Jack La Lanne, Fit for Life

NPR | By Tom Goldman

Published September 24, 2004 at 12:00 AM EDT

Jack La Lanne in his outdoor Jacuzzi during his daily early-morning workout.

Jack La Lanne in his outdoor Jacuzzi during his daily early-morning workout. He's holding water-resistance devices that create drag.

Jack La Lanne, who became America's fitness conscience starting in the 1950s, is turning 90, and still working out daily. NPR's Tom Goldman recently visited the weightlifting former TV star at his California home.

La Lanne was inspired to adopt a healthy lifestyle at the age of 15. The young La Lanne attended a lecture by a nutritionist who said exercise and proper foods were the keys to spiritual rebirth.

La Lanne says he stopped eating sugar, became a vegetarian and joined the local YMCA. He says he hasn't had a sugary dessert -- or missed a daily workout -- since 1930.

Tom Goldman

Tom Goldman is NPR's sports correspondent. His reports can be heard throughout NPR's news programming, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and on NPR.org.

See stories by Tom Goldman

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Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

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The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

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