That's image that sprang to mind for me as we were discussing this blue jumpsuit worn by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong at the Madison protest yesterday. If you don't know who that is in the photo above, it's Jack Lalanne. Why did I know his jumpsuit was blue? I only ever watched him on black and white TV. His daytime show began in 1951 (the year I was born).
Here's the NYT obituary from 2011 "Jack LaLanne, Founder of Modern Fitness Movement, Dies at 96" (all NYT links are gift links now.)
A self-described emotional and physical wreck while growing up in the San Francisco area, Mr. LaLanne began turning his life around, as he often told it, after hearing a talk on proper diet when he was 15.
He started working out with weights when they were an oddity, and in 1936 he opened the prototype for the fitness spas to come — a gym, juice bar and health food store — in an old office building in Oakland.
“People thought I was a charlatan and a nut,” he remembered. “The doctors were against me — they said that working out with weights would give people heart attacks and they would lose their sex drive.” But Mr. LaLanne persevered, and he found a national pulpit in the age of television....
“My show was so personal, I made it feel like you and I were the only ones there,” he told Knight-Ridder Newspapers in 1995. “And I’d say: ‘Boys and girls, come here. Uncle Jack wants to tell you something. You go get Mother or Daddy, Grandmother, Grandfather, whoever is in the house. You go get them, and you make sure they exercise with me.’ ”
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39 comments:
He was right.
He tried to stop people from turning into cows.
Unfortunately he was up against the insurance companies, drug companies, processed food companies, our doctors and hospitals.
He didn't invent the jumping jack but he made it pretty famous.
Sophie Cunningham ought to open up a youtube channel and do Sophie Squats. That would be big.
He was such fun. I remember seeing him on TV as a wee tot, in those tight-fitting jumpsuits that were so odd back then. And he always found a reason to hold his hands out in front of him, to make a point - so he could show his biceps to the ladies. And that Hammond organ, going in the background was masterful, keeping time with his jumping jacks, or whatever exercise, in perfect resonant theme. I was telling my S.I.L. (fitness nut) about him, who had no clue where the term 'jumping jack' came from.
Jumpsuit is very inconvenient if you have to pee.
Imagine Mike Bloomberg in a blue jumpsuit. Pointing his finger at you. "Don't eat that. Eat this."
Ugh, his diet.
"At least eight to 10 raw vegetables and three to four pieces of fresh fruit a day. I have natural grains, beans, brown rice, lentils, wheat. And I get most of my protein from fish and egg whites. I eat no meat of any kind. I drink my breakfast. Half carrot juice, half celery juice and then I put an apple and a banana in it and 50 grams of protein made out of egg whites and soybean."
The juice weasel is also in a blue jumpsuit. Probably a coincidence.
My mother used to work out to Jack Lalanne TV show. LOL. I remember he did some crazy stunt of pulling a rowboat in SF bay when he was 70. What a guy.
My first thought was, “that’s not a good look for Bruce Springsteen.”
“Here comes Jack, Jack Lalanne, and the new Jack Lalanne show!”
The blueness of the jumpsuit surprised me too.
"My first thought was, “that’s not a good look for Bruce Springsteen.”"
HAHAHAHAHA!!
There are YouTube clips of his shows. Watching them now, he really was ahead of his time on so many tings. His nutrition advice over 70 years ago is exactly what we know is right today (even if we are no better at eating right today than we were then).
Jack Lalanne wasn't just a body builder. He performed some truly amazing feats of strength and endurance. Here's a list of some of them:
https://www.liquisearch.com/jack_lalanne/timeline_-_lalannes_feats
Saint Croix said...
Ugh, his diet.
"At least eight to 10 raw vegetables and three to four pieces of fresh fruit a day. I have natural grains, beans, brown rice, lentils, wheat. And I get most of my protein from fish and egg whites. I eat no meat of any kind. I drink my breakfast. Half carrot juice, half celery juice and then I put an apple and a banana in it and 50 grams of protein made out of egg whites and soybean."
There is a reason they picked Jack.
He was a total shill for the sugar demons.
He still did what he thought was best. But it is a testament to just how pervasive the forces of evil are.
“I can’t die, it would ruin my image” -- Jack Lalanne
"1955 (age 41): swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco while handcuffed. When interviewed afterwards he was quoted as saying that the worst thing about the ordeal was being handcuffed, which significantly reduced his chance to do a jumping jack." (Bob boyd link)
When asked, he said he did it to give the prisoners hope.
Of course, any prisoner who tried it would "sleep with the fishes"
Lalanne would probably still be alive today if he hadn’t eschewed meat, aged cheese, yogurt, and egg yolks. He also consumed way too much fructose in all those fruits and vegetables. He was likely insulin resistant and immunocompromised. Muscle maintenance is important for longevity but not as important as hand-washing and maintaining a robust immune system.
Richard Simmons says "hold my smoothie" and shows us how to really rock a jumpsuit.
I'll be back.
He got me working out in the first place. I'd seen my mom exercising to his TV show and one Summer when I was somewhere between 14 and 16 and bored I found one of his books in the house. I think I'd been running by then? Maybe biking, too. I was a total non-jock and didn't really like exercising for its own sake.
Great book. Showed how to get a good workout at home without any weights at all. Really just a couple of chairs and a towel for iso's. For a scrawny out of shape kid, it was a revelation. After a few times OMG MY MUSCLES ARE ACTUALLY GROWING. "Hey, I can do this. . . ." And I've been at it ever since. I didn't really pay attention to his diet recommendations.
Another thing I remember from the book was that he thought skipping was great exercise and he did it down 5th Ave (or whatever) in NYC. Which he thought was not something everyone would do. And I kind of took up his habit of doing something at least somewhat more impressive than my usual every birthday. The last few years it was doing a sprint triathlon (on my own).
Back when the gym closed in 2020 I actually got out the chairs and did some of the old exercises (plus some weights I begged, borrowed, or bought) and when the gym opened again I wasn't at all sore.
I likely would have started working out eventually, but good ol' Jack did, in a way, change my life for the better.
My mom's jam for exercise when I was little was Bonnie Prudden. And that Lillian woman who died recently, for yoga. Sadly, neither of them (nor anyone else) has inspired me - I walk a bunch, I do the exercises necessary for my new knees and the muscles supporting them, but nothing has made me enthusiastic about strength or flexibility training.
Closest I ever came were the two times I had a personal trainer for a while, but I'm not in a position to do that now (and no, a virtual one or a video call would not have the same effect as a human being in the same room hectoring me to do those last five reps).
Jack LaLanne once joked, "I can't die. It would ruin my image."
I liked his white German Shepherd, Happy, who was often a good boy but sometimes would just wander around the studio:
https://www.who2.com/bio/jack-lalanne/jack-lalanne-3/
Hong went with a looser fit. Like this guy.
No way around it, he was an amazing man.
He held the world record for push-ups by completing 1,033 in 23 minutes at age 42.
Towing 70 boats: On his 70th birthday in 1984, he pulled 70 rowboats filled with 70 people for 1.5 miles while shackled and handcuffed.
Alcatraz Swim: At age 60, he swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf in handcuffs and shackles while towing a 2,000-pound boat.
1,000 Push-ups and Chin-ups: In 1959 at age 45, he completed 1,000 push-ups and 1,000 chin-ups in 86 minutes.
Golden Gate Swim: In 1954 at age 40, he swam the length of the Golden Gate Bridge underwater with air tanks and 140 pounds of equipment.
LaLanne maintained this level of physical prowess well into his 90s, exercising for two hours daily until his death at age 96.
We are going boating on the lake today. Forecast: sunny, with high reaching 111 F. Survival is not guaranteed.
He didn't invent the jumping jack, but he popularized it and it's named after him, right? Dude was way ahead of his time!
I occasionally do the Jack Lalanne face exercises.. Blew my mind when I first did them because you get a unbelievable blood rush if you do it to failure.
Jack was the real life Chuck Norris.
"When the interviewer mentions that he watched LaLanne's TV show in the '50s, because his mom tuned in daily, LaLanne gives the interviewer's biceps another firm squeeze and confides, "I spent a lot of time on the floor with your mother."
--
"I work at living," he says, leaning close and squeezing an arm. "Most people work at dying. Dying's easy."
“I can’t die, it would ruin my image” -- Jack Lalanne
The day after he died, I announced on my radio show: "Ladies and gentlemen, Jack Lalanne has ruined his image."
Watched his show those many years ago; Jack was certainly memorable, endlessly upbeat and energized.
For those who weren't around or lacked access to his show, it was syndicated, running M-F in a non-prime slot (where I lived it ran at 9am). Kids would see it during Christmas week or summer vacation.
One thing that struck me as a child was the unusual way he would pronounce "two", when counting during exercise repetitions. It's difficult to capture in print; I've never heard anyone else say it like Jack did.
Jack was a Short King
I guess if anybody could make that jumper look masculine it would be muscular and macho Jack LaLanne.
According to Wikipedia, Jack's wife Elaine LaLanne (also called Lala LaLanne) is still alive at 100. Both LaLannes were "sugarholics" before the discovered exercise, so it's never too late, people.
I think Meade could pull off the blue jumpsuit. He’s fit.
I bet Jack Lalaine had no body hair that a Japanese would object to.
Your generation had Jack Lalaine and Jacques Pepin. We had Richard Simmons and Anthony Bourdain.
You win.
"Why did I know his jumpsuit was blue? I only ever watched him on black and white TV."
TV Guide?
mccullough said...
“I think Meade could pull off the blue jumpsuit. He’s fit.“
Mine is green.
Mine is white cleansuit. I live in a teardown I replumbed, and everything else. I duck tape the hood around my face, wrists, and ankles. With a cage in my lower back and being very ill, I can only lie on my back and roll to get over and under pipes. I will either die here or never buy a house with a crawlspace again. Subcontractors are the enemy.
I'm done with vapor barriers. I want a basement, even if it costs pernicion. Not the Heavy Medal band, though there's little difference if they don't leave.
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