Raising the bar At 88, fitness guru Jack LaLanne can run circles around those half his age

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 19 January 2003 | Sam McManis

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Morro Bay (San Luis Obispo County) -- This figures to be the last place you would find Jack LaLanne, fitness icon to countless Americans of a certain age, on a gloriously sunny afternoon along the Central Coast. But there he is, supine on a sofa. His shoes are kicked off, his nose buried in a newspaper. The man is, for maybe the first time in his 88 years, completely at rest. In fact, he is not moving.

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Some of the biggest bums in this world are Hollywood people. They're drunkards, do dope, don't exercise."

Lol, get 'em Jack.

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Click the pics for larger pic and captions.

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[MeekOneGOP]

This is the Jack LaLanne I remember when I was a kid. He had a show. Thanks for posting this...

[csvset]

I remember his show as well. I had no idea he was such a problem child.

[dtel]

I second that, thanks for posting this.
I grew up watching LaLanne every morning and doing the exercises right along with him.
I have lived by the stuff at the very end of the article.
Bookmarked,
And thank you, Jack, for getting me started on the right road.

[OldPossum]

A good article overall. I suppose that being the newspaper it is, though, they had to word it this way: He made a pact with his deity

Normal people would say "He made a pact with God."

[MeekOneGOP]

I remember his show as well. I had no idea he was such a problem child.

Wow. Now you're makin' me look at the article and read part of it.

He was a troubled boy, willful and unruly. His mother nicknamed him tete de mule -- "head like a mule." Twice he tried to kill his brother Norman -- once with an ax, the other time with a butcher knife. Norman, six years older than Jack, was already out of the house in Berkeley and away from harm's way when Jack turned 15 in 1929 and tried to kill himself. He failed, just as he failed at school and at sports and in his one attempt to burn the house down.

This scrawny kid was a mess, and, finally, his mother found the source of his problem. He was a substance abuser. That substance was sugar. Always ahead of his time, LaLanne was a bulimic before the medical term had even been coined.

[backhoe]

Some of my early TV memories are of Jack and Happy- thanks for posting this, and I'm glad the old boy is doing OK.

[csvset]

At 60, he swam from Alcatraz to Fisherman's Wharf while handcuffed and towing a 1,000- pound boat.

I remember when he did that. The guy is still in fantastic shape!

[backhoe]

My Father died right before his 95th birthday, and he really did not start going downhill until blood loss from surgery in his late eighties reduced his ability- and will- to exercise.

Up to that point, every morning when he woke up, he'd do 100 push-ups, 100 deep-knee bends, and 100 sit-ups... and if the weather permitted, swim a mile.

And yes, he smoked most of his life, and liked "a snort of Wild Turkey..."

I am really happy to hear that Jack is still alive and well, and what he says makes a whole lot of sense.

[JCG]

25 years ago I got a fascinating news flyer from Paul C. Bragg. He claimed he had "saved" Jack LaLanne. I always wondered if he had exaggerated his claim. Bragg was an interesting character who also lived to be quite old -- and quite healthy.

America's Fifth Column ... watch Steve Emerson/PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
New Link: Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)

Who is Steve Emerson?

[Porterville]

Yeah, but at least I can eat candy and ice cream.

[csvset]

Here's a page from the Bragg website.

Jack LaLanne tells how Paul C. Bragg started him on the road to health over 73 years ago!

[Freee-dame]

I enjoyed doing exercises with Jack LaLanne back in the sixties. I remember he always said "beginners quit" at some point in a series. He is an amazing man.

[spanky_mcfarland]

Wonder if he can remember where he's parked his car?

[shezza]

Bump and wow! Go Jack!

[csvset]

Wonder if he can remember where he's parked his car?

lol, if not, I'd like to borrow that 'Vette.

[rocknotsand]

I noticed the thread title and laughed. Had to look: in Australia 'raising the bar' is... umm, oh nevermind.

[Museum Twenty]

Jack LaLanne is an extraordinary story. Maybe someday they'll come up with a way to Freep while doing all those exercises. Perhaps then I'll finally get on the stick!

I think part of the problem now is office work. When I was younger, I did a lot more manual labor. I didn't have to put my mind on hold to exercise; I got my exercise during the natural course of the working day.

If the recession ever gets around to taking my office job, I hope I can come up with some way to make a living while simultaneously getting the exercise I need.