About 10,000 California students signed up to take Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fitness challenge when the program began in 2006. Jake Steinfeld, who was appointed chairman of the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, had students promise that they would be active 30 to 60 minutes every other day for a month. This year, 1,308,054 students committed to the program, and Steinfeld is working to attract more. ‘The hardest part about fitness is getting started,’ the Pacific Palisades resident told the Palisadian-Post last week. ‘If kids get out and exercise, they’re able to sit in classes better; they’re less fidgety and can focus better, which means they’ll do better on tests. Academics and fitness go hand in hand. Where there is increased fitness in schools, the API scores go up.’ Although the buff physical fitness guru now known through his ‘Body by Jake’ moniker, Steinfeld is hardly proud of his childhood eating and exercise habits. ’I was a fat kid with a really bad stutter, who was really good at watching television,’ he said at a one-night show in Las Vegas in January. Early in his freshman year of high school, Steinfeld, who was dipolomatically described as ‘husky,’ remembers lifting weights for the first time. ‘I was in my basement room in Long Island. There was a black light and posters of Jimmy Hendrix and Alice Cooper,’ Steinfeld said. ‘I was wearing a tank top, and had an Afro hairdo and braces. I was playing Frank Sinatra music as I did bicep curls. I looked in the mirror and my stomach was hanging over my underwear.’ Thus began Steinfeld’s journey into physical fitness, which later included competing in body-building contests, training stars like Harrison Ford and Bette Midler, building his own company of exercise equipment and eventually becoming a television personality. ’I love exercising, I love what it does for me,’ he told the Post. When Steinfeld was named to head the fitness council by old friend Schwarzenegger in 2006, both men were alarmed at the increasing rate of childhood obesity and the number of children who were diagnosed with type-2 diabetes and other health problems. Under Steinfeld’s leadership, the program has been extremely successful, thanks in large part to Steinfeld’s innovative ways, which includes helping schools win $100,000 fitness centers. Since he bridges the private and public sector, he has been able to persaude different corporations like Anthem Blue Cross, Kaiser, General Mills and Coca-Cola to donate money for centers. ’Coke has committed to eight fitness centers next year,’ Steinfeld said. When asked if the soft-drink company is partially to blame for the obesity, Steinfeld has a different take. ’We all need to be responsible. You can have a Coke. We just need to do everything in moderation,’ he said. ‘Saturday is my day to eat whatever I want. I usually have the 31 Flavors ice cream special; it’s my treat to myself.’ He also urges people to increase their exercise, which is why fitness centers on school campuses are so important. Once these centers open, they are accessible to the community on weekends, meaning that parents as well as kids benefit from the brand-new cardio equipment and weights. Every middle-school student who agrees to take the governor’s fitness challenge receives a free ski-lift ticket at Mammoth, and high school students and teachers who commit to the program receive a free 30-day pass to a 24-Hour Fitness Center. To find out more, visit calgovcouncil.org. The program has been so successful that Steinfeld has been contacted by 13 other states and the federal government. The White’s House’s new fitness plan, ‘The President’s Challenge,’ closely parallels the California model. ’This is not a Democrat or Republican issue, but a kids issue,’ said Steinfeld, who was also a co-founder of major league lacrosse in 1999. ‘We have to do something and do it now.’ He urges people to hike, bike, swim, surf, play golf or tennis or do yoga, but that the most important thing is to find something that they like and stay active.’ Once a new governor comes into office, what happens to the program? ‘I’m ready to hand off the baton,’ said Steinfeld, who certainly hopes that it will keep going. Steinfeld’s talents may then turn to other areas. After his well-received comedy routine in Vegas, producers and writers are currently developing a new comedy television show for him. He and wife Tracy, who moved to Pacific Palisades in 1994, have four children who all attend Brentwood School: Morgan (a junior), Nick (a freshman), Zach (fourth grade) and Luke (third grade). Of course, they all play lacrosse.
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