The Most Amazing . . .: Top 10 Fitness Personalities

There are many fitness icons who have tried to revolutionize fitness training, weight loss and becoming fit. The following 10 fitness personalities have gained widespread popularity and have impacted North Americans in various ways with their initiatives.

1. Tony Horton:

Tony Horton is a fitness instructor and personality most famous for his boot camp style home fitness program. The P90X program, as it is called, has sweat inducing and muscle pumping exercises which ought to revolutionize people in 90 days. In his free time, Horton tries to push his body to the limit in the water and on the slopes. He runs gymnastics programs for him and his friends every Sunday.

2. Richard Simmons:

Simmons is another fitness personality who promotes weight loss programs on VHS, DVD and television. He began his career by opening up a gym called Simmons, which tries to help overweight and obese people lose weight. In addition to being a fitness personality, he is a political activist. He advocates for physical education not to be competitive in public schools.

3. Jack Lalanne:

This fitness expert and personality was strong and healthy to his dying day. He was always seen on infomercials around North America promoting the Juicer and healthy drinking and eating. He complimented his juicer with a recipe book for those interested in buying. In 1950s he opened up fitness centers which preached the health benefits of regular exercises and good diets. Additionally, he ran television exercise programs for woman. Overall, he is an excellent role model, as he died at 96. Even when he was ill, he was exercising.

4. Chuck Norris:

This martial artist and actor began to do infomercials for Total Gym Home Equipment. The machines were designed for stretching, strength training and Pilates training. He even has his own martial arts school called Chun Kuk Do.

5. Bob Harper:

Appearing on the show called The Biggest Loser, Harper is recognized for training many celebrities such as Jennifer Jason Leigh. In 2010, he launches a website called MyTrainerBob which provides tips on weight loss.

6. Jane Fonda:

Daughter of Henry Fonda, many see Fonda as an accomplished actor. Many, however, forget that she is also a fitness personality on television and in real life. Within the last 30 years, she has produced 20 exercise videos. This inspiration came with her past experience with ballet. Due to injury and inability to pursue ballet, she took on aerobic and strength exercising. This pursuit led her to discover the Jane Fonda Workout.

7. Gunnar Peterson:

A Swedish-American fitness personality, Gunnar Peterson tops this list at # 7. He is mostly recognized for his functioning training programs, which train the body for activities people perform in everyday life.

8. Joanne McLeod:

A Canadian fitness personality and figure skater, McLeod co-stars in Body Break. Along with Hal Johnson she provides tips on how to stay fit and eat healthy in a 90 second television infomercial. She is one of the founders of ParticipAction.

9. Hal Johnson:

Partners with Joanne McLeod, Johnson co-stars in Body Break, a 90 second show which promotes healthy eating and staying fit. He even started a non-profit organization which helps build on the ideals of Body Break. It was closed in 2001 but was revived in 2007, given funding from Canadian federal government.

10. Paige Palmer:

An exercise expert in New York, Palmer is often referred to as the first lady of fitness. She is well known for designing exercise equipment and fashion for women. She even had her own show for many years called the Paige Palmer show.