Bob Carr’s take on Romania(n Deadlifts)

Despite the rigours of international diplomacy sapping Carr's available time, the former NSW Premier has only missed one PT session in 10 years.

By Daniel Williams

AGE: 66
TOP JOBS: Premier of NSW (1995-2005). Minister for Foreign Affairs (2012-2013)
HEIGHT: 186cm
WEIGHT: 79kg
BODY-FAT PERCENTAGE: 15.5
TRAINING SESSIONS PER WEEK: 6

Often portrayed by his rivals as an elitist egghead happiest devouring American history in the corner of a boutique café, Bob Carr has emerged as a devotee of the iron who’s constantly on the hunt for good food.

Crashing one of his sessions at a Fitness First gym in Sydney’s CBD, Men’s Health watches him squat to a depth that would put many footballers to shame. When he’s done torching his legs, he punches out multiple sets of dumbbell bench presses with 25 kilograms in each fist.

Later, whether working the chin bar or on the floor doing planks, kettlebell swings or sled pushes, a sweat-soaked Carr impresses with his attention to form and a level of intensity (faintly) reminiscent of bodybuilding great Dorian Yates.

Originally wanting to add size, Carr now finds himself at the gym for the post-workout endorphin kick.

“He’s an extremely dedicated trainer,” says Carr’s longstanding PT Lisa Korn. “In 10 years he’s missed one session. Despite a crazy schedule, he’s never used work or fatigue as an excuse to slacken off.”

Outside the gym, the statesman reviews his training history. “I came to it from a skinny boy’s perspective, from wanting to be bigger,” says Carr over a post-workout nibble. “But right now it’s just that I feel so damn good after exercise!”

MORE: Train like a Game of Thrones bastard

While you mightn’t share Carr’s passion for Wagner’s Siegfried (with or without subtitles), his everyday travails as a man trying to shoehorn workouts and healthy meals into hectic days and nights – as detailed in his latest book, Diary of a Foreign Minister – will resonate with any man who’s serious about his fitness.

The hard truth: If Carr could maintain his admirable muscle/fat ratio while adhering to a punishing, helter-skelter schedule of international diplomacy, what’s your excuse for packing on the lard this winter?

Why a daily stroll doesn’t cut it

“I focused on walking in my 30s, 40s and 50s, and when I was Premier I’d go on one-hour walks of an evening with my bodyguard,” says Carr. “But as I see it, walking is no more exercise than sandwiches are food. If you’re looking to improve fitness or burn fat then I prefer 30 minutes of bodyweight exercise or intervals on a stationary bike or cross trainer.”

Seat of power

Like Australia’s global standing, Carr wants his body built on firm foundations. Here’s one of his go-to leg workouts

WALKING LUNGES

With a dumbbell in each hand, head up and chest out, take long, alternate strides until the extended thigh is parallel to the floor, ensuring your knee stays in line with your toes. Do 4 sets of 10 reps per leg.

BARBELL SQUATS

Standing straight with your feet hip-width apart and abs braced, bend your upper body forward slightly and squat until your upper legs are horizontal. Drive up to the starting position. Do 4 sets of 10 reps.

SINGLE-LEG ROMANIAN DEADLIFTS

Standing tall, squeeze your right glute and, with control, raise your right leg straight behind you, keeping it in line with your torso, until your body and raised leg are parallel with the floor. Gradually add load via dumbbells. Do 4 sets of 10 reps per leg.

CALF RAISES

With a moderately heavy barbell across your back, rise up on your toes, holding for two seconds to feel a stretch in your calves. Do 4 sets of 10 reps.

Damage control

Work-related lunches and dinners (state functions in Carr’s case) where you’re at the mercy of set menus can sabotage your clean diet. Here are Carr’s top-two tips for achieving diplomatic immunity from weight gain.

1. Eat beforehand “A snack of activated nuts or avocado before you go takes the edge off your hunger and means you won’t reach for a bread roll or anything else that’s going.”
2. Send a message Tell someone with clout – in advance – that “you won’t have salt in anything and you want grilled salmon rather than a great lump of somnolent, grain-fed beef”.

How a fit body helped Carr save the world

“There’s no choice. There’s no alternative. If I flew all the way to the Middle East, went to a hotel and showered, and then had to go and meet three leaders in quick succession, I tell you the benefit of having exercised before you left Sydney is very real. If you did a short burst of intense exercise, you still had that oxygen pumping, even after 14 hours on a plane.”

Your jetlag-busting eating plan

“Sometimes you have layer upon layer of jet lag,” says Carr, who subdued it with smart eating aimed at stabilising energy release.

Breakfast: Oats (steel-cut, of course) with berries, as well as poached eggs and Mexican beans.
Lunch and dinner: Home-cooked slabs of salmon, kangaroo, chicken, turkey or grass-fed beef teamed with veg.
Diplomatic advice: Feast on the good stuff so you’re not tempted by junk, Carr advises: “I haven’t eaten a biscuit in 30 years.”

Power players

Carr wasn’t the only fitness-conscious player on the world stage. With a backwards glance to the fleshy frames of Taft, Churchill and Whitlam, he observes: “There is a new breed.”

Barack Obama: “Sat with him at dinner at the G20 and watched him reject anything that was sugary or carb-heavy. A steely resolve.”
John Kerry: The US Secretary of State is “as lean as I am,” says Carr. “He’s super-fit and obviously does a lot of cardio.”
David Petraeus: Our man bonded with the former director of the CIA by asking him how he exercised that morning. “He is in that elite of Americans: the lean Americans.”
Tony Abbott: “His attention to cardio is relentless, and I think that explains his energy.”

Ripped Geeks

High-school dux Carr follows in the sweat-soaked trail of other movers-and-shakers who combined brains and brawn

Socrates: The father of Western philosophy believed every bloke should achieve his physical potential: “What a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”
Leonardo da Vinci: Between inventing the helicopter and painting the Mona Lisa he worked tirelessly at sculpting an enviably athletic frame – his own.
Benjamin Franklin: The polymath was a superb swimmer until illness intruded in later life. He advocated lifting weights, sleeping in cold rooms and drinking a lot of water.
Ned Flanders: Springfield’s God-fearing super-nerd stunned all whenever he removed his green jumper to reveal a unit jacked to the max.