Fitness guru Jack LaLanne, a brawny showman who towed boats while swimming handcuffed to encourage Americans to get healthy, has died at the age of 96, a spokeswoman for his company said Monday.
LaLanne, who brought the concept of daily exercise to the American masses long before it became the norm, died Sunday of respiratory failure brought on by pneumonia, BeFit Enterprises spokeswoman Julia Baum said.
LaLanne died at his home in Morro Bay, California, some 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.
The "Godfather of Fitness" opened what was believed to have been America's first fitness club, in Oakland, California, in 1936. He invented much of the exercise equipment seen in today's gyms, including leg extensions and cable-pulley systems.