Gilad Janklowicz: Move That Body

Gilad Janklowicz: Move That Body

by Adam Segal

Atop a promenade overlooking the old city of Jerusalem, the mystical sounds of Middle Eastern music are humming. The top of an ancient mosque looms in the distance, while pine trees sprout prominently close by. The Holy City is truly golden.

With this exotic setting providing a backdrop, Gilad Janklowicz, a fixture in fitness circles as host of Bodies in Motion, is doing what he does best: leading a high energy workout. Shifting his legs from side to side, the well-toned energizer counts down from four to one before switching to the next stretch, beaming a glee that could only come from someone in his element. “What a workout, what a day, and what a place we are at,” he says, smiling widely at the camera. The final package is Gilad Getting Fit in Jerusalem, one of 25 instructional exercise videos under his belt.

“I try to find all the different motifs that are fun, exciting and give people good results,” the 49-year-old says of his knack for motivating viewers to get in shape. “Exercise should be fun, because if it’s not fun, people are not going to do it.”

Janklowicz’s unique ability to make demanding workouts fun is the fundamental reason for his popularity and longevity. He has hosted Hawaii-based Bodies in Motion for 20 years, which included more than a decade-long run on the widely viewed sports channel ESPN. The show has made cameo appearances in several motion pictures and garnered various awards, including Cable Guide’s “People’s Choice Awards,” and was chosen as the top fitness show by Self magazine.

“Bodies in Motion gets people motivated. It gets them off their couches and into shape,” says Janklowicz. Viewers laud the handsome, Israeli-born host as “charming.” They are also enamored with his emphasis on comprehensive workouts that encompass both cardiovascular fitness and muscle strengthening, while catering to people of varying abilities. To that end, Janklowicz regularly invites his mother, Ora, to work out alongside her son. “It’s a big motivator for people my mother’s age who watch the show,” Janklowicz offers. “They look at my mom and say, ‘Wow, if this lady can do this, then we can do it, too.’”

The allure of the show and its host has made Janklowicz a media darling for fitness and health advice. Throughout his more than two decades in the spotlight, Janklowicz has been featured in more than 15 print publications, including Sports Illustrated and The New York Times and has appeared on more than ten television shows, including Regis and Kathy Lee. He is a member of the Jewish Hall of Fame and has also contributed generously to charitable causes as host of the March of Dimes in Hawaii and involvement with the Special Olympics.

Janklowicz’s success in the United States and internationally seems a far cry from the days when the Holon, Israel native was a burgeoning decathlete hoping to represent his country in the 1980 Olympics. “I kept breaking my high school records in different events,” Janklowicz reminisces. “First running, then shot put and then high jump. I figured I was fairly good at all events and that got me interested in decathlon.”

While training for the decathlon, Janklowicz also served in the Israeli army where he made use of his athleticism and fitness savvy as fitness director of an army base. “Every Friday morning at six o'clock, we had music, amplifiers and a big stage where the commander and I would get the whole base to jump up and down to the music for 20 minutes.” Little did the fitness trainer know that this was his own training for a future career.

Janklowicz went on to break the Israel decathlon record and with his sights set on the Olympics, he left Israel in 1976 to train at UCLA with former world champion Russ Hodge. The experience was life altering. “I trained vigorously with UCLA track athletes on tar, which put a lot of strain on my Achilles tendon and all my joints,” Janklowicz laments. “It got progressively worse, but I was determined to compete, so I didn’t let go, even though I should have.” Overdoing it, something Janklowicz always cautions his viewers against, is precisely what he did. “I went to the Maccabee Games in 1978 and that was when I actually tore a portion of my Achilles tendon.”

The injury was career ending in one sense, but career beginning in another. With his Olympics dream shattered, Janklowicz began teaching aerobics classes at high-profile fitness facilities and studios in Los Angeles. He also worked as a personal trainer with several celebrities under his tutelage, including power couple Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. His interest in TV/film was also percolating at this time, as Janklowicz attended UCLA’s film school.

“I spent a summer in Palm Springs during a school break and got involved with some people over there as a personal trainer,” Janklowicz recalls. “They ended up taking me on a fitness vacation, so to speak, to Hawaii. I gave a few demo fitness classes (in Honolulu) at a local health club and the owner made me an offer to teach for a year.” Janklowicz jumped at the opportunity. The planets continued to align for him and by March 1983, he was hosting a local television fitness show. More stations began airing the show and in 1985, ESPN took Bodies in Motion nationwide. The show ran on the network for more than a decade and is currently aired on The Health Network.

Janklowicz sports a muscular build and judging by the high tempo shows and videos he hosts, he hasn’t lost a step. The fitness guru says health and fitness are life necessities and should be priorities for everyone. “With a fitness program, as your body gets stronger and fitter, your energy increases, your overall feeling of well-being increases and your ability to put demands on your body increases,” he enthuses. “It’s a wonderful feeling.”

There is no magical prescription for physical fitness that works for everyone, but Janklowicz believes the first step is the basic want to improve one’s health. “The most important thing you need is desire. You have to want to get up and do it,” he says.

For beginners, Janklowicz says they should start with “simple, easy things that fit into their schedule.” For example, a beginner could work out three times a week, mixing cardiovascular exercises with muscle toning. As they get stronger, they can progress to four days a week, with two days spent on cardio and the other two on toning. “The main thing people should do when they get started is... not make contracts in their mind that their body can’t meet. That’s when people fail, by trying to do too much, too soon.”

Alongside Bodies in Motion and the bevy of videos, Janklowicz has dabbled in other fitness ventures with significant success. In 1984, he co-wrote Bodies in Motion: Finding Joy in Fitness, a general fitness book. In 1997, he co-created an anaerobic exercise machine called “Timeworks.” “This machine does what a 400-meter dash does for the body,” he says. “For the first 45 seconds to a minute, you feel it’s easy. Then in minute number two, you’re huffing and puffing. It sneaks up on you... but it really gets your cardio system going and anaerobically, it’s excellent.” Janklowicz hosted an infomercial to sell the machine and in 1998, it rose to the third top grossing infomercial of the year. He also created a second exercise show for ESPN entitled Basic Training, which was hosted by his sister, Ada. Janklowicz’s other sister, Dana, shares her brother’s passion for film. She recently produced the award-winning film Shanghai Ghetto, a movie based in part on the life of their father, Harold, who fled Nazi Germany in 1939 and headed with a group of other Jewish people to Shanghai, China, where they lived for eight years. Harold and Ora married shortly after he made aliyah and have now been married for 52 years.

“I think the most important value that I learned from my folks is that everybody is equal,” the proud son reveals. “They are very accepting of everybody and... they still have a wonderful spark between them and enjoy life tremendously.” Harold and Ora still live in Israel, where their son is a regular visitor.

“You can take the Israeli out of Israel, but not Israel out of the Israeli,” says the staunch Zionist. “I’ve lived half my life outside of Israel, but I do have an apartment there... and I am planning on spending way more time there in the future.” Janklowicz adds, “My long-term goal is to do some type of independent film with an Israel twist to it.”

The beats of the bongo drum are an uplifting sound for Gilad and his five fitness colleagues to march to. “Knees up,” he commands, marching with purpose, as his knees rapidly rise and descend, like an Israeli soldier. “If you want to get in shape, you have to work for it,” he announces, looking straight into the camera. There’s no doubt he’s worked for it.