Happy Birthday Jack LaLanne!

Last night I got to meet one of my heroes. As I told Denis last night, of all the world's "celebrities" Jack is the one I'm the most excited to meet. And while our paths are slightly different, he's certainly one of the most influential people in my life.

We only got a brief moment to chat. I introduced myself, told him that I did birthday challenges myself and ran a web site that encouraged others to do them, and that it was all inspired him. Jack (not Mr. LaLanne as Denis called him to which he replied "my name is Jack!") said that he was honored to meet me. Gracious, for sure, but no one in the room last night was more honored than me to be able to shake his hand.

One thing that troubled me yesterday, if only slightly, was how many people don't know who he is. "The juicer guy?" was one comment I got at the office. "Hell," I said. "If it wasn't for Jack you wouldn't have a job. None of us would!" Jack pretty much single handedly invented the fitness movement in the United States. Before him, there were pretty much athletes and people who smoked and drank. He was the founder of the modern fitness movement, and its foremost practitioner. And now, at 95, he still in better shape than 99.9% of the populace, and those who are fitter most likely own their physiques to Jack. He is, and I emphasize that I'm stating this with a complete lack of hyperbole, The Man.

For those of you who either haven’t heard of him, or think he’s “the juicer guy”, check out these two post from my blog:

Preaching The Here And Now

Join The Jack LaLanne Challenge

And here is a list of his birthday challenges:
• 1954 (age 40): Jack swam the entire length of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, underwater, with 140 pounds (64 kg; 10 st) 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.
• 1957 (age 43): Jack swam the Golden Gate channel while towing a 2,500-pound (1,100 kg; 180 st) cabin cruiser. The swift ocean currents turned this one-mile (1.6 km) swim into a swimming distance of 6.5 miles (10.5 km).
• 1958 (age 44): Jack maneuvered a paddleboard nonstop from Farallon Islands to the San Francisco shore. The 30-mile (48 km) trip took 9.5 hours.
• 1959 (age 45): Jack did 1,000 star jumps and 1,000 chin-ups in 1 hour, 22 minutes and 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 (450 kg; 71 st) 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 (450 kg; 71 st) boat.
• 1976 (age 62): To commemorate the "Spirit of '76", United States Bicentennial, Jack swam one mile (1.6 km) 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 (2,900 kg; 460 st) of Louisiana Pacific wood pulp.[16]
• 1980 (age 66): Jack towed 10 boats in North Miami, Florida. The boats carried 77 people, and he towed them for over one mile (1.6 km) 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 (2.4 km) while towing 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen's Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary.

pic: the man surrounded by fitness nerds