Denise Austin (née Katnich; born February 13, 1957) is an American fitness instructor, author, and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

, and a former member of the

President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports The President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition (PCSFN) is a Federal Advisory Committee Act, federal advisory committee that aims to promote "programs and initiatives that motivate people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to le ...

Early life

Austin was born in

San Pedro, Los Angeles, California San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay and Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major inter ...

. She started

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

at the age of 12, which led to an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

Personal life

Denise is married to sports agent, and former tennis player Jeff Austin, brother of US Open champion Tracy Austin. They have been married since April 30, 1983, and have two daughters, Kelly (b. 1990) and Katie (b. 1993). Katie is a fitness instructor like her mother and has her own YouTube channel. As of 2012, the Austins resided in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

. In 2018, the Austins moved to Hermosa Beach, California.

Fitness career

Austin initially attended the

on a gymnastics scholarship, reaching the rank of number 9 in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

on balance beam. She later transferred to

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

, graduating with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

, and a minor in

exercise physiology Exercise physiology is the physiology of physical exercise. It is one of the allied health professions, and involves the study of the acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise. Exercise physiologists are the highest qualified exercise ...

Since then, she has been teaching classes, producing fitness shows, creating exercise

video tapes Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasset ...

, and writing books and columns on exercise and staying fit. Examples include ''Shrink Your Female Fat Zones'', ''Pilates for Every Body'', and ''Eat Carbs, Lose Weight''. In 2002, president

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

named Austin as a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and began her second term in 2006. Austin promoted the

Reebok Freestyle Reebok Freestyle is an sneakers, athletic shoe introduced in 1982 by Reebok. The Freestyle was the first sneaker designed (by Angel Martinez) and marketed for women. It helped Reebok into the mainstream athletic wear market and fashion scene alo ...

sneaker, which was the first athletic shoe designed for women, making it an instant hit in the gym in the 1980s. "I absolutely loved this time in my career, I was the first spokesperson for the very first aerobic shoe," Austin said in a November 22, 2019

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

post. Austin is known for her emphasis on staying fit naturally, emphasizing that she herself exercises only about 30 minutes a day and does not skip meals. She also prefers the use of sugar and butter over

artificial sweeteners A sugar substitute or artificial sweetener, is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie () or low-calorie sweetener. Arti ...

and

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a Spread (food), spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The ...

, though she does emphasize portion control, proper nutrient balance, and exercise. Austin supports a balanced program of exercise and proper diet, and encourages people to stay away from

fad diets A fad diet is a diet that is popular, generally only for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard scientific dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements; ...

or "crazy claims" for quick fixes. Her exercise programs often integrate a variety of methods including

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

, pilates, cross training, and

aerobic exercise Aerobic exercise, also known as cardio, is physical exercise of low to high intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. "Aerobic" is defined as "relating to, involving, or requiring oxygen", and refers to the use of ...

. Austin had a long-running exercise television program ''Getting Fit with Denise Austin'' on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

, reruns of which can currently be seen on

ESPN Classic ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television television network, network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which controlled an 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which had 20%). The channel was ...

and

Altitude Sports and Entertainment Altitude Sports and Entertainment (usually referred to as simply Altitude or Altitude TV) is an American regional sports cable and satellite television channel owned by Stan Kroenke's Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. The channel, which serves ...

. The show moved to weekday mornings on

Lifetime Television Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...

, where it was renamed ''Fit and Lite'' and ''Denise Austin's Daily Workout''. Austin produced these shows each fall, spending four months on location in resorts in the Caribbean and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. Lifetime cancelled the shows in April 2008. Austin said she was developing a new TV show later that year. It was in the planning stages for 2010. According to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', Austin was headed back to Lifetime in January 2011. She is on the morning program ''The Balancing Act''. Austin before had said on her website that she was getting a new show ready for debut in the fall of 2008, though the show did not debut. When she was interviewed by Erin Whitehead in 2009, it was reported her new show would be back on in the fall of that year. In April 2007 a

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

alternative weekly newspaper called the ''

Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area since 1981. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial ...

'' featured an article on Austin under their "Cheap Seats" column, where she was questioned about how some of her exercise shows on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

are like pornography to some people. Austin said that she was totally unaware. She also reportedly said, with a giggle, that she was worried about it. Austin also made a cameo in the beginning of the movie '' Step Brothers'' (2008). She was sent a copy of the script and approved the scene.

List of workout videos

References

External links

Official site
*
Denise Austin Fan
at

Blogger (service) Blogger is an American online content management system founded in 1999 that enables its users to write blogs with time-stamped entries. Pyra Labs developed it before being acquired by Google in 2003. Google hosts the blogs, which can be acc ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Denise 1957 births Living people American columnists American women columnists American exercise and fitness writers American exercise instructors American female artistic gymnasts Television personalities from Los Angeles American women television personalities Arizona Wildcats women's gymnasts California State University, Long Beach alumni California Republicans Virginia Republicans Writers from Alexandria, Virginia Writers from Los Angeles Journalists from Virginia 20th-century American sportswomen