From beautiful 1960s ingenue to interstellar sex goddess in Barbarella, from controversial 1970s anti-war activist, to advocate for working women via the film 9 to 5, and on and on, Jane Fonda is an American institution. For now though, and seeing as this post falls under the “Retro Fitness Babes” umbrella, let’s bask in the glory of one of her most curious and culturally significant phases, as the 1980s aerobics queen in Jane Fonda’s Workout (1982).
Workout certainly helped usher in the ‘80s fitness boom that has never really wavered since. That’s the star power of Jane Fonda in action. Today, it’s almost impossible to properly contextualize the monumental popularity of it, but if you were alive in the ’80s then chances are extremely high that at any given time you or your neighbors were playing copies of the Workout VHS. It helped launch the VCR into popularity and became a massive bestseller, with over 17 million copies sold. All of the money Jane has made from the Workout series of tapes and DVDs has gone towards political activism and worthy causes. That’s pretty cool.
Watching one of Jane’s Workout segments now—a bunch of them are free to stream on Tubi—provides an instant wave of nostalgia for a time when we, or someone close to us (moms in my neighborhood were a huge target audience), thrilled to Fonda’s high energy aerobics and ever-radiant smile. The incessant repetition—”and to the left, and to right,” “5, 6, 7, 8”, “now up, now down” over and over—coupled with Jane’s soothing voice and all those perfectly toned gyrating bodies make the entire thing quite relaxing to watch. Who needs ASMR when we have Jane in a thong leotard sweating through another rigorous workout while reminding us to breathe?
The Workout tapes gave people a reason to sweat off some pounds, and to have fun while doing it. A quick internet search reveals there are all sorts of people still finding inspiration from Workout. Jane Fonda, who was in her forties and fifties during the peak home video/cable TV workout era of the ‘80s and ‘90s, provided both the inspiration and the ever-so-tasty eye candy.
The Starfire Lounge 