What Did Jack LaLanne Live For?

At 14 yrs old, he was a scrawny weakling. Walking the beach with his girlfriend, he got his ass kicked by punks who called him “puny.” But unlike so many, he got up, and fought back. From that point on, he never quit fighting. Over the years he became the world’s foremost exercise and health advocate by fighting conventional health wisdom, and winning. His name is Jack LaLanne.

Without him, our fat asses probably would have never discovered exercise, or even learned how to spell it. He was exercise, in human form. At 5’6″, Jack was the proverbial giant who pushed the limits of human performance beyond most people half his age, on every birthday he ever celebrated.

When he was 60 years old, he swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf, handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat.

When he was 70, handcuffed and shackled again, he pulled 70 boats, carrying a total of 70 people, a mile and a half through Long Beach Harbor.

Today, I hear 20 year olds complain about an 18-minute workout routine.

Jack didn’t try to sell us outlandish diets, turn us into twig-eatin’ hippies, push hormones on us or force us to choke down newfangled supplement fads. He kept physical fitness within the reach of everyone by showing that our “habits create and eradicate disease,” the deadliest habit being sugar consumption. Long before it was discovered to be “suicide in slow motion,” he went toe-to-toe with this looming threat to America’s health. A self-confessed sugar junkie, he conquered his addiction, and helped millions do the same.

If Jack stood for only one thing, it would be for “living young,” for pushing the limits no matter what – no matter what your age, no matter what your fears, no matter what your addictions.

If you’re a health nut and love fitness, then you’re standing on Jack’s shoulders every time you’re about “to rock” the gym, and so will your kids, kids. He salutes you. If you’re not a health nut, you better become one, ‘cause Jack, even in death, proves that it’s never too late to live young.

Thanks for being so big Jack! Even at 96 you lived younger than most people do in their twenties. For you, the sky is no longer the limit.