In 1982, Jane Fonda was a two-time Oscar winner coming off another career peak with the films Nine to Five and On Golden Pond, dallying in a little daily ballet to keep in shape. However, after having injured her foot making The China Syndrome, Fonda found she could no longer keep up with the rigorous training of her dance school. Instead, she ventured into the strange and relatively undiscovered world of aerobics and put together a home video demonstration of the techniques she was learning.
Thirteen years and twenty-three videos later, The Jane Fonda Workout was the best-selling video in history and greatly responsible for the VHS craze itself. Fonda did not even have to work in Hollywood after 1990 and took a 15 year break. Now, after venturing into theater and film acting once more, Fonda is again releasing a workout video — at the ripe young age of 72.
Despite some repair work over the years – a new hip in 2005, a knee replacement last year and a little cosmetic surgery – she says she now wants to teach pensioners how to stay in shape.
This time around jumping, running, heavy weights and 'feeling the burn' have been abandoned. Instead, the Oscar-winning actress stretches, lunges and lifts only light weights. However, considering she will be 73 in December, it's all pretty impressive.
And with video a thing of the past, this time her routines are coming out in November on two DVDs. One features areobics called Walk Out and one features weights called Fit & Strong. [Daily Mail]
Fonda says she hopes her new DVDs will appeal to aging baby boomers, many of whom are still trying to jam those clunky VHS tapes into their Blu Ray players.
