The King of Fitness

Jack LaLanne turned 93 on September 26, 2007, and that is hard to believe. He doesn’t look it! In public, young people flock to him and older people feel Jack has found the Fountain of Youth. 

Jack LaLanne is America’s Number 1 Physical Fitness Expert and Guru, and is often called the “Godfather of Fitness”. Jack admits it was not always this way. “As a kid,” he flatly states, “I was a sugarholic and a junk food junkie! It made me weak and it made me mean. It made me so sick I had boils, pimples and suffered from nearsightedness. Little girls used to beat me up. My mom prayed… the Church prayed.” It was at the age of 15, when he heard pioneer nutritionist Paul Bragg speak at the Oakland City Women’s Club in San Francisco Bay Area, Jack finally realized that he was addicted to sugar. Bragg promised Jack if he would exercise and eat a proper diet he could regain good health. Jack listened attentively and was fiercely determined to walk away from that lecture ready to build a totally new Jack LaLanne. 

He discovered that the Berkeley YMCA had a set of weights and began experimenting with them and before long, Jack was able to attain the muscular, healthy body of his dreams. “I became a voracious reader and I absorbed everything that would help me to improve myself.  Gray’s Anatomy was my bible. During college, I studied pre-med to become a medical doctor and I also went to Chiropractic College and graduated; however, I was more interested in helping people by convincing them to take preventative measures, before they became ill.”  Resolving to help others find the secrets to health and fitness, LaLanne opened the nation’s first modern health studio in 1936 on the third floor of an old office building in Oakland, California, paying $45 per month for rent. Jack was a mere 21 years old. “I was 40 years ahead of my time,” he said, “but by then I knew more about the workings of the muscles in my body than most doctors. People thought I was a charlatan and a nut,” Jack says, “The doctors were against me – they said that working out with weights would give people heart attacks and they would lose their sex drive.  Women would look like men and even varsity coaches predicted that their athletes would get muscle bound and banned them from lifting weights. I had to give these athletes keys so they could come in at night and work out in my gym.  Time has proven that what I was doing was scientifically correct; starting with a healthy diet followed by systematic exercise and today everyone knows it. All world class athletes now work out with weights, as do many members of the general public, both male and female.”

Over time, Jack began to formulate a basic approach to physical fitness and nutrition. His methods would be scientifically sound as he developed the first prototypes of exercise equipment presently available in contemporary health spas.  His inventions include:  the first leg extension machine and the first pulley machines using cables and the first weight selectors. He was the first to have women work out with weights and he also encouraged the disabled and elderly to exercise for health. “There are 640 muscles in the human body,” Jack explains, “and I take every one of them into account as I plan each exercise routine.”

Jack’s reputation began to spread and by the early 1950’s, he was given the opportunity to utilize the new medium of television to reach even more people. Ever the innovator, Jack used television to reach out to millions of Americans everywhere with his gospel message of get out of your chair, work out and feel better. He was magnetic and the public responded! His motivational message spread across the country like wildfire and his show
was an instant nationwide hit! Jack LaLanne believes in daily, vigorous, systematic exercise and proper diet. “My top priority in life is my workout each day.” Jack LaLanne lives by what he says to others, and he has been doing it for over 75 years.  Much of what Jack LaLanne has advocated
through his teaching and beliefs has become common knowledge today.
Today’s doctors and fitness experts all acknowledge daily systematic and
proper diet as the principle keys to a longer healthier life.

Jack’s wife, Elaine, has written four books including Dynastride,
Fitness After 50 and Fitness After 50 Workout, as well as a juicing book called Total Juicing. Jack has millions of fans all over the world who
have followed his philosophy and have benefited from his teachings. Jack’s book, Revitalize Your Life is geared toward improving your looks, health and overall wellbeing.

Today with the advent of the video and digital technology, Jack also has videos and DVD’s available that are designed for results. They are:

• The Jack LaLanne Way and The Jack LaLanne Show Commemorative Special - contains two-hours of five-day exercises with original shows from the 50’s and 60’s.
• Jack LaLanne’s Forever Young: Exercise at Any Age - ten separate exercise segments plus some helpful tips on fitness and nutrition.
• Back to Basics: Chair Exercises.
• The Fountain of Youth: Hydronastics Exercise Video - water exercise video.
• Face-A-Tonics - designed as a workout for the facial and neck muscles.

Additionally, Jack has just released two new projects on DVD and CD:
The Jack LaLanne Show Collectors Edition Volume One - a DVD containing five complete Jack LaLanne Shows from the early 1960’s.
Full Body Audio – a CDwhich is jam-packed with exercises for the entire body with Jack there every step of the way to motivate the listener.

 Jack also has a fantastic singing voice and has made a record singing with Connie Haines. The Hollywood community recently awarded Jack a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during his 88th birthday to commemorate his life long achievements.Currently, Jack is recognized around the world for his amazing Jack LaLanne Power Juicer. He makes numerous commercials and infomercials promoting this qualityproduct and also continues to reach people through his television appearances, the videos previously mentioned, and local television spot where he tapes a weekly program of tips for daily healthy living with his wife, Elaine. The show originates from KSBY, an NBC affiliate in San Luis Obispo, CA and is broadcast to many other markets throughout the United States. Jack has recently completed a cookbook named Cooking With Jack - Eat Right and You Can’t Go Wrong, which will beout in the very near future. He is currently co-authoring a financial planning guide wherein he stresses that “your health account should be as strong as your bank account to live a long and fruitful life.”  He also travels together with his wife around the world lecturing and inspiring people to greater heights through exercise and nutrition. When asked about the difference between then and now, Jack laughs and replies with a gleam in his eye, “It is most gratifying for me to see that everything that I was preaching and advocating for over 75 years has come to fruition. Then I was a crackpot and a charlatan, today I am an authority… and believe me I can’t die, it would ruin my image.”