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HERO

Jack LaLanne, the Father of Fitness Dies at 96

I took a day or two to decide whether to write about LaLanne.

I have a hero category for people who I have looked to emulate and have reached the age of 90 as I hope to do.

LaLanne is a question mark because he got his foot in his mouth over some gay talk that wasn't nice. Bodybuilders have long been sensitive to any hint that they might be just a little bit light in the g-string and so, as most insecure men would do, go on the offense before anyone can call them a fairy for admiring their own and other men's muscles.

LaLanne's great contribution comes after his body building days anyway.

I can't find the data, only the implication that he did this but I have gotten over it anyway.

Look, LaLanne had a television show about exercise and his force of belief and his winning personality got people off their asses and doing stuff in front of the teevee. Then they went out and got themselves to a gym. The rest is history.

I watched him. You know, a lot of us have our total impression of him on YouTubes or when he was kind of over the hill. He kept going to the end.

I remember his little talks most of all. Between exercise sets. He would pull up a chair, take it easy for a minute and exhort.

He does look a litte excessive in these old kinescopes but it is kinescope and in those days you had to overact to get across. Most people's television sets were very poor soundwise and you had to continually adjust the antenna or tuning to get a good picture.

Look at the Lucy shows. Over the top and loud. They had to be.

LaLanne was not the only one to innovate with exercise shows. Vic Tanny and others too. They were often tied into a gym enterprise that had questionable sales tactics and membership agreements that suckered a lot of people into lifetime memberships. Such was the case with a lot of shows like this. Arthur Murray Dance studios.

The stars had turned their program over to a franchising business and the hucksters had a holiday with it. But the stuff was still good.

He lived to a ripe old age. I think he was OK down to the end and not vegging out. Lifetime exercise. A testimonial.

Labels: fitness, heroes, nostalgia

TO STRETCH OR NOT TO STRETCH THAT IS THE QUESTION

They are still trying to figure out if stretching helps alleviate injury in running.

Does Stretching Before Running Prevent Injuries?

The answer in this study is no, stretching does not make a difference.

Except that the people who did stretch before the study and went without during got injuries at a higher percentage than the people who never stretched.

Read it.

When I ran, at first, I didn't know about stretching. This would be in 1955 or so. We also didn't know about shoes then either. I ran around the Charles River Basin in your basic Ked tennis shoes. And I did not stretch.

Then, later, when running became fashionable, I subscribed to Runner's World and began to get all the results of "studies". I also got introduced to stretching as a "simply for its own good" activity whether you ran or not.

So I began to stretch. But, what to stretch. How?

Over time there came to be a number of exercises which became standard. In later years, some of these were found to be harmful. In the same way that situps and some other "standard" exercises were found to be harmful.

When I took up the gym craze and joined up, there was a new stretching regime that came into effect. But always, always, always, running or walking, lifting weights or working out on machines, there were people who said that stretching was unnecessary.

The idea that exercise is its own stretch and that warmup is the main issue, not a stretch, overcame me. I quit stretching.

And, running, I got injured. I developed a neuroma on the left foot pad. A nerve bundle. Nothing that stretching would help at all. And I had to give up the run.

When I rode the bike outdoors for many years I never, ever stretched. I do not stretch before I get on the gym bike today.

I stretch after. Before I go do my minimal weight work.

Why?

Because it feels good. I also use the pole on the shoulders back twist. Every day.

I don't know if it prevents injury but at a certain age it just feels very good to stretch and touch my toes. To be able to do a series of stretches that can actually get my leg muscles to twitch as the spread gets wider.

I do the stretches after the bike because I read and became convinced that stretching when warm was way better than stretching when cold. Stretching should not be a warmup exercise.

So I am back to that 60s book that told me that flexibility was all. Muscles or no, cardio fit or not, the flexibility of the body, long term, is a valuable asset and should be nurtured.

Labels: fitness, health

GYM PALS

I am getting settled back in the gym.

It is nice to be in the routine.

Part of it is being in touch with old acquaintances.

Notice the I didn't say friends.

These are guys who are particularly eccentric. I am a magnet for them.

I wonder what that is all about anyway? Does that put me in their class?

I don't think so.

Today I saw Rob the Ranter.

This guy is a tinderbox. You are the match.

In any conversation, it is highly probable that you will strike a spark.

He is off!

Not at you. It is all the government, real estate rip-offs, his ex. There are a wide range of subjects. And he has the most extreme views.

The level of energy is extraordinary. You do not have to participate.

You do not even have to stop your workout. He will follow you.

It is not funny. Well, it is at a certain level but not for as long as it goes on.

There are others.

There is Tom the Talker.

Not a ranter. A talker.

If you get near enough you will be in a conversation.

You have to actively extract yourself. Better not to even get close.

There is another guy. Tim the Talker.

The other day I saw them meet at the leg curl machine as I started my workout. Tom sitting, Tim standing.

They were still going strong at the end of my workout.

Mutual deterrence. If you can get them to talk then they are not going around dragging "hello" out to extraordinary lengths.

I don't say hello to The Parson.

He does not say anything to anyone as far as I can tell.

He is semi-famous as a figure on the local scene but he obviously seeks to be cloistered in the gym environment.

He doesn't work out very hard.

Not that I am watching at all.

He also goes on the same bike every day and to be sure it is the right one, he counts down from the end. A little bit of compulsive behavior that looks good on a man of the cloth. It shows there are some moth holes.

There are certainly other people who I talk to and that are undistinguished by odd or annoying behavior. About ten or so.

So there is a nice mix of people to watch and people to be with.

I wonder what people think about me?

And I was wrong about the music. It is not the same on the same day at the same time. It does get mixed up. I think maybe the mixer was off when I started. It was the holiday.

Anyway I am seeing a lot of music video these days. Some of it very good.

Oh. By the way.

My workout routine is progressing very nicely. I am getting more fit every time. I can see and feel it.

This is actually the reason I go to the gym. Not to watch or meet people, form friendships or see music videos. But they are a part of the process.

Labels: fitness

ON REFLECTION

I decided (with some prodding from John) that maybe it is time to bring my fitness game back indoors.

It is going to be cold for awhile. The wind chill on the bike is not to happy at 6 in the morning. And there is the continued threat of unknown ice spots waiting out there for me.

Despite my earlier elan, I am a bit shaken by the near catastrophe yesterday (see below). Notice that it has moved up the scale of upset some. I think it took awhile to sink in.

And, I need to get some strength training back.

After a couple years of mostly aerobic exercise, my upper body muscles have become as flaccid as yarn.

So, this morning I signed up for my old on-line trainer program.

This time with Gym America.

It is the same software that I used with Mens Health—Genisant.

I will begin Monday.

I don't know how I will work it yet.

I will be at Golds.

We still have the old 99 dollar a year Lifetime Membership that we got when we moved to the desert ten years ago. We renew every year whether we are going to the gym or not. Keepin' it alive.

I bet they kick themselves everytime we renew. I think it is more like 99 a month now.

Maybe not. The deals change all the time.

Golds was open 24 hours. If they are still doing that, no problem.

If not, I will adjust.

It is time for a change.

It has been suggested that maybe I am too old to be vying with cars and trucks on the highways early in the morning.

I don't yet accept the "too old" part but I will accept that there is some risk involved on the road and I may not want to take that risk anymore.

Well, at least for now.

Labels: bicycle, fitness