Northern Ireland

Leo Varadkar once tipped scales at almost 18 stone before developing health and fitness

Leo Varadkar has revealed he once weighed almost 18 stone. Picture by RTÉ
Leo Varadkar has revealed he once weighed almost 18 stone. Picture by RTÉ Leo Varadkar has revealed he once weighed almost 18 stone. Picture by RTÉ

TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar once tipped the scales at almost 18 stone before developing a passion for health and fitness.

The revelation came as the former health and sport minister embarked on a second fitness test after being shocked when a recent assessment declared his 'true age' was 53.

The 40-year-old also revealed he once had a 40 inch waist before beginning a health journey several years ago.

"I used to be very overweight. I was 114kg with a 40-inch waist once upon a time. I’ve managed to improve that over the years," he said.

"Fitness has become part of what I do. I try to train about four times a week, usually first thing in the morning before going into work. It’s usually a mix of high interval training and weights."

The Fine Gael leader was speaking as he embarked on on a new fitness regime with trainer Karl Henry after questioning the results of an assessment during RTÉ's Operation Transformation programme.

Two months ago the health show calculated Mr Varadkar had the overall fitness levels of a 53-year-old, despite his love of exercise and triathlons.

In the latest six-week challenge on Mr Henry's 'Real Health' podcast, he is put through his paces with a fitness evaluation.

The taoiseach scored 34 in a press-up test, in which 35 is an excellent score, and 27 in a sit-up test, in which 41 is an excellent score.

In the 'plank challenge', Mr Varadkar scored two minutes 30 seconds, to which he said: "I can do better than that", while in the 1km run test, he completed it in four minutes 44 seconds, but admitted he does not like treadmills.

The Dublin West TD, who will return to see how his fitness is progressing, currently gets up at 6.30am and trains four days a week at 7am, mixing high-intensity interval and resistance training.

He told the podcast that his journey into health and fitness began when he became sports minister as he felt he could not "preach participation in sport if you don't actually practise it".

"It was a great job to have because it changed my life in so many way," he said.