Meet Elaine
(LaLa)
LaLanne
Photo credit: Elaine's
website
We've all heard of
Jack LaLanne, but how many of us know that his wife Elaine
has just turned 98 and published a book about his life and is
busy doing both a documentary and a feature film with Mark Wahlberg
playing Jack.
Instead of moping
around after losing her husband of five decades, she keeps their image
going strong.
Jack worked out the
day before he died, and she begins every day with a workout,
starting with two dozen jacknife sit-ups: lying on her back with
legs and arms extended upward.
After incline push-ups on her bathroom sink, she heads to her home
gym, where she walks uphill on a treadmill for several minutes and
then does pull-downs on a machine Jack designed in the 1930s.
Her arm in the
photo above shows the results of a lifetime of regular exercise. You
won't find a better arm on another women her age, perhaps any age.
La La has been in
the public eye for over 70 years. She and Jack revolutionized
fitness in the 1950s and 1960s, changing the way we way we view
aging "by highlighting the health benefits of regular exercise,
proper nutrition and a positive attitude."
She shared the
spotlight with Jack in having the first national exercise TV show
which ran until 1985. They were the Clint Eastwood and Arnold
of their day.
Photo credit: The Telegraph
LaLa was as famous
as her husband, making weight training fitting for women as well as for men.
There are now about as many women in fitness centers as men.
She was also a
force behind the scenes in the couple's gym empire, fitness
equipment and supplements.
* * *
Many of us have
seen photos of Jack looking like a Greek God. She stresses that
there was no steroids, he did it naturally.
"People say: Oh
boy, LaLa, what a body" and I say "Honey, I didn't fall in love with
his body. I fell in love with his brain."
Aging Well
If anyone knows how
to age well, it's LaLa. She takes the cake in our book.
Like Bill Pearl, she
always has a project. At 98! And the foreseeable future.
Taking her own
advice, she lives
well with regular exercise, proper nutrition and a positive attitude.
"I dress every day,
even if there's an empty office," she tells us. "My office
loves me because I'm here 24/7."
* * *
Finally, she shares
her ageless inspiration with 14 ways to be super-fit.
You'll find them in "The Telegraph" where we learned to know La La:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/conditions/ageing/how-im-still-fit-at-97/
