Karen Goldberg Goff THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Jack La Lanne strikes his legendary muscle man pose along with his wife
Elaine at their home in Morro Bay, Calif., Dec. 23, 2003.
Associated Press.

Jack LaLanne celebrates his 70th birthday in 1984 by towing 70 boats and
70 persons while swimming1.5 miles in Long Beach Harbor in California.
Associated Press.

Before there were Jane Fonda, Arnold Schwarzenegger and a growing obesity epidemic despite gyms popping up on every corner, there was Jack LaLanne.

Remember him from the black-and-white days of TV? Muscular and Brylcreemed, energizing folks to get out of the recliner and do a few jumping jacks.

At nearly 94, Mr. LaLanne still is trying to get people to practice what he preaches. What he preaches is still basic - move more and eat better - and to hear it from a nonagenarian is hugely motivating.

"Dying is easy," Mr. LaLanne says in a phone interview from his California office. "Living is an athletic event. Inactivity is a killer. A little exercise pays off such great dividends."

These days, Mr. LaLanne is a brand and a businessman. He is still working the television world selling his Power Juicer, which can turn a stack of vegetables into a nutritious drink.

His latest venture is as a spokesman for [m]Power, a cognitive exercise media system. The system, which is being used in more than 100 senior living centers and is available for home use, uses video and sound clips, trivia games and brain teasers to give senior citizens' brains a workout. The program comes in a self-contained monitor, so no keyboard or computer savvy is necessary.

Dan Michel, chief executive of Dakim, the company that manufactures the device, says a mental workout - like the physical workout Mr. LaLanne has been promoting all these years - can improve cognitive functioning and ward off signs of dementia.

"Scientists now believe that the brain is plastic until the end," he says. "As aging occurs, we lose neurons or synapses over time. If we are constantly learning new things, we create new neurons and create a cognitive reserve. Our system works on long-term memory, short-term memory, language, spatial relations and critical thinking. It constantly self-adjusts the level of difficulty to stretch the mind."

Similar to Mr. LaLanne's recommendations of working out for 30 minutes on most days, Mr. Michel recommends using the [m] Power for 25 minutes, five days a week.

Mr. LaLanne, speaking in the motivational sound bites that have made him a fortune, says your bank account and "health account" work on the same principles.