Lalanne Warmup

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Now I'LL SHOW YOU THE FUN OF EXERCISING THE JACK LALANNE WAY

Consistent activity. There’s the key to it all. We must give these bodies of ours daily directed activity. Several times a day, in fact. When you learn a few simple-to-follow movements—every movement has a meaning all its own—you can work on cheek muscles, tummy, ankles, any part of the body as you like. You can do this, furthermore, while watching television (a wonderful time for a relaxed workout), while doing the housework, even while driving the car. You don’t need to sign up for a bodybuilding course at a gym. Every bit of equipment we'll need, as you shall see, is near at hand.

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THE JACK LALANNE WAY FIRST THE WARMUP

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The human body, like any complicated mechanism, works smoothly only when its parts are coordinating and the lubrication flowing. My students know the value of this. Personally, I like to start the day with a brisk morning run around my neighborhood with my big white shepherd dog, Happy. (Don’t worry. I don’t expect that of you.) But you can see the effectiveness of it. When your car has been standing, you run the motor a while before you drive. Baseball players take more than an hour before the game loosening their muscles and rehearsing their bodies in the rhythm of plays, throwing the ball and batting. After that, everything goes smoothly. LET’S RUN A LITTLE You don’t need to leave the room for this. Just start trotting, right where you are. Trot around the furniture, if you like, or simply jog up and down in one spot. Perhaps you would be more comfortable in other clothes. Go slip into your bathing suit. But trot all the way to the closet and keep trotting as you step into the suit. Pump your arms. Knees higher. (Just try to worry about the bills or Junior’s report card while you’re running. Try it! Not so easy to do, is it?) Lonesome? All right, trot in to your mirror and accompany yourself. Knees higher. Faster. You’re really stimulating your heart and lungs now. Don’t worry, there won’t be bad after- affects. There will be good ones! That’s enough now. Take a deep breath. Fling your arms up and back and breathe in through your nose. Fill your lungs until your rib cage stretches. Hold it. Now exhale. HOP TO IT Let’s give the heart and lungs another shot of pep. We’ll hop. Try it gently at first, four times on the right leg. Catch your breath and hop on the left leg. One. Two. Three. Four. Count