Denise Austin
Austin as a member of thePresident's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
Born	Denise Katnich (1957-02-13)February 13, 1957 (age 68) San Pedro,California, U.S.
Alma mater	California State University, Long Beach
Occupation(s)	Personal trainer,group fitness instructor,entrepreneur
Years active	1980–present
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Jeff Austin ​ (m. 1983)​
Children	2
Website	deniseaustin.com

Denise Austin (néeKatnich; born February 13, 1957) is an Americanfitness instructor, author, andcolumnist, and a former member of thePresident's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.^[1]

Austin was born inSan Pedro, Los Angeles, California. She startedgymnastics at the age of 12, which led to anathletic scholarship at theUniversity of Arizona.^[2]

Denise is married to sports agent, and former tennis playerJeff Austin, brother ofUS Open championTracy 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 inAlexandria, Virginia.^[3] In 2018, the Austins moved toHermosa Beach, California.^[4]

Austin initially attended theUniversity of Arizona on a gymnastics scholarship, reaching the rank of number 9 in theNCAA onbalance beam. She later transferred toCalifornia State University, Long Beach, graduating with abachelor's degree inphysical education, and aminor inexercise physiology.^[1][5][6]

Since then, she has been teaching classes, producing fitness shows, creating exercisevideo tapes, and writing books and columns on exercise and staying fit. Examples includeShrink Your Female Fat Zones,Pilates for Every Body, andEat Carbs, Lose Weight. In 2002, presidentGeorge W. Bush named Austin as a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and began her second term in 2006.^[1][7]

Austin promoted theReebok Freestyle sneaker, which was the first athletic shoe designed for women, making it an instant hit in the gym in the 1980s.^[8] "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, 2019Facebook post.^[9][10]

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 overartificial sweeteners andmargarine, though she does emphasizeportion control, proper nutrient balance, and exercise. Austin supports a balanced program of exercise and proper diet, and encourages people to stay away fromfad diets or "crazy claims" for quick fixes.^[11] Her exercise programs often integrate a variety of methods includingyoga,pilates,cross training, andaerobic exercise.

Austin had a long-running exercise television programGetting Fit with Denise Austin onESPN2, reruns of which can currently be seen onESPN Classic andAltitude Sports and Entertainment. The show moved to weekday mornings onLifetime Television, where it was renamedFit and Lite andDenise Austin's Daily Workout. Austin produced these shows each fall, spending four months on location in resorts in the Caribbean andArizona. Lifetime cancelled the shows in April 2008. Austin said she was developing a new TV show later that year.^[12] It was in the planning stages for 2010.^[13][14]

According toThe Washington Post, Austin was headed back to Lifetime in January 2011.^[15] She is on the morning programThe Balancing Act.^[16][17] Austin before had said on her website that she was getting a new show ready for debut in the fall of 2008,^[18] 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.^[19] In April 2007 aWashington, DC alternative weekly newspaper called theWashington City Paper featured an article on Austin under their "Cheap Seats" column, where she was questioned about how some of her exercise shows onYouTube are like pornography to some people.^[20][21][22] Austin said that she was totally unaware.^[20] She also reportedly said, with a giggle, that she was worried about it.^[20]

Austin also made a cameo in the beginning of the movieStep Brothers (2008).^[23] She was sent a copy of the script and approved the scene.^[24][25]

• Official site
• Denise Austin atIMDb
• Denise Austin Fan atBlogger (service)

• 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

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• CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with hCards