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The good old days weren’t. They were full of racism and sexism far worse than what exists today. But the odd exception exists. One exception was Jack LaLanne. In more modern times, there was the fat-shaming train wreck gameshow The Biggest Loser, but in those occasionally good old days we had The Jack LaLanne Show.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: September 28, 1951--
I spent a decade as a fitness writer, authoring columns for the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. Believe when I say that The Biggest Loser was a prime example of how NOT to get healthy. It was sick, twisted, unsustainable, and it’s amazing no one died. Conversely, Jack LaLanne was a fitness innovator. He came on the scene as technology was allowing Americans to become more sedentary, and convinced people of the benefits of regular exercise. He opened one of the first weightlifting gyms in the U.S. in Oakland in 1936. Many medical experts of the time scoffed. They alleged that lifting weights would cause hemorrhoids and erectile dysfunction, and that women would look like men and athletes would become muscle-bound.
Jack inspired people with amazing physical feats to show what a body could do. When he was 42, he did 1,033 push-ups in only 23 minutes. On his 70th birthday he swam a mile through the strong currents of Long Beach Harbor while towing 70 rowboats carrying 70 people. While handcuffed. Holy shit.
Jack broke new ground in fitness, and people paid attention to him because of it. He completed these feats seemingly as a challenge to the rest of the world that said, “Let’s see you do that!” And he really did want us to do that. His TV show began broadcasting locally in San Francisco on September 28, 1951 and was nationally syndicated in 1959, running until 1985. It was enthusiastic and inclusive, encouraging people to do what they could, to seek enjoyment in movement and healthier eating. LaLanne often spoke of how exercise was supposed to be enjoyable, not some endless drudgery of ah I fuckin’ hate this make it stop. His ever-present smile spoke volumes, and his exuberance for fitness inspired many. Jack taught us that if you didn’t use it, you were going to lose it. But he also worked to convince many older people that if they had lost it, it was never too late to get it back.
Jack was motivated to help others because he had experience with being both physically and mentally unhealthy. As a teen he described himself as a “junk food junkie” who suffered from bulimia. He lacked direction, dropped out of school at 14, and was prone to episodes of violence. “I was a miserable goddamn kid,” Jack said. “It was hell.” Jack’s father died at the age of 50 from heart disease, but the young man was inspired by a lecture on diet and exercise and it changed his life, then he changed the lives of many others.
Jack LaLanne lived for 96 years and was active, spry and almost superhuman right up to the end. Hell yes.
HEY! My friend at Vagina Devil Magic and I did partnering pieces today. Go read the other side of this story here on her Facebook page.
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My grandmother used to just sit and watch Jack LaLane when I was a child. Seeing that photo above, now I know why she couldn't get enough of him :-0. Too bad she never did the exercises, but something tells me her heart rate was, nevertheless, elevated.