Running in the fast lane - Special Section on Health and Fitness

Ebony, July, 1993

High-stakes players work hard and exercise hard

WHETHER their itinerary calls for an all-day meeting at the White House or hopping a plane to do lunch on the opposite coast, regular exercise time holds a sacred spot on the filled-to-the-second schedules of the beautiful, the famous and the powerful.

Take, for instance, 24-year-old actress Halle Berry and 65-year-old international star Eartha Kitt. Neither woman allows the daily rigors of a prime-time career (Berry is currently shooting the upcoming Steven Spielberg-produced comedy The Flintstones, while Kitt performs on the road 40 weeks per year) to interfere with her exercise time. Why? Despite their obviously lucky draws from the gene pool, for both women, exercise is as much about health as it is about beauty.

For others, like presidential adviser Vernon Jordan and Xerox Executive Vice President A. Barry Rand, exercise can be more than just a way to stay in shape. For when your daily schedule is filled with serious issues like the intricacies of Washington politics and million-dollar budgets, a good workout can be a badly needed stress-buster, a way to reduce tension and have a little fun.

Favorite activities vary widely. Golf with the president, shooting hoops with the homeboys, weight training with a personal trainer--you name it, these luminaries do it. There is, however, one common link: the role exercise plays in their sense of well-being and their determination to find the time to do it.

Here, then, is the scoop on the favorite workouts of five of the busiest--and most powerful--people in business, politics and entertainment.

VERNON JORDAN

Vernon Jordan, the high-level Washington lawyer who has been called "Mr. Inside," sits on more major corporate boards than any other Black and is a key adviser to the Clinton Administration.

Like almost all runners in the fast lane, he knows that a fast and vigorous fitness program complements and gives added zest and style to a fast and vigorous political and economic style. And so, despite or perhaps because of his hectic business and professional schedule, the partner in the law firm of Aiken, Gump, Haver and Feld maintains a full fitness program on the tennis court and the golf course.

In his case, as in the cases of others who operate at his level, tennis appointments and golf dates are penciled in the daily diary along with major business and political appointments. In some cases, in fact, they are the same thing. But for Jordan and other high-stakes players, the game is the thing, and is pursued with the same zeal as major business deals. The Washington lawyer is an excellent tennis player who plays with other powerbrokers and who schedules a weekly tennis match with his wife, Ann, an excellent tennis player who also sits on several corporate boards.

Three years ago, the former president of the National Urban League expanded his beachhead, taking up golf, which is the game of choice of most major business and political leaders. Jordan, who has played golf with President Clinton and some of the biggest names in the political and corporate elite, says the game is relaxing, invigorating and addictive, adding: "I have become a golf freak."

JEWELL JACKSON McCABE

"I started dancing when I was 3 years old," says National Coalition of 100 Black Women founder and president Jewell Jackson McCabe. A college dance major, McCabe has made exercise a part of her life ever since.

It shows. At 47, thanks to a vigorous fitness routine, her size-8 figure is eyecatching. Three times a week, before she leaves her New York apartment to face the rigors of running her own consulting firm, McCabe does at least 20 minutes of aerobic exercise. "It's as much a part of my regimen as brushing my teeth," she says.

On weekends, McCabe picks up the pace considerably, putting herself through two-hour workouts on Saturday and Sunday. She's also taken up golf "for professional and personal reasons."

Even on the frequent occasions when she is out of town for a meeting or speech, McCabe finds creative ways to exercise. "A lot of times I'll find the Black radio station in the city and do 20 minutes of dancing or running in place," she says.

Why such dedication to exercise? "It gives you energy and keeps you young," says McCabe, noting that "after a certain age you can't lose weight without it." But most important, she says, is the sense of well-being exercise provides. "Physical fitness is really about health--mental and physical," she explains. "It reduces stress and gives you peace and tranquility. A strong body works in tandem with a strong mind."

EARTHA KITT

"I start every day with exercise," says the original Catwoman, legendary entertainer Eartha Kitt.

At 65, her 36-24-36 figure is a testament to the importance she places on a daily workout. When the Emmy, Tony and Oscar-nominated star isn't traveling, she begins every morning with a 4-to-6-mile walk around her 77-acre farm in Connecticut. "I start by jogging or speed walking for 20 minutes to get a fast pulse," says Kitt. "And when I'm in condition, I add 2-1/2-pound weights to my ankles and wrists."