Barack Obama has given a candid update on his health, joking that his wife has him beat in the looks department and explaining why his basketball days are mostly behind him.

Former president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama gave an interview to People magazine around the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago earlier this month.

The pair talked about staying active, aging, and how they keep fit.

Protecting the knees
Obama, 64, has long been a basketball fan, but admitted he won’t be running up and down the court at the new Home Court facility inside the presidential center.

“I am not running up and down that court because I want to protect my knees and my Achilles. I don’t want to be in a boot,” he said. He added that straight-line movement is fine but anything sideways has him worried about something going wrong.

He is not giving up entirely though.

“Now I will take folks on for a game of Horse,” he said.

“We can have some shooting contests.”

Obama claims he looks worse than his wife
When the conversation turned to his health more broadly, Obama was self-deprecating. Gesturing toward Michelle sitting beside him, he said:

“I feel good. I mean look, I don’t look as good as her.”

Michelle pushed back immediately.

“Of course you do,” she told him, putting it down to the fact that he refuses to dye his hair, to which Obama replied it would simply be too much work.