I’m sad to report that Jack LaLanne has passed away at age 96. At times it seemed like he would go on forever. He is one of the greatest inspirations that the world of fitness will ever see. There will never be another Jack LaLanne.
Those familiar with this blog have likely seen the videos below. I’ve posted several Jack-inspired entries over the years. Amazingly, the words spoken from him so many years ago are still as true as ever.
Within this entry, I’d like to take the opportunity to repost a few of my favorite clips from Jack.
Life Is A Battlefield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT0q7tCSUZM
Body and Mind Connection
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZelaI7k7FI
A Slave To Your Body
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9okZrrrOxT4
Stop Being So Tired
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBVk071N88M
Unhappy People
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEboAJf9UVc
+++++
“Exercise is king. Nutrition is queen. Together, you’ve got a kingdom. If you have a Corvette, you don’t put water in the tank. The human machine deserves the same treatment.” – Jack LaLanne
Awesome guy!
He lived his life and didn’t have to regret anything imo!
What more can you ask for?
Rest in peace!
Oh that’s so sad 🙁 I remember reading an article on him in a magazine (Muscle & Fitness maybe?) a few years back. It told a story about how he celebrated his (60th?) birthday by swimming from Alcatraz!!!!
I only hope I manage to lev my life with the same sense of adventure as he did. And look as good in a jump suit! lol
RIP Jack, you’ll be missed.
Jesus man I can’t believe this. Jack passed away, he was such an inspiration I’ve been looking up to! Rest in peace!
Rest in peace, Jack.
Amazing person indeed, may he rest in peace. Truly and inspiration to all of us
Just finished all the videos…thanks. RIP Jack.
a true legend and inspiration to all!! Rest in peace!
Do we know how he died Ross? Lately, I heard some disturbing rumor about how Jack Lalanne abandon his early diet teachings to become a vegetarian. I sincerely hope this is not the case.
Jack was a fighter, may he rest in peace.
Just amazing guy, rest in peace.
Love these Ross. Thanks for sharing.
R.I.P. Jack.
A true legend, and icon in Health and Nutrician. RIP
Nate
I think that If I were to say one mournful word about the passing of Jack LaLanne today, he would rise up and crack me in the jaw. A good friend of mine posted ‘We lost a legend today.’ though the truth is we only lose them when we fail to celebrate their inspiration in our lives every day.
People thought of Jack LaLanne as a ‘fitness guru’. When, back in 1958, he was talking to women from little black & white TV screens all over the country, telling them to throw away the diet pills, eat right and take care of themselves, he wasn’t talking about fitness. He was talking about FAIRNESS. All he ever spoke about was to be fair to your body, to give it a fighting chance for life.
I was watching some cable station yesterday with my ten-year-old, and I swear, there must’ve been three different commercials for three different diet-pills, all of which I’d thought were banned by the FDA last year; all of which will likely put some poor fool in the grave before the year is out, and one of which was actually being shilled by that goddamned nitwit from ‘Jersey Shore’. I swear to Christ.
So if we have anything to be regretful about at all, it’s not that Jack LaLanne probably had another 96 years worth of common sense in him, though that’s probably not far from the truth.
It’s that unfortunately, we need his common sense as much as we did in 1958.
I saw someone post “He lived ’till 96! We should all be so lucky!” Luck is having four good working limbs and a belly that correctly digests what you put in your mouth. (though people have certainly accomplished more with less) Everything else, every wonderful thing else is ours to accomplish. In word and deed, he taught us that for his whole life.
RIP Jack Lalanne
The man was already a legend. I wish all the best to his family!
Jack was certainly a person to aspire to. May he rest in peace.
Alex – respiratory failure due to pneumonia
The King is dead.
Long live the King.
Love,
Mark
I read his latest book not that long ago and I was amazed at the feats he accomplished in his his life. Jack if you’re up there you were an inspiration to me.
May you rest in peace, and may God bless your family!
I believe it was John Paul who asked…Yes he was a vegetarian for 6 years until he competed for Mr. America, afterwards he just ate fish as his meat, and egg whites. No dairy. Here’s the link to the interview:
http://www.shareguide.com/LaLanne.html
About halfway through he explains his dietary switch. It’s not exactly “disturbing” considering all he’s accomplished. It obviously worked for him.
rest in peace dear friend
R.I.P Jack Lalane. A great man, with great goals in his life. I wrote about him on 26-09-2010 when he had his birthday.
May he rest in peace
Everyone has been saying how incredible he was. “It’s amazing for a man of his age to accomplish the feats of strength he did!”
The greatest thing about Jack Lalanne is that he was always trying to teach us that nothing he accomplished is incredible. Nothing he did was out of the reach of the average person. If we all simply applied ourselves, worked hard, and maintained dietary discipline, we could all do those same things.
That was his greatest lesson. He was only amazing in that he chose to live the way he did. He spent his entire life trying to show us the way to keep our bodies strong. He didn’t do anything mind blowing. He didn’t invent new ways of working out. He didn’t come up with the Total Gym or the Ab Roller or whatever piece of workout junk they’re trying to sell you these days. He kept it simple, and if everyone worked half as hard as he did, health care costs in this country would plummet.
That’s something Congress should adopt: “Exercise to decrease the debt!!”
What a shining example of positivity and dedication toward worthy goals. We Stand On The Shoulders Of Giants, Jack, and yours were the broadest.
1954 (age 40): Jack swam the entire length of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, underwater, with 140 pounds of equipment, including two air tanks. A world record.
1955 (age 41): Jack swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco while handcuffed. When interviewed afterwards he was quoted as saying that the worst thing about the ordeal was being handcuffed, which reduced his chance to star jump significantly.
1956 (age 42): Jack set a world record of 1,033 push-ups in 23 minutes on You Asked for It, a television program with Art Baker. Former Princeton University wrestler Ryan Bonfiglio broke this record on May 5, 2008. Bonfiglio did 1,000 push ups in 20 minutes 50 seconds.[8]
1957 (age 43): Jack swam the Golden Gate channel while towing a 2,500-pound cabin cruiser. The swift ocean currents turned this one-mile swim into a swimming distance of 6.5 miles.
1958 (age 44): Jack maneuvered a paddleboard nonstop from Farallon Islands to the San Francisco shore. The 30-mile trip took 9.5 hours.
1959 (age 45): Jack did 1,000 star jumps and 1,000 chin-ups in 1 hour, 22 minutes. His well-known white German shepherd, Happy, was born this year, the same year The Jack LaLanne Show went nationwide.
1974 (age 60): For the second time, Jack swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf. Again, he was handcuffed, but this time he was also shackled and towed a 1,000-pound boat.
1975 (age 61): Repeating his performance of 21 years earlier, Jack again swam the entire length of the Golden Gate Bridge, underwater and handcuffed, but this time he was shackled and towed a 1,000-pound boat.
1976 (age 62): To commemorate the “Spirit of ’76”, United States Bicentennial, Jack swam one mile in Long Beach Harbor. He was handcuffed and shackled, and he towed 13 boats (representing the 13 original colonies) containing 76 people.
1979 (age 65): Jack towed 65 boats in Lake Ashinoko, near Tokyo, Japan. He was handcuffed and shackled, and the boats were filled with 6,500 pounds of Louisiana Pacific wood pulp.
1980 (age 66): Jack towed 10 boats in North Miami, Florida. The boats carried 77 people, and he towed them for over one mile in less than one hour.
1984 (age 70): Once again handcuffed and shackled, Jack fought strong winds and currents as he swam 1.5 miles while towing 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary.
1992 (age 78): Jack received the Academy of Body Building and Fitness Award.
1994 (age 80): Jack received the State of California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness Lifetime Achievement Award.
1996 (age 82): Jack received the Dwight D. Eisenhower Fitness Award.
1999 (age 85): Jack received the Spirit of Muscle Beach Award.
2002 (age 88): Jack received a star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame.
2004 (age 90): Jack celebrated his 90th birthday in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. ESPN Classic ran a 24-hour marathon of the original Jack LaLanne television shows.
2004 (age 90): Jack became the official spokesperson for Covenant Reliance Producers, LLC, a Financial Marketing Organization based in Nashville Tennessee
2005 (age 91): Jack received the Jack Webb Award from the Los Angeles Police Department Historical Society, the Arnold Classic Lifetime Achievement Award, Interglobal’s International Infomercial Award, the Freddie, and the Medical Media Public Service Award, and he was a Free Spirit honoree at Al Neuharth’s Freedom Forum
Thank you for sharing the videos and honoring Jack on your site. Great work Jack….Thank you!
Jack,
You were an inspiration to all of us. You will be sorely missed.
Rest In Peace forever in God’s grace.
I can only hope to live to age 96, especially the way Jack did. God speed my friend.
Rest in peace is for common people
Workout in piece is for Jack
Jack rest in peace, thank you for the truth.Lets all do some push ups and juice something.
Jack was a genius. Think of how many lifes he made better. Ross has made al of our lives better as well. Thank you Ross, and God bless Jack’s soul.
A true icon. He lived a long & amazing life – still saddening though. All prayers and blessings to him and his family
RIP Mr LaLanne
R.I.P. Jack I am your soulmate!
Just a great great man!!! May people never forget him!
I hope its nice ovathere…
Sad about that…RIP Jack..keep training wherever you are…
He was a Great man. His legacy will live on.
RIP
What a shining example of the difference one person can make in this world! May his life and example inspire us all to make a similar difference. RIP Jack Lalanne
It is sad to see him go – but inspiring to see how his lifestyle led him to such a LONG and healthy life. Those videos sure motivate you to get going, but this one will motivate you to keep it up. It’s one of him at the age of 94, and I only hope I can be in such great shape at that age! Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKEHWISVi9U
I didn’t realize that Jack had passed on until reading it today on this site. I’m shocked because I just finished reading yesterday his wonderful book “Live Young Forever.” I remember seeing him on TV as a child. What an inspiration he was right to the end. Thanks for all the videos of him posted on this site.
It’s a shame he passed. He’s another person that I wish I had met. I like the way he speaks and what he speaks about. I only knew Jack for his juicer that my dad has. But now, I’m very interested in what else he has done or said. Thanks a million Ross.