|
Francois Henri "Jack" LaLanne (September 26, 1914 – January 23, 2011) was an American fitness, exercise, and nutritional expert and motivational speaker who is sometimes called "the godfather of fitness" and the "first fitness superhero." He described himself as being a "sugarholic" and a "junk food junkie" until he was 15. He also had behavioral problems, but "turned his life around" after listening to a public lecture about the benefits of good nutrition. During his career, he came to believe that the country's overall health depended on the health of its population, writing that "physical culture and nutrition — is the salvation of America."〔 Decades before health and fitness began being promoted by celebrities like Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons, LaLanne was already widely recognized for publicly preaching the health benefits of regular exercise and a good diet. He published numerous books on fitness and hosted the fitness television program ''The Jack LaLanne Show'' between 1953 and 1985. As early as 1936, at age 21, he opened one of the nation's first〔 fitness gyms in Oakland, California, which became a prototype for dozens of similar gyms using his name. One of his 1950s television exercise programs was aimed toward women, whom he also encouraged to join his health clubs.〔〔 He invented a number of exercise machines, including leg-extension and pulley devices. Besides producing his own series of videos, he coached the elderly and disabled to not forgo exercise, believing it would enable them to enhance their strength.〔〔 LaLanne also gained recognition for his success as a bodybuilder, as well as for his prodigious feats of strength. Arnold Schwarzenegger once exclaimed "That Jack LaLanne's an animal!" after a 54-year-old LaLanne beat then 21-year-old Schwarzenegger badly in an informal contest.〔 On the occasion of LaLanne's death, Schwarzenegger credited LaLanne for being "an apostle for fitness" by inspiring "billions all over the world to live healthier lives,"〔("Schwarzenegger calls LaLanne 'most energetic man in the room'" ), KSBY.com, Jan. 24, 2011〕 and, as governor of California, had earlier placed him on his Governor's Council on Physical Fitness. Steve Reeves credited LaLanne as his inspiration to build his muscular physique while keeping a slim waist. LaLanne was inducted to the California Hall of Fame and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. ==Early life== Born in San Francisco, California, LaLanne's parents were Jennie (née Garaig) (1884–1973) and Jean/John LaLanne (1881–1939), immigrants from Oloron-Sainte-Marie in southwest France. Both entered the U.S. in the 1880s as young children at the Port of New Orleans in Louisiana. LaLanne had two older brothers, Ervil, who died in childhood (1906–1911), and Norman (1908–2005), who nicknamed him "Jack."〔〔Reitwiesner, William Addams (date unknown). Ancestry of Jack LaLanne. Retrieved from http://www.wargs.com/other/lalanne.html.〕 He grew up in Bakersfield and later moved with his family to Berkeley, circa 1928. His father died at the age of 58 in a San Francisco hospital, which Jack attributed to "Coronary thrombosis and cirrhosis of the liver." in his book "The Jack LaLanne Way To Vibrant Health" (p. 21, 1960 edition) LaLanne wrote that as a boy he was addicted to sugar and junk food. He had violent episodes directed against himself and others, describing himself as "a miserable goddamn kid...it was like hell." Besides having a bad temper, he also suffered from headaches and bulimia, and temporarily dropped out of high school at age 14. The following year, at age 15, he heard health food pioneer Paul Bragg give a talk on health and nutrition, focusing on the "evils of meat and sugar."〔''St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture'' vol. 3, St. James Press (2000) pp. 81-83〕 Bragg's message had a powerful influence on LaLanne, who then changed his life and started focusing on his diet and exercise. In his own words, he was "born again," and besides his new focus on nutrition, he began working out daily. Describing his change of diet, LaLanne stated: Writer Hal Reynolds, who interviewed LaLanne in 2008, notes that he became an avid swimmer and trained with weights, and describes his introduction to weight lifting: He went back to school, where he made the high school football team, and later went on to college in San Francisco where he earned a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. He studied Henry Gray's ''Anatomy of the Human Body'' and concentrated on bodybuilding and weightlifting.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jack LaLanne」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|