14 DAY TRIAL // Jane Fonda, the 72-year-old beauty queen and actress, has had surgery on her knee and her hip, both of which have been replaced after sustaining serious damage, with the many years of grueling workouts also presumably playing an important part. Even so, the star is now preparing to launch the World Fitness Day on May 1, and talking to USA Today about how people should know they’re never too old to be fit.
If her own example is anything to go by, age has nothing to do with how much (or how little) one works out, Fonda says for the aforementioned publication. Speaking only for herself, she believes no one should use age as an excuse for not getting enough exercise, which is why she’s coming out in December with two new workout DVDs, one for baby boomers and the other for seniors.
“I got a new knee and a new hip, but I want to show that, even at 72, with new body parts, you can be fit and healthy. I try to work out four or five times a week, and usually there’s an aerobic component. It’s either walking outside or hiking in the hills or doing the elliptical or biking. I do a lot of walking. It’s brisk but doable. I look for hills. Hills are good because they force my heart rate to go up. I used to run, used to ski. I don’t do those anymore. I ride bikes. I swim in the summer. I use weights but not as heavy as I used to. Weight training helps you maintain bones and muscle as you age,” Fonda says of her own exercise routine.
Jane Fonda has osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, but she’s not letting that get in the way of her keeping as active as she can – which, she hopes, those who buy her upcoming DVDs will also learn to do. Speaking of the releases, the star says they’re milder routines than what she used to do, but that’s also due to the segments they’re targeted at. In short, they’re for people who have never been fit or who are just now looking to get in better shape without doing serious damage to themselves.
But Jane is also very determined about the World Fitness Day. “For this country to be as unfit as we are is unconscionable. We need to turn things around. I want to play a role in that,” she says, adding that her involvement in the campaign has no ulterior motive than doing some good and helping others like her send out a clear message to the American public.