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Natural Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness
News
Jack LaLanne,
fitness icon, dead at 96
 Fitness
icon Jack LaLanne, a man who pushed Americans to pump
iron, eat better and lose weight for more than 70
years, has died. He was 96.
The so-called "godfather of fitness" died of
respiratory failure from pneumonia in his Morro Bay,
Calif. home Sunday afternoon, his longtime agent Rick
Hersh told The Associated Press.
"I have not only lost my husband and a great American
icon, but the best friend and most loving partner
anyone could ever hope for," Elaine LaLanne said in a
statement. The two had been married for 51 years.
LaLanne was a fitness
pioneer, opening the first of his many exercise studios in
1936 in his hometown of Oakland, Calif. He focused on
weight-training at a time when the idea of pumping iron
was strictly taboo, especially for women.
"You have to understand that it was absolutely
forbidden in those days for athletes to use weights. It
just wasn't done. We had athletes who used to sneak into
the studio to work out," he once said.
Athletic trainers
believed bulking up would slow athletes down and women
were supposed to look curvy and feminine, not athletic and
toned.
"Back then, women weren't supposed to use weights. I
guess I was a pioneer," LaLanne said.
LaLanne underwent a successful heart valve surgery two
years ago and bounced back as strong and active as
ever.
"He was amazing. He never lost enthusiasm for life and
physical fitness," said former "Price is Right" host
Bob Barker, 87, who said LaLanne's influence turned
him on to a regular exercise regimen. |
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LaLanne became a household name after he launched a
televised exercise program in the 1950s that aired
until the 1970s. He would forever after be known for
his dedication to healthy living and his signature
one-piece belted workout suit.
"This is a nation of tired people," he said, in an
effort to encourage people to exercise. "Everyone is
suffering from that chronic disease that I like to
call pooped-out-itis."
"Inactivity is a killer," LaLanne once said. "The only
way you can hurt the body is not use it."
LaLanne was known for his extreme fitness stunts. The
body-building fanatic churned out 1,000 push-ups in 23
minutes on the television show "You Asked for it" at
age 43 in 1957.
At age 60, he swam handcuffed and towed a boat from
San Francisco's Alcatraz to Fisherman's Wharf. He
repeated the amazing feat 10 years later in Long
Beach, Calif.
"I never think abotu my age, never. I could be 20, I
could be 100. I never think about it, I'm just me,"
LaLanne said in 1990.
LaLanne is survived by his wife and workout partner
Elaine, his two sons Dan and Jon, and a daughter,
Yvonne.
Source -
www.nydailynews.com
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