By Rebecca Rose of ChoiceEating.com
You may remember actress Jane Fonda’s days as a middle-aged fitness guru in the 1980s. The 74-year-old Academy Award and Emmy winner has reprised that role recently as author of the bestseller, Prime Time: Love, health, sex, fitness, friendship, spirit–making the most of all of your life. She also offers award-winning Prime Time DVDs that include low-impact routines that can be done by anyone of any age.
“I figured ‘Who better than me? I’m old, I’m have physical issues like most people, I can’t do what I used to do—jump up and down, splits, etc. —and I have credibility in this area. Why not make a whole new series of programs for boomers and seniors that are safe and effective?’ “ she wrote on her Web site.
Jane Fonda said that while preparing the book, what struck her most was the research demonstrating that physical fitness is the No. 1 predictor of the quality of life that can be expected by an individual in the “third act” of his or her life. Physical activity, regardless of one’s age, strengthens the heart and bones, improves circulation, reduces obesity, thickens the skin and can reduce depression, she added.
And at any age, both cardio and resistance training are a must, insists Jane Fonda, who over three decades has sold more than 17 million fitness books, videos and DVDs. Even a “fake knee and fake hip,” which Fonda admitted she had to Harper’s Bazaar, are no reasons to skip the exercise, though they may call for a little modification.
In the past, Jane Fonda has supplemented her fitness philosophy with a cookbook she wrote.
Rebecca Rose is an award-winning writer based in Oak Park, IL, who routinely covers health and fitness, financial and women’s issues regionally and nationally.
