Jane Fonda Reveals She Did Not Value Working Out Until She Was In Her 30s

Jane Fonda, the queen of 1980s at-home workouts, was not really keen on exercise in her younger years.

The "Book Club" actress, who launched her first exercise video, "Jane Fonda's Workout" in 1982, revealed that she was already in her early 30s when she started considering the importance of a fit physique.

"I didn't know that it was important to do 'til I was in my 30s. I had a 'constant period' all during school so that I couldn't do gym — anything to get out of gym," Fonda said during the launch of a fitness studio in New York on Wednesday.

"It wasn't until my late 30s or early 40s that I started to actually become active ... and life before I was active, it wasn't nearly as good as when I started to move," she explained.

Aside from seeing that the "shape of her body" began changing, the 1980s aerobics superstar also noticed an improvement in her mood when she began working out.

"I come from a long line of really depressed people, and the best way to fight depression is to keep moving," she said.

Fonda also stressed the need to exercise in order to maintain flexibility at an advanced age.

"You've got to stay strong. I have a grandson who's 3 years old, and I can still pick him up. I mean, I have to bend my knees and, you know, it takes a long time to get him up there, but I can still pick him up. You want to be able to carry your own bags," she said, adding, "You have to be able to, you know, make love. I don't remember much [about that], but do I remember you need flexibility!"

Fonda was a former model and actress who turned to aerobics when she injured her foot from a ballet routine. She developed a strong passion for aerobics which later led her to open an exercise studio in Beverly Hills in 1979 and release the New York Times Bestseller "Jane Fonda's Workout Book" in 1981.

Her exercise video, which featured her in leotards, tights and leg warmers, was a certified hit all over the world. The actress and political activist claimed in a 2014 interview that her exercise studio launched the women's fitness industry in the U.S.

"Up until then women didn't work out. If you went into a health club in Beverly Hills, the women would go and get massages and sit in steam rooms, and the men had a gym and they would lift weights. Women weren't meant to have muscles, and they weren't meant to sweat, and I kind of changed that," she said.