
Saturday September 26 2009 will go down in history as the first annual Jack LaLanne Day. On this day, Jack LaLanne outdid Superman by blowing out 95 birthday candles with a single breath. On this same day Chris LaLanne attempted to break granduncle Jack's world record 1,000 pull-ups and 1,000 pushups in 1 hour and 22 minutes. Unfortunately, ripped hands contributed to time running out before Chris could complete the task. "At 200 reps, my hands started to rip. Then at 350 I was shredded. My hands were taped, re-taped and taped again up to 450. I looked at the clock and was about even with Jack's time of 1:22. I decided to save my hands at 500 pull-ups and 500 pushups in 1 hour and 28 minutes."
Chris LaLanne is optimistic about a future attempt. "Jack was 45 years old when he handled this in 1959. I'm 33. I guess I've got time to train for a few more years!"
Will Chris attempt other Jack LaLanne feats of strength? "Most of them were swimming feats and I'm probably going to give a few of those a shot because I actually have a strong swimming background. I have practiced the stroke he used while handcuffed and shackled. He called it the flop. It looks like a breaststroke but your hands are together and the kick is similar to a dolphin kick. That's something to look forward to." Along with many more Jack LaLanne birthdays...