The Blackboard
(November 2002)

“Aging, Exercise, & Jack in Hollywood”
By Ron Jones, MS 

Jack La Lanne outside of Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood
September 2002

Finally!  Former Bakersfield resident and American king of fitness Jack La Lanne got his own Hollywood star this September.  The Jack La Lanne TV show set records for longevity that remain unbroken, and La Lanne himself has performed feats never equaled by anyone.  Again newspapers and media reported about La Lanne and his life time feats of health and fitness.  Alas…they failed to truly capture the “real story.”  The real story is not just La Lanne the individual—but the generation of close friends and followers that also embraced a LIFETIME of health and fitness.  Don’t get me wrong—I’m one of La Lanne’s biggest fans, but as I stood in the crowd at La Lanne’s Hollywood ceremony I recognized some famous people from SoCal’s Muscle Beach era in Santa Monica that began in the 1930s.  I began listening to their conversations and paying attention to the “life and vitality” in their faces and body movements.  These men and women were well into their 80s yet still had the passion for health and fitness just like La Lanne.  I started chatting with one of these guys named Glenn Sundby who is eighty-something and he quips “Yep, I still do a 100 pushups and 40 pulls a day.”  My God!  I have yet to do 40 pull ups on my best day and I’m forty years younger than this guy!  I realized that this was a man I needed to get to know! We exchanged cards and it turns out he is basically the curator of the largest collection of Muscle Beach photographs and memorabilia in the country.  I’ll be packing video and audio equipment down to Glenn’s place in Oceanside for a full interview this month to find out more about the “real story.”  I want to know how he and his friends stayed so fit and had so much fun for all those years while at the same time leading others towards lives of health and fitness. 

It was great to see older people like these still active and full of life and vitality instead of shopping for electric tricycles or building wheelchair ramps.  Forty pull ups in one day is hard, but I’m up to about twenty…I’ll take the push ups and pull ups any day over the electric tricycle.  Once again I agree with La Lanne who said “It’s better to wear out than rust out.”  Until next time, keep moving and burning calories—the holidays are almost here!  Next month—how to be an “ambassador of health” during the holiday gatherings. 

Ron at Jack La Lanne Star

La Lanne Hollywood Star Ceremony Slide Show

Visit my Jack La Lanne Tribute Section!

Visit my Muscle Beach Tribute Section!

Visit my Fitness History Section! (And you thought "Functional Training" was new!)

 RonJones.Org | Back to Current Comments | Site Map

(Updated 4-22-04)

                      Get Fit.  Be Strong.
                                 Corporate Wellness · Consulting · Health Promotion