Jack LaLanne

2011 started with what has become a tradition in my school, 1000 pushups and 1000 sit ups coupled with a caloric intake limit of 1000. I find it sets a strong tone for the entire year when you start it off with a big act of discipline. The swelling in my elbows has not receded permanently like I had hoped, so I had to stop at 650 pushups and make up the difference on the exercise bike.

For me, at least when I am healthy, 1000 pushups is not a big deal since I have been doing 150/day for a few years now and when I tackle a day of 1000, I always spread it out over 10 hours. Sure there is a little soreness the next day but nothing like I would experience if I did not have my daily regime.

I have been reading up on Jack LaLanne this past week after seeing a video of him from the 50’s. His way of thinking back then was progressive for the times and is very pertinent today. I noticed that at the age 42, Jack LaLanne completed 1000 pushups on television in 23 minutes. 23 MINUTES! That makes my 1000 in 10 hours look completely lame. This guy’s accomplishments are amazing and according to Wikipedia, include:

• 1954 (age 40): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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, he 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, he 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, he 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): 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.[19]
• 1980 (age 66): 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.
• 1994 (age 80): Once again handcuffed and shackled, he fought strong winds and currents as he swam 1.5 miles (2.4 km) while towing 80 boats with 80 people from the Queensway Bay Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary.

I’m definitely going to have to ramp up my training.

"I cannot afford to die, it will ruin my image." - Jack LaLanne (b. 1914)