44 Facts About Jacki Sorensen

Jacki Sorensen was born on Jacqueline Faye Mills; December 10,1942 and is the American originator of aerobic dancing, popularly known as aerobics.

Jacki Sorensen expanded this concept into a teaching method and studio franchise, Aerobic Dancing Inc.

Eight years later, after experiencing declining profits because of competition, Sorensen changed her business name to Jacki's, Inc.

Jacki Sorensen's continues today with instructors and studios in the US, Australia and Japan.

Jacki Sorensen was raised in nearby San Leandro and Castro Valley.

Jacki Sorensen took dancing classes as a child and by age 12 she was teaching.

Jacki Sorensen danced the hula at 16, appeared in an Oakland beauty contest at 17, and danced in a Gay '90s chorus line troupe at 18.

Jacki Sorensen graduated in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in social science.

Neil and Jacki Sorensen married in January 1965, and he joined the US Air Force later that year.

Jacki Sorensen trained in Big Spring, Texas, while she taught dance in a local Texas studio and interned as an elementary school teacher.

Neil's second posting was in Sacramento, California, where Jacki Sorensen took graduate classes at CSU Sacramento to get her teaching credential while teaching elementary school.

Jacki Sorensen accompanied her husband to his next assignment at Ramey Air Force Base in Puerto Rico in 1969.

Jacki Sorensen found that someone there was already teaching dance classes to Air Force wives, so she determined to start a new exercise program for officers' wives.

Jacki Sorensen studied recent exercise publications including Kenneth H Cooper's 1968 book Aerobics, which recommended jogging for a healthy heart.

Jacki Sorensen took his Cooper test and scored "excellent" even though she had never jogged; she realized that her dancing was an equivalent exercise to jogging.

Jacki Sorensen wrote to Cooper and he encouraged her, saying her idea of a dance-based exercise was better, since jogging by itself was not interesting enough for most women to maintain a steady regimen.

Jacki Sorensen recommended that she administer his test to her students, to see how far they could run in 12 minutes.

Jacki Sorensen reassured her students that they would not be judged by their performance or their style.

Jacki Sorensen avoided large mirrors so that the students could feel the exercises internally rather than be distracted by external appearances.

Classes were conducted with Jacki Sorensen facing away from the students, allowing them to soften the more challenging moves without being scolded.

Jacki Sorensen tested her students regularly to check pulse rate and breathing, and all of them improved after 12 weeks.

Jacki Sorensen found that her students reduced their waistlines but they did not usually lose weight.

When business picked up, Jacki Sorensen found herself teaching 25 classes a week in New Jersey.

Jacki Sorensen started running most evenings to calm herself for sleep, four miles in each session, four or five times a week.

Jacki Sorensen ran the 26.2-mile Atlantic City Marathon organized by the Road Runners Club of America on October 31,1971, coming in second place in the women's division, behind Nina Kuscsik.

Jacki Sorensen served as Seton Hall's women's intramural sports director, and as assistant director of recreation.

Jacki Sorensen gave a demonstration of aerobic dancing at the National Intramural Association convention in April 1971, and Albert "Sonny" Rooker, head of the Texas State Intramural program, asked Sorensen to show her methods to Texas educators.

Neil Jacki Sorensen's job was transferred across the country, and the couple arranged to move to Northridge, California.

Jacki Sorensen's curriculum was based on the student learning one extended dance routine for 12 weeks, consisting of two or three sessions lasting a total of 90 to 120 minutes per week.

Jacki Sorensen compared this to professional dancers learning a Broadway show, which was more fun than rote exercise.

L'eggs was rolling out the Sheer Energy line in the fall, and Jacki Sorensen created a "Sheer Energy" aerobic dancing fitness program for the fleet of distributors.

Also in 1973, Jacki Sorensen began recording a series of exercise records for schoolchildren.

Jacki Sorensen attended a cardiovascular health clinic in San Diego given by doctors John Boyer and Fred Kasch, authors of the 1968 book Adult Fitness.

Jacki Sorensen had formulated 150 different dance routines to keep it interesting for her students, the music ranging from ragtime to contemporary pop and dance.

In September 1979, Jacki Sorensen published Aerobic Dancing, promoting it on radio and TV with a book tour through the US Many new students were attracted through classes held in YMCA nonprofits.

Jacki Sorensen lent her image to Kraft Foods reduced-calorie salad dressing, appearing in magazine advertisements in 1982, the ad including a Kraft proof-of-purchase offer to obtain the Aerobic Dancing book at a discount.

Jacki Sorensen promoted shoes by Lotto Sport Italia: the $38.95 "Jacki" signature model made in 1982 specifically for aerobic dancing.

Jacki Sorensen kept her business operating through the 1980s, releasing another book in 1983, keeping the company headquarters in Northridge while she and her husband moved to Malibu.

Jacki Sorensen introduced StrongStep by 1992, her take on step aerobics.

Jacki Sorensen won the Texas Honor Award in August 1974 for "outstanding contribution to fitness" in Texas.

Jacki Sorensen served the White House for six years in the 1970s as a clinician associated with the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Jacki Sorensen served the Women's Sports Foundation on their advisory committee starting in 1978.

Jacki Sorensen was honored by the IDEA Health and Fitness Association with their first Lifetime Fitness Achievement Award in 1985.

In 2012, Jacki Sorensen was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.