Posted on: Tuesday, October 5, 2004

At 90, LaLanne still buff, feisty

By Patrick S. Pemberton
Knight Ridder News Service

If you don't exercise regularly, you'd better not let Jack LaLanne find out.

And, by all means, don't tell him you like cheeseburgers.

Because LaLanne, the most famous — and probably fittest — resident of Morro Bay, Calif., will sternly lecture you on how you're mistreating your body and diminishing your quality of life.

"You don't get old from calendar years," the fitness guru said. "You get old from inactivity. That's the killer."

You can't challenge him, either. LaLanne just turned 90, and he's still buff. He works out for two hours every day, his mind is as sharp as that of a man in his 30s, and he occasionally carries his wife, Elaine, around to prove that his barrel chest is not made of pillows. Not bad for a man born in 1914 — when the average American male was expected to live to about 52.

But living to a fit 90 hasn't been a mere walk in the park. "I hate to work out," said LaLanne, the host of the long-running "Jack LaLanne Show," whose birthday was Sept. 26. "I'd rather take a beating. To leave a hot bed and a hot woman to go into a cold gym at five in the morning — that takes discipline. But I like the results. Results, results, results," he said.

Not only did LaLanne celebrate his 90th birthday (hundreds of people, including Donald Trump, attended a bash in New York), but he and his wife also celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary.

The 90th birthday has led to scores of interviews, including guest appearances on "The Today Show" and Howard Stern's morning radio show, keeping LaLanne — whose show is rerun daily on ESPN Classic — in the public eye.

"You get to be 90, and everyone goes, 'Well how'd the old poop do it? What's his secret?' " LaLanne said. "I tell them: 'Clean thoughts and dirty girls.' "

Still, we really did want to know his secret. So we asked LaLanne for nine tips on how to reach 90. Here's what he said:

1. Exercise vigorously — at least twice a week with weights, plus water exercises.

"What helps you get out of a chair or go up and down stairs? It's muscles, right? These old people — they quit doing things. They sit on their big fat butts, thinking about what they used to do, and pretty soon their muscles atrophy ..."

2. Exercise during commercials, if you have to.

"People say 'I don't have time.' What a lousy excuse! You can do all this stuff while you're in your chair during the commercials while you're watching television."

3. Change your exercise routine every 30 days.

"You've got 640 muscles. They all need their share of work."

4. Avoid indulging in bad habits.

"When you get your dog up, do you give him a cup of coffee, a doughnut and a cigarette? People think nothing of giving themselves that for breakfast, and they wonder why they don't feel good."

5. Always have goals and challenges.

"Never be satisfied — ever. You know, I've won all these physique contests, and I've broken all kinds of world records and been very successful financially, but I've never been satisfied. The minute you get satisfied, you get complacent."

6. If man makes it, don't eat it.

"If you go into McDonalds to get a hamburger, some of these hamburgers are 1,200 to 1,300 calories. That's all the calories you need for the day. And how many people eat that, plus milkshakes and all the rest of the junk they eat, and they wonder why they're fat?"

7. Eat vegetables and fruits.

"You've got to get at least five or six raw vegetables every day of your life. You've got to get at least four or five pieces of fresh fruit every day of your life. And you've got to eat whole grains."

8. Don't eat between meals.

"Ten seconds to the lips, a lifetime to the hips."

9. Keep up on current events.

"Keep your mind active. I read everything from the Bible to the Enquirer."