Beyond Meat has attracted a variety of big names as brand ambassadors over the last 18 months, particularly from the NBA. Stars like Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving and JJ Redick have all stumped for the surging Silicon Valley company’s plant-based beef. It isn’t surprising that professional athletes are finding time to reconsider where they get their protein. It is surprising, however, that the very busy CEO of Beyond Meat, Ethan Brown, is finding time to train like a professional athlete.
That’s right. According to a recent profile by Men’s Health, Brown is still getting after it every day, even as he continues to build out a 400-employee, multi-billion-dollar business. The 49-year-old’s weekly wellness routine includes hoops, vegan protein shakes and a circuit he calls the “Beyond Burner.”
The workout, which Brown completes six days a week, is pretty simple. Thirty minutes of cardio, thirty minutes of strength. For the cardio phase, rowing, running and swimming all qualify (he prefers an old-school Concept2 rower). The key is to keep an intense, tempo-style pace the entire time. For the strength phase, Brown vacillates between a “push” day and a “pull” day. Pushing includes exercises like lunges, thrusts, presses. Pulling including exercises like deadlifts, rows and curls.
Our take? That’s an ideal routine. The cardio base is so important, while alternating between different full body movements is a great way to shock the body and keep the gym exciting. The biggest takeaway here, though, is the very modern story of a burger baron carving out an hour each day to work out. Brown, once a three-sport high school athlete, talks about a personal shift in how he views fitness: it used to mean competition to him, now it’s a necessary ritual, one that offers both productivity and repose. If he can make time for it, so can you. You’ll have earned that burger.
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