Jane Fonda's Workout
The ballet-style leg warmers she wore increased the popularity of an ongoing fashion trend, and her encouraging shout, "Feel the burn!
Profits from the Workout franchise supplied money for the political action committee (PAC) she had been running with her husband, the activist and politician Tom Hayden.
Their PAC, named Campaign for Economic Democracy, promoted left-wing political issues such as women's rights and the anti-war movement.
In 1984, Fonda used her Workout money to help pay for a new PAC with Barbra Streisand and ten others forming the Hollywood Women's Political Committee.
"[2] On location in Utah shooting The Electric Horseman in late 1978 and early 1979, Fonda taught her actor colleagues the exercises she had learned from Cazden, and was encouraged by the warm reception.
The double album contained songs by the Jacksons, the Brothers Johnson, Boz Scaggs, REO Speedwagon, Sylvester, Quincy Jones and others.
Richard Simmons was already producing exercise records; his 1982 Reach LP was certified Platinum before it shipped, based on advance orders.
Seeing an opportunity to bring exercise tapes to the home video market, Karl contacted Fonda's husband, the activist and politician Tom Hayden, to propose the idea as a source of campaign funding.
Hayden put Karl in touch with Fonda, but she initially declined;[1] the home video market was new and unfamiliar to her – she did not know a single person who owned a videocassette recorder (VCR).
[9] With a budget of $50,000,[1] $75,000, or $100,000,[22] Fonda started shooting the video with her friend, director Sid Galanty, a fellow Democrat known for making political advertisements for television.
Fonda was unable to simultaneously talk to the viewer and count through her movements, so she took timing cues from hand gestures given by assistants stationed at the camera.
Behind Fonda and also barefoot, a group of seven instructors and students from her exercise studios took part in the routine; they, too, watched the timing cues.
[14] Billboard magazine featured Fonda on the cover at the end of August 1985, describing her "video victory" and carrying articles about the actress, the exercise series, and the surprising sales juggernaut.
Lorimar wanted a share of the profits from Fonda's Workout series, and so bought out Karl in October 1984 for a reported $3 million, rebranding the company as Karl-Lorimar.
Instead, people who participate in aerobic exercise were advised to pay attention to the general feeling of discomfort brought on by the formation of lactic acid in the body during extended exertion, showing the limits of one's cardiorespiratory fitness.
[33] Fonda grew concerned about reports of some of her customers getting stress fractures or experiencing back pain,[34] so for her next releases, she tempered her style, emphasizing gentle stretching and low-impact movements, and her spoken encouragements became more inclusive, such as "Hang in there, we're almost done!
"[6] Leg warmers had already been popular with ballet dancers to wear during instruction and stretching, but with Fonda seen sporting them in her exercise books and videos, they were adopted by many more women across the US in the 1980s.
[35] For years previously, Fonda had worn leg warmers for ballet classes, and was surprised to find that her name was associated with the trend.
[4][38] Fonda signed with Capri Beachwear in June 1983 to produce a line of Workout-branded exercise clothing, designed by Broadway costumer Theoni V. Aldredge and made in the U.S. by union shops.
[39] Fonda used her Workout profits, including the studios, the book, the audio recording and the videos, to fund her political activism.
[42] Buoyed by Workout money, the CED PAC successfully supported Hayden's campaign in 1982 running for the California State Assembly, and it pursued various liberal and New Left issues such as advocating for rent control, the reduction of water pollution, investing in solar power and protesting against nuclear power, championing labor rights, women's rights, and various anti-war initiatives.
In early 1984, Fonda pulled some of the Workout assets away from the CED PAC so she could follow her own interests separate from Hayden's.
[42] Similarly to Fonda, Karl funneled some of his Workout video distribution profits into political donations, especially to the 1988 campaign of Democratic presidential primary candidate Gary Hart.
Hart had been the frontrunner in polls in April 1987, and the favored candidate of Fonda and Hayden, but he resigned from the race in May after news reports showed him to be unfaithful to his wife.
[47] In federal court, Karl pleaded guilty to hiding $185,000 in political donations through reimbursed third parties, and was hit with a fine of $60,000 and a sentence of probation for three years.
[23] In 1985, fitness teacher Joanie Greggains shifted from LPs to video with Total Shape Up, and in 1987, personal trainer Kathy Smith followed suit by releasing Starting Out for beginners.
[52] On the other hand, aerobics dance pioneer Jacki Sorensen watched her large organization reduce in size through the 1980s, partly because of competition.
[53] A handful of celebrities capitalized on the exercise video concept, including Cher, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Caitlyn Jenner, Pat Boone, Debbie Reynolds and Raquel Welch.
Combining her political activism with 1980s-era video scenes and recently shot footage, Fonda gained views on Instagram and TikTok.
