An American Icon - Jack Lalanne

Jack Lalanne taught us so many things during his dedicated life. I think all of us Baby Boomers are very familiar with him, as we grew up learning from him.

The first thing he taught us is that if you want something you must work for it. He worked and he worked hard. He would get up at 5 am and workout for two hours every day. Did he do it because he loved it? No, he stated that he hated it.--from WebMD

Second. He showed us that we could use whatever we had. On his Television show he used chairs, broom handles, anything handy. Most of what he demonstrated were just pure calisthenics They were sit-ups, push-ups, toe touches, leg lifts. They only involved what we had, our body.

The third thing was he taught us to eat correctly. I remember his lecture on Sugarholics. That was what he has been. He asked us to give up pies, cookies, cakes, ice cream and all kinds of sugared products to eat a clean healthy diet. He said if we would do that we would thank.him later. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

The Fourth thing he taught us is: start right now. We can't begin any younger, so start now-no matter what our age. It is never too late to begin to take proper care of ourselves.

Jack Lalanne swimming feat at 61 years old. He showed what a good diet and exercise can do.

He was the father of fitness. I remember his TV show when I was a very young girl living at home with my parents. When I was at home I would workout with him; I in my living room and he was on TV.

The famous episodes you can now find on You Tube and other places, I watched for the first time from my parents' living room.

No, I didn't know him personally, but he had a huge impact on me. Because of his influence, I developed an exercise routine that I did every night before going to sleep. The night I came home from my Senior Ball and tried to go to sleep, I should really say - in the wee hours of the morning, I couldn't until I got up and did my exercises. It was that deeply ingrained in me.

One of my favorite statements of his was:

"Exercise is King, Nutrition is Queen, put them together and you have a Kingdom."

Yes, that man was a role model and a hero of mine-even though he didn't know who I was.

Pictured: Jack is doing his famous finger-tip pushups

He was charismatic.

He drew people in and made us want to do what he spoke about. He called those at home working out with him his students. He called upon us - boys and girls to go get our moms to workout with him, and we did.

Today not too many people will extend the effort and work with every fiber of their entire body trying to help you. Most celebrities are not good examples, and many are terrible ones. He was a great one, and encouraged us to have a healthier, happier and more enjoyable life.

When Jack Lalanne was young he ate junk and sugar and was in horrible shape. He went to a Wellness or Nutritional speaking engagement to listen to Nutritionist Wellness speaker Paul Brag, and later went back stage and spoke to the Wellness speaker himself. The nutritionist told him he was a walking garbage can.

Jack was smart enough to pay attention, learn and change his entire life. He became a famous model for fitness and then put in his own fitness gym and TV show. I know he impacted millions including me..

Jack you did Great!

Jack worked at proving a point. If you eat healthy and you exercise you can achieve great physical health. These types of feats demonstrated this very well.

* Age 40: Swam the length of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge underwater with 64 kg of equipment.

*Age 42: Set a world record of 1,033 pushups in 23 minutes.

*Age 43: Swam the Golden Gate Channel, towing a 1200kg cabin cruiser.

*Age 45: Completed 1,000 push ups and 1,000 chin-ups in 1 hour and 22 minutes.

*Age 66: Towed 10 boats in Florida filled with 77 people for more than a mile in less than 1 hour.
Age 70: Handcuffed and shackled towed 70 boats with 70 people.

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