Moment of Silence, Jack LaLanne Dies at 96

He was the first, in so many ways.

In 1936 LaLanne opened his own health spa in Oakland, CA, and dedicated his life to encouraging people to better themselves through exercise and fitness. LaLanne designed the world's first leg extension machines, pulley machines using cables, and weight selectors, now a standard in the fitness industry.

Jack LaLanne is an American fitness, exercise, and nutritional expert, celebrity, lecturer, and motivational speaker who is widely referred to as "The Godfather of Fitness". LaLanne gained worldwide recognition for his success as a chiropractor and bodybuilder, and for his incredible and prodigious acts of strength and endurance. Through his career, LaLanne has won numerous awards including the Horatio Alger Award from the Association of Distinguished Americans, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Hall of Fame.

Feats and Honors
1954 Age 40: Swam the length of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge underwater with 140 pounds of equipment, including two air tanks… an undisputed world record.

1955 Age 41: Swam, handcuffed, from Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf in
San Francisco, CA.

1956 Age 42: Set a world record of 1,033 pushups in 23 minutes on “You Asked for It, a TV Show with Art Baker.

1957 Age 43: Swam the treacherous Golden Gate Channel, towing a 2,500-pound cabin cruiser. This involved fighting the cold, swift ocean currents that made the 1 mile swim a 6 ½ mile test of strength and endurance.

1958 Age 44: Maneuvered a paddleboard 30 miles, 9-½ hours non-stop from Farallon Islands to the San Francisco shore.

1959 Age 45: Completed 1,000 pushups and 1,000 chin-ups in 1 hours and 22
minutes. “Happy” is born and The Jack LaLanne Show goes nationwide

1974 Age 60: Swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf, for a second time handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat.

1975 Age 61: Swam the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, underwater, for a second time handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat.

1976 Age 62: Commemorating the “Spirit of ‘76”, swam 1 mile in Long Beach Harbor, handcuffed, shackled and towing 13 boats (representing the 13 original colonies) containing 76 people.

1979 Age 65: Towed 65 boats filled with 6,500-pounds of Lousiana Pacific wood pulp while handcuffed and shackled in Lake Ashinoko, near Tokyo, Japan.

1980 Age 66: Towed 10 boats in North Miami, Florida filled with 77 people for over a mile in less than 1 hour.

1984 Age 70: Handcuffed, shackled and fighting strong winds and currents, towed 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary, 1 ½ miles.
1992 Age 78: Academy of Body Building and Fitness Award

1994 Age 80: State of California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness Lifetime Achievement Award

1996 Age 82: Dwight D. Eisenhower Fitness Award

1999 Age 85: Spirit of Muscle Beach Award

2002 Age 88: Jack receives his very own star on the Hollywood Blvd. Walk of Fame

2004 Age 90: Jack celebrates his birthday with a major media blitz in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. ESPN Classic runs a 24 Hour marathon of the original Jack LaLanne Shows

2005 Age 91: Received the Jack Webb Award from the Los Angeles Police Historical Society, the Arnold Classic Lifetime Achievement Award, Interglobal’s International Infomercial Award, the Freddie, Medical Media Public Service Award, and he was a Free Spirit honoree at Al Neuharth’s Freedom Fourm.

2007 Age 93: Received the Treasures of Los Angeles Award, Lifetime Achievement Award from Muscle Beach, and the Y.M.C.A. Impact Award.

2008 Age 94: Inducted into the California Hall of Fame, Parker Seminars Award, received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities from the Southern California University of Health Sciences, receives the People of Vision Award from the RP International, receives the Heroes Humanity Award, and was inducted into the Gallery of Legends hosted by the World Acrobatics Society.

2009 Age 95: Jack receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Club Industry. Jack LaLanne days were observed in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Operation Phoenix, a better prepared military.

Whether you are pro or con USA Military making sure that in any event they are well prepared can only help, them and the USA.
So what is Operation Phoenix:
"Operation Phoenix is a CrossFit initiative that will raise the necessary funds to equip the entire United States Marine Corps with functional fitness equipment to increase combat preparedness, reduce injury, and strengthen unit cohesion. This will be accomplished through non-profit sales, corporate sponsorships, and individual donations. Every penny raised will go directly to "America's Fighting Force," the USMC."
So Why Help:
"Your help in support of Operation Phoenix not only increases Marines' fitness levels and fosters Marine Corps’ camaraderie, but positions corporate sponsors for networking, PR, and advertising opportunities within the CrossFit community. Additionally, you will find satisfaction in meeting and/or reconnecting with Marines all over the world. According to Coach Greg Glassman, the Corps has been the branch of the military to most rapidly adopt CrossFit into its fitness program. There is a CrossFit gym on or near practically every Marine Corps base in the country, and even one serving troops based in Okinawa, Japan. This is a chance to become a large part.

To put into perspective the population size Corporate Sponsors will be reaching, CrossFit.com sees over 3 million unique computer visits per month. (Many of these computers are shared by several Marines and service members throughout a given day.) Furthermore, CrossFit.com pushes over 50 Terabytes of data per month, with an average time per site visit spanning just over 12 minutes. The community is enormous, and this is your market."

Cross fit is sweeping the Nation and it does not matter what you are trying to accomplish, being an endurance athlete use CrossFit to build a strong, more balanced body.