Jack LaLanne, whose obsession with grueling workouts and good nutrition, complemented by a salesman’s gift, brought him recognition as the founder of the modern physical fitness movement, died Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay, Calif. He was 96.
The cause was respiratory failure resulting from pneumonia, said his son Dan Doyle.
A self-described emotional and physical wreck while growing up in the San Francisco area, Mr. LaLanne began turning his life around, as he often told it, after hearing a talk on proper diet when he was 15.
He started working out with weights when they were an oddity, and in 1936 he opened the prototype for the fitness spas to come — a gym, juice bar and health food store — in an old office building in Oakland.
“People thought I was a charlatan and a nut,” he remembered. “The doctors were against me — they said that working out with weights would give people heart attacks and they would lose their sex drive.” But Mr. LaLanne persevered, and he found a national pulpit in the age of television.
“The Jack LaLanne Show” made its debut in 1951 as a local program in the San Francisco area, then went nationwide on daytime television in 1959. His short-sleeved jumpsuit showing off his impressive biceps, his props often limited to a broomstick, a chair and a rubber cord, Mr. LaLanne pranced through his exercise routines, most notably his fingertip push-ups.
Several of his lines occur to me. First "Only God can make a machine that wears out if you don't use it". Next, about age and exercise. He said people tell me "Jack, I'm over 40, I got pains.." He said, show me someone over 40 who says he hasn't got pains, he's a liar. No excuse not to exercise. He also said "I never lay in bad at 5:00 in the morning and heard a voice say 'Jack, this is Jesus. You stay in bed, I'll exercise for you'." He was the real thing. No nonsense. Enthusiastic as could be.
Please read my Guidelines For Comments before posting. They are mostly common sense. But as my grandmother was wont to observe, "sense" is not as common as it used to be.
Unless otherwise noted all written material on this blog is copyrighted by the blog owner. All rights are reserved except as stated below.
I generally have no problem with someone quoting Ad Orientem unless it's for commercial purposes or something that's copyrighted other than by me (in either which case kindly ask first). In all cases please be polite and include attribution and a link. Remember good netiquette.
A conscientious effort is made to respect the rights of others when quoting or displaying their work on this blog. As a general rule only excerpts are posted with a link to the original source. Common sense exceptions may include instances where it is believed in good faith that the content falls within the public domain or where the quoted content is so brief that excerpting is not practical.
3 comments:
He was the king! He definitely lived a fruitful life. May he rest in peace.....
Several of his lines occur to me. First "Only God can make a machine that wears out if you don't use it".
Next, about age and exercise. He said people tell me "Jack, I'm over 40, I got pains.." He said, show me someone over 40 who says he hasn't got pains, he's a liar. No excuse not to exercise.
He also said "I never lay in bad at 5:00 in the morning and heard a voice say 'Jack, this is Jesus. You stay in bed, I'll exercise for you'."
He was the real thing. No nonsense. Enthusiastic as could be.
Eternal Memory!
Post a Comment