Remembering Jack LaLanne

Earlier today, fitness guru Jack LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia at his home in Morro Bay on California’s central coast. Learning of this, I had to stop for a moment and think of all the times I’ve been motivated toward exercise and fitness by the ever positive and inspirational fitness icon. I really believed he’d live to be over one hundred, and his death surprised me, since he was only ninety-six. (As if ninety-six isn’t a feat in itself, and surely shouldn’t be proceeded with ‘only’) I guess I figured he’d keep going, just as he said a few years ago when he told his family before his heart valve surgery that dying would wreck his image. Well, he’s now passed away, and it sure hasn’t wrecked his image. He will always be remembered as a pioneer of the fitness revolution, and someone who lived what he preached, eating healthy and exercising every day of his life right up to the very end.

“The Jack LaLanne Show” was the longest running television exercise program, but I’ll admit, I did not watch it, and have only seen video clips on the computer. While the show ran for 34 years, providing viewers with fitness and exercise advice, it was on before I was born and continued while I was still young. I do however remember the athletic feats he’d perform on birthdays. I think the one that stood out the most, and that I’ve often recited to people as a feat to inspire and motivate was when he turned 70. It was in 1984 and I was in high school. LaLanne was handcuffed and shackled as he towed 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary one mile away. It made an impact on me then, and it still does. (Actually, all of the feats he performed in his 60s were quite remarkable, but the 70 boats on his 70th birthday still stands out the most to me)

I’m going to get up early tomorrow morning and exercise a bit more than usual. I’m a firm believer in LaLanne’s philosophy that “the only way you can hurt the body is not use it, and that inactivity is the killer and that’s it’s never too late.” We can all learn from him to eat healthy and exercise. He may be gone, but his memory remains and he’ll continue to motivate people to stay fit and live healthy for many years to come.

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