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Richard Simmons: A Unique Fitness Hero

2024.12.23

Photo Credit: Pavel Danilyuk @pexels.com 

 

Popular entertainment figures can change the way people think and behave. I was sad to learn that in July 2024, the fitness instructor, entrepreneur, and television personality Richard Simmons had died at age 76. Richard Simmons was someone who started to become famous when I was in junior high. I first saw him on The Phil Donahue Show, a popular television talk show. Simmons’ energy, message, and theatrical style on the show demonstrated a great charisma that made him immediately popular. I bought his first exercise album, called “Reach,” when I was 15 years old. Years later, I still sometimes listen to recordings of it and do the exercises, along with his “Sweating to the Oldies” exercise videos. Richard Simmons was not a typical “hero” in the fitness industry: he was not particularly handsome, nor was he a super-athlete with a very muscular body. Nevertheless, there were several reasons why I really admired him:

 

1. Simmons himself had struggled to lose weight and become fit. While growing up he was picked on for being fat. When he was 15, he weighed about 83 kg (182 pounds) and eventually gained weight and hit 122 kg (268 pounds). However, his fitness programs and healthy eating helped him lose weight and stay at 56 kg (123 pounds) during most of his professional career.

 

2. He built a public stage persona that was super-energetic, outlandish, and silly, and made it a goal for people to have fun and enjoy themselves when they were working out. For example, his “Sweating to the Oldies” exercise videos had themes such as being in an old-fashioned diner, or at an amusement park, and had exercises designed for fun and laughing while moving. He would wear very bright, sparkly costumes or exercise wear with colorful stripes, and make amusing jokes.

 

3. His workout videos featured real people of different ages who were average looking, and many of whom were (or had been) quite overweight. They were not all beautiful young models or athletes. At the end of many of his videos, he would highlight each of the people in his video, commending how much weight they had lost.

 

4. He was a successful entrepreneur. He knew how to market himself and become a very well-known television personality, while producing dozens of videos and books. In addition to his successful workout studio and myriad exercise videos, he also had his own television show for four years. Later he had a popular membership-based website and maintained a strong social media presence through 2014.

 

5. He deeply cared about people who struggled with eating addiction and obesity, and his messages were motivational and inspiring. His books and videos motivated people to take better care of their eating and exercise habits. Although some people discounted Richard Simmons as being too silly, I will always admire him for his energy, his sense of fun, and his sincere caring for other people. Our heroes shape our lives.

 

Questions

 

Q1. Which of the following is true about Richard Simmons?

a. He was a former Olympic athlete.

b. He became popular and famous at age 15 as a child actor.

c. His popularity as a fitness trainer and personality was based on his flamboyant and fun style, as he tried to help average people get healthier.

d. He focused on helping wealthy Hollywood celebrities get fit.

 

Q2. What is NOT one of the reasons that the blog writer admired Richard Simmons?

a. Because he was a successful entrepreneur.

b. Because his sense of caring for his audience who were struggling with weight and fitness issues seemed very genuine and inspiring.

c. Because it was easy to relate to him as a real person who also had experienced trouble with being overweight and unfit in the past.

d. Because he had a very strict, serious, and commanding style of leading his exercise videos, and his workouts were extremely hard, even for very fit people.

 

Q3. According to this blog’s writer, why is considering our heroes and why we admire them valuable to do?

a. Because the heroes we choose look beautiful and strong so we want to try to look like them.

b. Because the positive characteristics they show can motivate us to change the way we think and behave.

c. Because our heroes inspire our sense of fashion.

d. Because our heroes are better than we can ever aspire to be ourselves.

 

 

Scroll down ↓ for the answers

 

 



















A1. c

A2. d

A3. b

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