Jack LaLanne, America's Father of Fitness, Dies at Home

Long before Denise Austin and Jillian Michaels graced our television screens, Jack LaLanne's form enticed 1950s American housewives to get off the couch and get moving. Attired in his signature spandex workout garb, LaLanne led them through a simple yet effective fitness program with but a chair and a towel - no costly exercise equipment required. His show aired for more than 30 years, his legacy further expanding to healthy eating when he endorsed a juicer bearing his name.

That dynasty ended Sunday when Jack LaLanne succumbed to pneumonia in his home in California. LaLanne was 96.

Born in 1914 to French immigrants, LaLanne became interested in fitness and healthy eating in his teens, after attending a lecture by nutritionist Paul Bragg. Decades ahead of the fitness craze and exercise videos, he opened his first studio in 1936 in Oakland, where his methods were chastised by health care professionals who dubbed him a quack. Jack pressed on, eventually enjoying success as his fitness clubs with health food bars gained momentum and were later purchased by the Balley Entertainment Corporation.

Jack's exercise show began locally in 1951 before going into syndication, allowing women all over the U.S. viewing access to his fine physique and novel fitness methods. LaLanne's shows were the precursor to the later boon experienced decades later by Body in Motion instructor Gilad, Walk Away the Pounds with Leslie Sansone, and others. This writer has fond memories as a young girl waiting for the television to warm up, too young to appreciate LaLanne in his form-fitting pantsuit, but more in hopes of catching his white German Shepherd, Happy, as he joined Jack on the set. Satisfied with that, it was time for Romper Room's Magic Mirror, or Father Knows Best.

New exercise shows and DVS pop up almost weekly, as do unhealthy fad diet plans promising weight loss that will add years to your life. Jack LaLanne devoted his life to fitness and healthy eating and walked the walk until his death at 96. If America had continued to follow Jack's teachings from the 50s, would we be experiencing the levels of obesity and illness that we are today?

Sources:
Personal experience/opinion
Biography.com