5-17-08, 9:22 am

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama will appear on Men's Fitness magazine's annual top 25 fittest guys in America list, which will appear on newsstands Monday May 19th.

The list will include NCAA track star and possibly the fastest man in America Walter Dix, pro-football star Reggie Bush, Major League slugger Albert Pujols, platinum-selling singers Justin Timberlake and Dierks Bentley, actors Will Smith and Dennis Quaid, among others. It will be topped by golf legend Tiger Woods.

Citing his competitive spirit, his basketball skills, his grueling campaign schedule, as well as his successful battle with smoking, Men's Fitness listed Barack Obama among the fittest American men.

According to the magazine, Obama 'starts every day with a morning workout, whether it's machines at the hotel gym or a brisk 45-minute run.'

Though the Illinois Senator will sometimes partake in unhealthy foods on the campaign trail when mixing with voters, he 'can be excused for enjoying the occasional state-fair corn dog because he mostly stays away from fatty foods.'

His skills on the court, which go back to his high school days, have earned him the nickname 'Barry O'Bomber.'

A recent profile on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel revealed Obama's love of playing point guard and his inability to drive to his right on the court. Passing and the inside game are his strengths, while his mediocre outside jumpshot probably kept him out of the starting line-up in college. Overall, however, ball hogging just isn't in his game.

'When I watch a good basketball game, or play in a good basketball game,' he told Gumbel, 'it makes me feel good.'

Obama regularly takes time out of his busy schedule to play pick-up games with veterans and other basketball enthusiasts at local courts on his campaign stops.

Obama's supporters insist that his point-guard skills on the court will translate into solid presidential qualities in the Oval Office.

--Reach Joel Wendland at