the Director of National Intelligence is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve with two Middle East deployments. In 2007 she was the first woman to finish as distinguished honor graduate at the Alabama Military Academy’s officer candidate course — beating every male cadet in her class.

Gabbard grew up surfing in Hawaii, practices yoga and has been vegetarian for years. At around 5 ft 7 in, she’s one of the few senior officials who could pass an Army PT test on short notice.

5. Markwayne Mullin

Image: The White House / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Oklahoma senator, born July 26, 1977, is a former collegiate wrestler and professional MMA fighter with a 3-0 pro record. He returned to the cage for a charity bout well into his congressional career.

Mullin made national news in November 2023 when he stood up in a Senate HELP Committee hearing and challenged Teamsters president Sean O’Brien to fight him on the spot. Bernie Sanders had to gavel it down.

6. Dan Crenshaw

Image: Staff Sgt. Ryan Sheldon / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Born March 14, 1984, the Texas congressman served a decade as a Navy SEAL and was medically retired as a lieutenant commander after an IED blast in Helmand Province in June 2012 took his right eye.

Crenshaw kept training through it all — a committed lifter and endurance guy who’s talked openly about using hard physical work as a mental health tool. He still trains like the operator he was.

7. Joni Ernst

Born July 1, 1970, Ernst retired in 2015 as a lieutenant colonel after 23 years in the Army Reserve and Iowa Army National Guard, including a deployment to Kuwait and Iraq.

She’s a regular on RAGBRAI, the week-long bike ride across Iowa covering about 400-plus miles in seven days — a brutal annual effort most members of Congress wouldn’t survive one leg of.

8. Nancy Mace

Mace, born December 4, 1977, became the first woman to graduate from The Citadel’s Corps of Cadets in 1999 — clearing the same physical standards as every male cadet in Charleston.

She’s stayed a distance runner since and frequently posts about early-morning training. For a job that runs on late votes and worse food, she’s one of the more consistent gym-goers in the House.

9. Cory Booker

At 6 ft 3 in, Booker was a high school All-American football player and a tight end at Stanford. He’s been vegan since 2014.

In April 2025 he delivered the longest Senate floor speech in history — 25 hours and 5 minutes — prepping by fasting for days and cutting off water so he wouldn’t need a bathroom break. He dealt with heavy cramping by the end. That’s an endurance event by any definition.

10. George W. Bush

At 5 ft 11 in and around 190 lbs in office, Bush ran the 1993 Houston Marathon in 3:44:52 and was clocking about 6:45–7:00 miles as president. His White House physicals repeatedly placed him in the top percentiles of fitness for men his age.

Knee problems pushed him off the road and onto a mountain bike, and in 2011 he launched the W100K Warrior Ride, a multi-day off-road ride with wounded veterans at his Crawford ranch.

Fitness in Washington isn’t just vanity — for the veterans on this list it’s a holdover from careers where it was a job requirement, and for Hegseth it’s now official Pentagon policy. Expect the PT test debate to keep running well into 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the fittest political figure in Washington?

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tops the list. The former Army National Guard officer and Princeton basketball player is an open CrossFit devotee who regularly films PT sessions alongside service members.

How were the Washington figures on this fitness list chosen?

Each entry has fitness as part of their public record — documented military service, PT standards, published training habits or widely circulated workout footage, with stats and receipts attached.

Why is political fitness a news story in 2025 and 2026?

Pete Hegseth spent much of 2025 rewriting military fitness and grooming standards, telling generals at Quantico the Pentagon was done with “fat generals and admirals,” which pushed PT tests and height-weight tables back into the news.

Which Washington figures have military fitness backgrounds?

The list includes retired Army colonels, a former Navy SEAL, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve with two Middle East deployments — and Hegseth, who earned two Bronze Stars.

Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. still working out in his 70s?

Yes. Sworn in as HHS Secretary in February 2025 at age 71, Kennedy went viral for push-ups and pull-ups at Gold’s Gym in Venice and backed the July 2025 executive order reinstating the Presidential Fitness Test in schools.