The godfather of physical fitness, Jack LaLanne, died at his coastal California home in Morro Bay from respiratory failure due to pneumonia. He was 96.
"He was surrounded by his family and passed very peacefully and in no distress ... and with the football game on Sunday, so everything was normal," his daughter Yvonne LaLanne, 66, told Reuters.
Only two years ago, LaLanne, still a poster boy for vitality, told People magazine that young stars such as Britney Spears – who was going through physical and emotional problems at the time – needed to "develop pride and discipline" and watch what they put into their bodies, or as he put it: "the right fuel in the machine."
As for keeping body and soul together, "It's got to start with young kids," LaLanne stated.
LaLanne, who stood only 5'6", didn't start watching how he lived until he was 15. Born Francois Henri LaLanne in San Francisco (his parents were French immigrants), he felt the effects of sugar and bleached flour in his diet. After hearing a health lecture, he devoted his life to following a diet of raw, unprocessed foods. His staples: two meals a day and no snacks.
And did he ever exercise, relentlessly. At age 60, noted The New 
York Times, he swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf while pulling a 1,000-pound boat – and while handcuffed. At 70, shackled again, he pulled 70 people in 70 boats 1½ miles through Long Beach Harbor.
As he liked to say, "I can't die. It would ruin my image."
LaLanne opened the nation's first modern health club in California's Oakland, in 1936, and it featured exercise equipment, a juice bar and health food store. Eventually this developed into a 100-strong Jack LaLanne gym chain across the country. He would also market a highly successful juicer.
His syndicated The Jack LaLanne Show, which opened with his performing jumping jacks under the credits in his signature belted jumpsuits, debuted in daytime in 1959 and ran for 34 years, solidifying his reputation. After more than 3,000 shows, LaLanne, who owned all rights, repackaged the program and leased it to ESPN Classic.
Besides his daughter, Yvonne, he is survived by a son, Dan Doyle; his wife, Elaine; and their son, Jon.
The Material Girl is trying her hand at a new business: her first gym opened its doors Monday, the Associated Press reports. Hard Candy Fitness, located in the heart of Mexico City, is Madonna's first foray into the fitness biz.
Though the gym equipment is pretty similar to other high-class gyms in the city, there's no missing the huge Andy Warhol-esque mural featuring the singer that greets every customer as they walk in.
The name of the club is also a nod to Madonna--Hard Candy was the title of her last album. She states the name is the perfect combination of "hard body" and "eye candy."
"It's a sexy name that gives you the opportunity to have fun and to build strength as far as the imagination will allow," the singer-actress said in a statement.
As for choosing Mexico City as the location of her first gym, Madonna reveals it was a calculated move. "Our plan is to use Mexico as a place to fine-tune our brand and then expand it to other countries and, in the long term, develop a global brand that includes the United States," she said.
For the red carpet opening of the gym, Madonna handpicked 20 members to join her for a dance class--DJ'd by Paul Oakenfold, the same DJ who opened her last tour.
Gym fees run about $160 a month, after a one-time $830 sign-up fee.
Jake Gyllenhaal may have bulked up for his role in The Prince of Persia, but he insists the transformation to Hollywood hardbody was anything but hard.
At Monday's Los Angeles premiere of the new Disney film, a lighthearted Gyllenhaal laughed away concerns about his grueling regimen, insisting that becoming buff was simply part of his job.
"It was so hard," Gyllenhaal said sarcastically. "Being an actor is so hard. Being in shape is so hard, too, and being paid to get into shape is even harder – and you can quote me on all of those."
When it comes to physical training, "I like the focus," he says. "I'm somebody who likes to kind of keep moving. When you're shooting a movie, the downtime is always the hardest thing, and when you get to be physical in between takes it's actually a good thing, I think, for any actor."
Gyllenhaal, 29, was, in fact, inspired by a veteran leading man better known for curling Oscar trophies: "I remember when I worked with Dustin Hoffman – as a wrap gift Dustin gave me a walker to do triceps push-ups on, because that's how he'd get his energy going. Every actor has different tricks, and I thought that it was a great thing. I would go run and jump and do what I could to get excited and ready for the next take and to stay in shape."
And while his shoulders currently aren't quite as big as they are in the movie posters, Gyllenhaal says he has kept up some of his Persia" physique. "You focus on it like an athlete would and it's kind of off-season, but I'm very much a physical and active person. So I like to maintain as much as I can."
After bulking up for his role for the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Jake Gyllenhaal‘s body has been sparking equal parts envy and desire — but just like the fabled Samson, the new action star’s strength, it seems, is all in his tousled hair.
“The Jake Gyllenhaal workout plan…starts with growing long, long hair,” the actor jokes with Entertainment Tonight Canada in a recent interview.
“Very long…gorgeous greasy locks and then washing every day….Wash, shampoo, then condition. Washing works the biceps and then the triceps by conditioning. And vigorously rubbing all of your body with soap really defines the abs and the pectoral muscles. And if you do squats while you’re bathing — that’s it!”
Jokes aside, the star also revealed a serious side when it came to getting in prime shape for the role. “It was really important for me to be able to do all the stunts and the things asked of me,” he says of his desire to make a believably stalwart hero.
And while fitness might not have been a favorite topic of discussion in the past, his new sword-wielding role has changed all that. “I wanted to do [this movie] because it was about taking myself a little less seriously and having a good time, and so it’s nice to talk about the things like running and jumping and doing stunts and stuff because that is a huge massive part of this movie and it is what makes this movie so fun to watch.”
But now that the film is premiering around the world, the actor hasn’t quite managed to stick to his hardcore workout routine. “I don’t have any muscles anymore now. It’s all just whittled down to little twigs,” he quips. “I walk around unable to move my arms.”
Sounds like it’s time to break out the conditioner and start lathering up that shampoo!
The godfather of physical fitness, Jack LaLanne, died at his coastal California home in Morro Bay from respiratory failure due to pneumonia. He was 96.
York Times, he swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf while pulling a 1,000-pound boat – and while handcuffed. At 70, shackled again, he pulled 70 people in 70 boats 1½ miles through Long Beach Harbor.
