The Elvis workouts

[Albert]

At 28, I now know how hard it is to keep the slim figure that I used to have and to struggle against the 'love handles'. I workout twice a week and keep an eye on what I eat.

So it's unbelievable how great Elvis looked at TTWII, or even the Aloha From Hawaii. He was 35 and 38 at those moments.

How did Elvis manage to keep in shape? We all know that he loved to eat (even then) and that he practiced karate. But did he had a specific diet or a workout? Nowadays artists have personal trainers that keep them fit or bringing them back to shape before a tour.

[Cherokee]

I know he alternated healthy and unhealthy ways to slim down. He'd fast completely, except for water and orange juice and crackers and work out (karate, swimming, stationary bike) yet on the other hand he also relied heavily on diet pills
During TTWII he had a 32" waist at around 6'-6'1" height, which is fabulous. In 1973 his weight was distributed differently, but he had managed to lose about 20 pounds in one month's time! Everybody who's ever tried to slim down knows one simply cannot do that without the help of something pharmaceutical

[Joe Car]

I think motivation was the key for Elvis. When motivated everything he did from getting in tremendous physical shape to his recordings to his live performances all benefited. I've read where he worked out like a man possessed for the 69 comeback in Vegas. If only the Colonel would have realized that EP needed to be pushed, needed different challenges, who knows he might be with us today.

[jbgude]

Cherokee wrote

During TTWII he had a 32" waist at around 6'-6'1" height

Elvis was 5' 11" .......the legend ofcourse, is much bigger (h)

jb

[Albert]

I've always thought Elvis was smaller than 6 feet (5'10'' perhaps?). The average American male is 5'8''. And looking at the many pictures of Elvis, he wasn't much taller than the people around him. He did have 'high heels' under his stagewear, so that made him look taller....

[Joe Car]

According to one of the Memphis Mafia he was 5' 11" 1/2 tall.

[Cherokee]

In interviews (some of them are downloadable on-line) Elvis himself said in the fifties that he was an even 6 feet tall. I believe it says that height on his paperwork from the army. In 1974 in some of his (in)famous monologue during one of his concerts he said he was "only 6 ft and one and a half inch" tall......

All from the horse's mouth and some official papers folks, don't shoot the messenger. Besides, 6 ft isn't really all that tall

[Lonniebealestreet]

I believe that is correct that he was just under 6'0''. To make himself look taller, he supposedly wore lifts in all of his footwear, including his slippers (houseshoes, whatever)!

Regarding his methods of losing weight, my impression is that he was more into dieting than working out. I think at times he did work out a lot, and certainly he practiced karate quite a bit, and his rehearsals looked to be pretty active for the most part.

Regarding his dieting, Elvis seemed to try all the fad diets, and just about any kind of diet he heard about, just as people today do.

He would fast, or eat nothing but yogurt or Jello for periods of time. He once tried an ill-advised "sleep diet", which didn't yield any positive results. I don't recall who it was that said this, but a musician reported that during some of the marathon recording sessions which were long enough for the need to break for a couple of meals, he never saw Elvis have anything more than a bowl of vegetable soup and some milk, or something like that. And he'd snack on olives. I believe this was during the movie years.

To slim down for the Aloha special, Elvis didn't eat very much at all, for a while eating just 500 calories a day, in the form of small pieces of specially fortified meat which came in packets that they would boil. I believe Sonny did this diet with him and they both lost around 20 lbs. Just before the special, he may have fasted completely for a day or so. I think this is why he seems so tired (notice at one point where he leans over and puts his hands on his knees) and a little out of sorts by the end of the night for the recording of the post-broadcast songs. He was probably feeling pretty weak by that point. I don't think the late hour had much to do with it, since he was a night owl anyway and usually recorded well into the early morning hours. I say this in spite of the fact that we hear him say on the Alternate Aloha CD during that session, "My God...3:00 in the morning, this is my favorite thing." That kind of puzzled me when I first heard it, but I guess it was just reflective of his wanting to wrap things up...and probably get a little food in him!

I know there were some other diets he tried, which I can't think of at the moment...

[Cherokee]

Lord, Elvis and his diets! The man even managed to diet once on: (drumroll) banana pudding (as per recipe of his favorite nurse Mrs. Cook) three times a day. Nothing else. I'm sure that did his weight a lot of good.

Anyway, I'm still searching my audio interview files with Elvis in which he states at least twice that he is six feet. I'm sure you people must have them too in your vast collections

[jbgude]

Cherokee wrote

Anyway, I'm still searching my audio interview files with Elvis in which he states at least twice that he is six feet. I'm sure you people must have them too in your vast collections

Dont bother Cherokee, Elvis said many things while on stage and also on Camera -Problem with the army was that they were also trying to hype the draft and ole E was a very good candidate even the old Soviet Union and East Germany complained about it.

Take everything with a pinch of salt. Remember the main thing is to
ENJOY THE MUSIC - it does not matter how tall or how good he looked! (h) just concentrate on the voice. :worthy:

jb

[Cherokee]

Cherokee wrote

Dont bother Cherokee, Elvis said many things while on stage and also on Camera -Problem with the army was that they were also trying to hype the draft and ole E was a very good candidate even the old Soviet Union and East Germany complained about it.

Take everything with a pinch of salt. Remember the main thing is to
ENJOY THE MUSIC - it does not matter how tall or how good he looked! (h) just concentrate on the voice. :worthy:

jb

Honey, we all know that Elvis in reality was a transgender midget from Transylvania as ugly as a hog's behind!

Size usually only matters to men , well, in certain instances it does. But 5'8" or 5'10" I doubt it, not just when you look at the size of some of his female co-stars who themselves were about that height.
And of course his looks are not what makes us his fans. If he'd have had the voice of Mick Jagger or Frank Sinatra even, I would not have bothered to buy any of his stuff, despite his pretty face
But it was the whole package: the inside AND outside of the man, plus all the mysterious and mythical factors surrounding him, that gave him his lasting power

[Joe Car]

Up until the last ten years fighting a weight problem was a brutal chore, (not that's it's easy now mind you) and in the sixties and seventies unlike now the mind set was you pretty much had to starve yourself in order to lose weight, EP was no exception. We have since found out that in the long run that method doesn't work and is harmful. Today we have low fat this and low fat that and it has become ingrained in a lot of what we eat. We know that we can eat and still lose weight, unfortunately back then people had to torture themselves and only eat a salad, drink Tab pop, (yuk) and that would be it. My mother in-law went through this, (she has since passed away) and I always think how much easier it would have been for her in todays times given her passion for eating.

[Elena/The Russian EP Fan Club]

Cherokee wrote

Elvis was 5' 11" .......the legend ofcourse, is much bigger (h)

jb

Elvis was 6' 1"
He was a tall guy

[Scottishthistle]

i would'nt care if elvis was a 5" pink haired nutter!!! lol he was sooo gorgeous and an amazing entertainer...hehe

[rick]

Cherokee. Pills arent always the reason for Elvis losing weight. I lost 7kg last summer by eating less and swimming every day. That took me from 93 to 86kgs and I was being told I looked too skinny, and it was without any pills.
Now Im back to 91.5kgs but am trying to avoid fatty food/chocolate to get below 90 plus I'm doing aerobic exercise instead of weight lifting.
Also, people blame uppers for Elvis' improved performances in the last tour of '76 when it could instead have been less pills, more exercise and a 20-year-old girlfriend!
rick