Physical fitness has America in an iron grip. With that in mind, we asked Contributing Editor David Rensin to speak with one of the few legends of health-and-body conditioning and the founder of the modern-day health salon, Jack La Lanne, on the eve of his 70th birthday. Says Rensin:

"When the interview began in La Lanne's living room at 8:30 A.M., he had already been awake for five hours. He'd exercised, had breakfast and donned a red jump suit.

"Most people know La Lanne only from his TV show. It's the least of his achievements. On each birthday, La Lanne performs a muscle-numbing feat. At 45, he did 1000 push-ups and 1000 chin-ups in an hour and 22 minutes. At 60, he swam from Alcatraz to Fisherman's Wharf--handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1000-pound boat. At 66, La Lanne swam more than a mile--handcuffed, feet shackled, towing ten boats carrying 77 people. In 48 minutes.

"Most of us have trouble just turning on a tape recorder. Happy birthday, Jack."

Q 1

PLAYBOY: What incredible feat are you planning to do to celebrate turning 70?

Jack La Lanne: I'm planning to swim underwater from Catalina Island to Los Angeles. That's 26 miles. I'll do it in less than 24 hours. But what I really wanted to do was carry a 350-pound bar bell on my shoulders down Hollywood Boulevard to protest all the male and female prostitution, all the dope and crap. I wanted to show people that there are better things in life, that you can be fit at any age. Can you imagine 350 pounds on your back for half an hour? All your muscles contract simultaneously. That's plain pain. And I would challenge anyone in the world to do that and give him $10,000 if he did. But I can't do it now. Some kid hit my new Porsche 924 head on. About $15,000 damage. I had to have surgery on my knee to take cartilage out, and that took care of that. But I got a new Porsche 944 recently. It's a pistol. I had it up to 130 the other day.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: Why do you often handcuff and shackle yourself for your swims?

Jack La Lanne: Because it makes them ten times more difficult. Otherwise, anyone would be doing these things.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: What's your secret? Wheaties?

Jack La Lanne: Sometimes I have a Jack La Lanne Diet Shake, a product I've had out for about 20 years now. Or one of the five Jack La Lanne breakfast cereals. They're all natural grains--no white sugar, no white flour, no salt, no fats. I'm more and more into grains these days; also raw fish. I eat sashimi almost every day--though not for breakfast. But mainly, I have about 400 vitamin supplements for breakfast right after I work out. I put them in a blender and make a high-protein drink. I use a quart of carrot and celery juice, half and half, then put in two heaping tablespoons of wheat germ, two more of nonfat-milk solids, two more of high-strain brewers' yeast, then a heaping tablespoon of bone meal and a banana. Then I put in 100 liver-yeast tablets, 15,000 milligrams of vitamin C, 2000 units of B, some boron and some zinc; also 75 alfalfa-and-kelp tablets. Then I blend it and drink it. It's one of the worst-tasting health drinks you could have, but I still drink it, because it's the perfect breakfast. It's got about 40 grams of protein, all the B-complex vitamins, everything that's natural from the carrot and celery juices, the enzymes, the trace elements, calcium and potassium from the bone meal. And it's very low in calories. After you work out like me, you're not hungry; you're thirsty.

Q 4

PLAYBOY: What are your workouts like?

Jack La Lanne: I believe in vigorous, violent, daily, systematic exercise to the point of muscle failure. I'm usually up each day at 3:30 A.M. I hit the gym at four A.M. I'm out at 6:30 A.M. I do it seven days a week and have ever since I can remember. Sometimes I hit the gym without having gotten any sleep, like when I've done a lecture or a seminar.

My top priority in life is my workout. Regardless of what happens, I hit that gym. Even when I was in the hospital twice with serious knee operations: Right after I came out of anesthesia, there was a chin bar over my head and dumbbells. I worked out immediately.

It's very easy to rationalize, however, and say, "What the hell. I didn't get enough sleep" or "I'm too busy" or "I've got this little ache or pain." That's all bullcrap. You do it. It's tough. It's hard. I'd rather take a beating sometimes than get in that gym every morning. Anyone who gets up that early and says he likes it is a goddamned liar. The only good thing about it is that when I'm finished, I look at myself in the mirror and say, "Jack, you've done it again!" I've won another battle over myself, and that's what it's all about: conquering me. If I didn't do it, I'd be lying to myself. If I lie to me, I lie to you and wreck everything that Jack La Lanne stands for. If I'm not an example of my philosophy, it sure isn't going to turn anyone else on. That's why Jesus made such a big impact. He practiced what he preached. He also did miracles to call attention to his philosophies. That's why I do incredible things on my birthdays.

Q 5

PLAYBOY: Do you consider sex an exercise?

Jack La Lanne: Absolutely. What's more physical? We're sensuous creatures. Sex is the greatest driving force on this planet. Christ, why are we living if we can't have a little fun? Sex is giving, and the more you give, the better lover you are. But if you don't have it to give, well, that's why physical fitness is so great. What group of people are the sexiest of all these days? Athletes! They've got the health, the energy; they can give of themselves. And if you love sex, you've got to have something to give. Look, if you're sick, are you thinking of sex? That's what I try to tell the guys. Some have three or four extra inches on their waistline, yet they like to be proud of themselves in the sack. I say, "Look, for every two inches you take off up there, it makes your business down there look an inch longer. Isn't everything relative? If you have a six-inch tool and a 50-inch waistline, the thing doesn't look very big, does it?" That's my incentive.

It's simple: You've got to appeal to the pride in people. When a woman is flabby and soft, she's unattractive. When you married a beautiful girl and all of a sudden you start seeing her tits down to here and her breath stinks and she's not clean anymore and has no pride in herself, you can't love her. You may bullshit yourself, but you can't. Energy makes people beautiful. That's what charisma is. You don't want to be close to someone who is dead and crapped out all the time, who's bitching that it's a lousy fucking world and "Christ, my ulcers are killing me." Maybe 50 or 60 percent of all divorces are predicated on someone's being physically unfit. Who wants to live with negativism? Love goes out the window.