Tony Horton: The New Jack LaLanne Tells the Military to Shape Up

"Yes Sir, I'm a Marine...now, can I have my soy mocha latte? I've been doing hip thrusts for hours." Yeah, that inspires terror. :-)

This guy Horton is just trying to hock his product for a lucrative government contract. This article says that the military is REJECTING people enlisting because the don't meet the fitness standards to even join, and those who do get through, most are cycled out in under a year.

Sounds to me like it's not the military's problem, it the problem of an overweight CIVILIAN population.

Horton seems to be just another fraudulent huckster cozying up to congresscritters just so he can get a place on the public taxpayer teat.

When are people like this going to just go away?

Ms. Clift, You should not write about thing you are ignorant of. The comment "runners stretching and limbering up, doing what we used to call calisthenics before fitness became a multibillion-dollar industry" shows your individual lack the basic knowledge of the subject matter. "Stretching and limbering up" for at least the last 40 years been just that "Stretching and limbering up". Calisthenics is the working part of an exercise program, the strength training or even the cardio portion consisting of a variety of simple movements, performed without weights or equipment, using the weight of one's own body for resistance to increase body strength. Specifically, calisthenics IS NOT stretching, never was, never will be. Perhaps you should have paid attention in physical education or even taken physical education. Obesity is a major problem effecting our population and society. You statement confusing safe warm up and muscle stretching activities with actual muscle exercise and conditioning programs is what causes many of the injuries we see occurring today. The majority of individuals today do not even know how to exercise. In the future please try to inform and educate the public thru your media and not circulate mis-information and promote activities that can lead to injury.

Just because the military can cherry pick not does not mean it will in the future!
Using running and BMI is out of date anyway. If the person wants to join fine. Over weight obese so? Throwing out people who sit at a desk is silly. Many are never going to be combat troops anyway.

The early pioneers in the fitness field were Charles Atlas, Vic Tanny and Armand Tanny.

I personally like P90X, less damaging than hard weights when you're in middle age. However, "muscle confusion" as a principle has a long track record of research. Tony's contribution has, to his credit, been to popularize it. And this at an appropriate time, as the modern food industry and sedentary lifestyle has combined to create an obesity epidemic, as your article noted.