Suzanne Somers, Jake Steinfeld (Body by Jake) and Billy Blanks (Tae Bo!) are doing a live fitness event on Thursday at 6pm EST on Michelob Ultra’s social media. Billy is going to do a Tae Bo workout and then Jake and Suzanne are going to lead a discussion afterwards. I actually have worked out semi-recently through Billy’s YouTube channel. He’s 64 and his workouts are still really hard. The kickboxing workouts are a lot more challenging for me than they used to be, but I guess I’m getting old too. People Magazine is covering this story and they have a lot of comments from Suzanne about aging and about being known as a fitness personality. She had so much success with the Thighmaster in the early 90s. I knew so many people who had those, but barely anyone used them. They were like those Ab roller things which came later, everyone bought them and they just sat there. The infomercials are so convincing though. You come away from those thinking that your whole life will change if you just send them your money. Hell I see the Total Gym commercials and I want one.
She broke her hip and was eager to workout again
“I’d done yoga every other day for 19 years — and suddenly I couldn’t do it,” she says. “I felt like my body had seized up.”“We don’t have to fall apart as we age,” she says, adding that preserving muscle mass is especially important. Her advice? “Find a movement protocol that turns you on. If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.”
“I am passionate about how the body works,” says Somers, who hosts three Facebook Live shows a week. “If you had a Maserati, you would never put inferior oil in it.”
On being a fitness influencer in the 90s
As for how it feels to be one of the original fitness influencers, pre-Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, Somers says, “I think Billy and Jake and myself were around in a very lucky era because there wasn’t the amount of content there is now. I don’t know how you find your way to the top now.”Fortunately, Somers doesn’t have to worry about that, because she is already there.
“One thing I love about aging — and I do love aging — I’ve got a wisdom that no young person can buy. You earn it.”
She has some wacky views but everything she said here is pretty normal. As someone who makes content, I don’t think that there’s more competition necessarily, I think there’s more of a chance that you’ll find your audience. There are so many opportunities for smaller fitness professionals and there are degrees of success that didn’t exist before the Internet. There’s something for everyone now and I love that I can pick out a workout and a trainer to fit my mood. We used to have to just put a tape in and do the same workout over and over, or tape something and do that.
Speaking of 80s and 90s workout personalities, I still work out with Denise Austin and I love her, and this makes me wonder what happened to Gilad from Bodies in Motion. My mom used to do his workouts all the time. He’s only 65 and he’s still doing his thing. You can still order the Thighmaster! It’s expensive though. Just do leg lifts. That makes me wonder if they invited the grande dame of of exercise, Jane Fonda. Jane would only workout for social justice. She should do a fundraiser.
My fave Suzanne Somers fun fact: when she was on 3’s Company, they were pretty low budget and she had to do her own hair (and possibly makeup). She was trying to do a regular ponytail and it would NOT come out centered, no matter what she did. (We’ve all been there, right?)
So she decided “F it!” and did the side/asymmetrical pony. Which perfectly suited the character, and went on to become an iconic hairstyle of the time. Love it!
That’s a good bit of trivia
I love that she was one of the OG influencers. I always wanted to buy a thigh master but my parents thought it’d be a waste. They’re probably right. The exercise bike I bought for the lockdown is now gathering dust …
I always worked out with Denise Austin in the 80’s and 90’s
I should start again *as I munch on my brownie in bed*
She has the most amazing book of poetry. My coworkers and I read poems at our Christmas party and cry laughing.