WASHINGTON – Paul Ryan’s dogged commitment to fitness and healthy living can be traced to 1986 when, at age 16, he found his father dead of a heart attack in the family’s Janesville, Wis., home.

The elder Ryan had become the latest male relative to die prematurely and Ryan wanted to avoid a similar fate.

Today, the 42-year-old Wisconsin congressman boasts of body fat between just 6 and 8 percent. He shuns sweets – even on his birthday. He holds early-morning workouts for colleagues in the House gym, favoring a high-intensity routine called P90X.