To Your Health
December, 2007 (Vol. 01, Issue 12) |
|
|
What do you think of the trends you've seen over the years toward obesity, quick-fix diet pills, etc.?
There are more fat people now than ever before in history. Many people have high blood pressure and heart trouble, and their sex life is gone. They want a quick fix, but there is no quick fix! They need to keep in shape for their health's sake, so they should start building their health account. Would you get your dog up in the morning and give it a cup of coffee, a cigarette and a donut?
Do you ever splurge?
Never. I've got a conscience you wouldn't believe. If I can't set an example and help myself, I sure can't help you. You'd be surprised how many people are just searching for the truth. I tell the truth and try to set an example. That's what it's all about. I can't afford to die; it would wreck my image. I'm going to live forever, maybe longer.
Do you use any other forms of alternative health care?
Absolutely. Acupuncture is great for various aches and pains. I have a massage at least once a week. In fact, that's how I started my fitness line back in 1936. I couldn't pay my rent so I had to massage people. Massage is actually very scientific.
During your college years, you studied to become a medical doctor and also graduated from chiropractic college. Why didn't you end up becoming a chiropractor?
After having to drop out of school for six months when I was 14 due to ill health, my mother took me to hear a health lecture, which changed my life. I joined the local YMCA and took up wrestling. Later, I saw two fellows lifting weights, which were kept in a locked box. I asked if I could use them, and the answer was no. I said, "If I wrestle the two of you and win, will you let me use the weights?" I won and immediately went out and bought Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body to learn more about how the body works. All through high school, I studied the body. My mother wanted me to be a medical doctor, but I wanted to open a physical culture studio and go to chiropractic college. In 1936, I opened the first modern physical culture studio (today, it would be called a health spa). I never used my chiropractic degree.
I wanted to help people learn to work all of the muscles in their body. When I started my first gym, no one was around. I was the first one to have women working out with weights, the first to have seniors working with weights. When I received my chiropractic degree, medical doctors and chiropractors didn't get along too well. However, in those days, I had many medical doctors sending me patients. Now, they exchange patients and there's room for everyone.
My life has come full circle. Recently, I became involved with two chiropractors out of New York, Dr. Roger Russo and Dr. Anthony Lauro, who started a program called Stay Fit Seniors. It is a nationwide program exclusively for those 60 years old and over that combines exercise and chiropractic care. It offers an exercise facility for seniors right inside the chiropractor's office, and it will soon be offered to chiropractic offices throughout the country. Patients receive chiropractic care and free exercise sessions as long as they are a patient. The exercise program consists of a 30 minute circuit-training program consisting of seven strength-training stations and seven aerobic stations performed on state-of-the-art exercise machines that are joint-friendly and designed to work at your own pace. If people want more information, they can visit www.stayfitseniors.com.
