If you use weight machines, you can thank Jack LaLanne. If you have ever watched an exercise program on TV, video or DVD, you can thank Jack LaLanne. Jack, known as the "Godfather of Fitness," was a sickly, miserable and violent junk-food addict until he was transformed at the age of 15. That’s when he discovered the miracle of proper nutrition and exercise, becoming a strong and vital young man. And soon after, he began transforming the lives of others.
Jack opened the first modern gym in 1936. He encouraged men, women, athletes and the physically challenged to work out with weights at a time when the medical establishment discouraged it. He was far ahead of his time. In the days when processed food was being touted as the food of the future, he encouraged everyone to eat the clean diet we now know as eating clean. Jack invented many of the machines and systems still common in present-day gyms, including leg extension and Smith machines and even the concept of selectorized weight stacks.
Jack produced the very first TV fitness show, The Jack LaLanne Show. As with practically everything he did, Jack was told he was crazy, that no one would watch. He even had to pay for his own airtime. But his show ended up being so popular it stayed on air for 34 years, setting the stage for all fitness TV, videos and DVDs to come.
Through the years Jack would continually be in the news for performing such feats as swimming handcuffed and shackled while towing 70 boats with 70 people for 1½ miles through strong currents and winds for his 70th birthday. In recent years Jack and his wife Elaine became well known for the juicers they sold on TV, and in 2009 Jack wrote a book published by Robert Kennedy Publishing, called Live Young Forever. Many of us here worked closely with Jack, Elaine and their family, and for those of us who were lucky enough to know him, he will be sorely missed.
We at Robert Kennedy Publishing extend our sincere condolences to Jack’s family and friends. Jack seemed like a person who would indeed live forever young, and while pneumonia may have taken him from this earth, he will definitely live forever in the hearts, minds and souls of everyone who cares about health and fitness. Rest in peace, friend.
Send your condolences to Jack's family.
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