Jack LaLanne was a cultural icon and professional badass. He was a health fanatic that dedicated his life to improving the lives of others. Jack was America’s personal trainer before there were personal trainers.
He spent the better part of a century preaching (and practicing) the benefits of good health and personal strength. And lived a full and active life well into his 90’s
LaLanne was one of the first people to popularize fitness at scale. He brought the idea of exercise, weight training and healthy eating to the masses via his television program in the mid 20th century.
His huge personality graced T.V. screens in millions of American households. During this show he would perform calisthenics on screen to show how it’s done and introduced fitness concepts to the nation.
He wasn’t just fit, he embodied fitness. He was a man on a mission and wanted to prove that age was just a number. He dedicated his life to improving the lives of others through fitness.
Fitness is the Fountain of Youth
Jack LaLanne is living proof that your mind is your most powerful asset.
He didn’t buy into the bullshit notion that getting older means you have to rot away. Rather than become a liability as he aged, he became an inspiration for many people by defying the critics.
At an age most consider to be “over the hill”, Jack was running laps, lifting weights and performing feats of strength that would make your head spin. Instead of sitting in an easy chair watching the ‘Price is Right’ while waiting for his Social Security check to come in, Jack was towing boats in the harbor with his own body.
That’s right, to celebrate his 70th birthday, Jack LaLanne chained 70 boats together, bow to stern, and pulled them a mile and a half across a channel as he doggy paddled while handcuffed.
His hands and feet where shackled like a prisoner while swimming in deep waters towing boats.
Nowadays I hear 25 year olds complain about getting older. What a crock of shit. If Jack LaLanne can be a human tugboat at age 70, you can go to the gym and lift some weights.
But hey, maybe Ben Franklin was right. He said that “Most men die at age 25 but aren’t buried until 50 years later.”
Yikes. That’s a scary thought.
Have you fallen into the trap?
Whether you like it or not you bought someone’s plan. Have you fallen victim to the “Work, pay bills and die” mantra?
You’re not alone. There are a lot of lost souls out there.
Luckily for your, you can reclaim your soul.
All you need is a goal.
Have a Goal or Lose Your Soul
A man needs a mountain to climb, a rabbit to chase, a moon to shoot for. Without a worthwhile goal your soul slowly dies.
It doesn’t matter what your goal is. What matters is that it’s important to you.
Not your mom, not your dad, not your boss, not your wife or girlfriend or mistress or friends.
YOU.
If it makes you happy and makes you become a better person, that is all that matters. Nothing else.
Sure, Jack was a rare individual who lived his passion and make a nice living to boot.
But what one man can do, so can another.
Seek and You Shall Find
The meaning of life is to give your life meaning. It’s up to you to figure out what that means to you. Start searching for your ‘thing’ and don’t stop looking until you find it.
How do you find it?
You start looking.
Then when you find it, walk the walk and talk the talk. Live it, be it, build it, become it.
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re coming from either. Jack LaLanne is the perfect example.
Jack LaLanne’s Journey
Before Jack was “The Godfather of Fitness” he was a juvenile delinquent who almost flunked out of school and tried killing his own brother.
He was a scrawny, sickly child with a bad attitude – going down the wrong path on the fast track to self destruction.
Jack had a nasty sugar addiction, and was a self described “sugar-holioc”. That’s all he ate – sugar. He claimed it caused his body and mind to rot, even at a young age.
Desperate for an answer, his mother took him to see Dr. Bragg, a health pioneer who’s life work is showing people the natural way to live.
That day everything changed.
Jack swore off sugar for life and prayed to God for the willpower to exercise and eat right. And from that day forward he hasn’t cheated on his diet or missed a workout since.
Everyday since that he jumped out of bed every morning at 3:30 AM and lifted weights for two hours.
He’d follow up his weight lifting session with a 30 minute swim or jog.
People took notice of his transformation. He started training local guys in garage gyms. One thing led to another and eventually he became an unstoppable fitness force.
He traded donuts for kale shakes and candy for liver tablets, and never looked back.
“You only lose it if you don’t use it.”
To which I add: If you abuse it, you lose it.
And feeding yourself garbage and neglecting your health is self abuse. And you can only take so much abuse.
And it’s much easier to have willpower to do something if you have a goal and have the energy to do it.
You get the energy by eating natural foods.
Live Naturally like Jack LaLanne
Disobey mother nature’s laws at your own peril.
You can’t get jacked if you’re sick. And you will get sick eating manmade foods.
Take a page from Jack’s memoir: “If man made it, don’t eat it.”
Processed foods pollute your body – your home, the only place you have to live. The meat containing your mind a soul. Treat it like a temple because it is.
As Jack got older he began celebrating his birthdays with a physical challenge to prove that age is just a number.
He lived to the ripe old age of 95, and had muscles and a full head of hair until the day he died.
Just more proof that you only lose it if you don’t use it.
So get started and never stop.
(Learn more about Jack LaLanne)
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