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Chen Jifang goes to the gym for at least two hours every day and has the physique to prove it. In his late 70s, he is considered a shining example, as China commands its vast population to get fit and lose weight.
The Shanghai grandmother has become a minor celebrity in recent months as her unlikely new love of exercise made national headlines.
After becoming a gym bunny in December 2018, Chen lost 14kg in three months and now sports the kind of flat stomach and toned muscles that people decades younger aspire to.
She has also built a fan base on social media, acquiring 410,000 TikTok followers with her impressive exercise routines and encouraging others to follow her example.
A post on the video sharing app of the retiree doing a quick series of lung-busting squats and lunges has been viewed over a million times.
“I’ll exercise as long as I live,” says Chen, who turned 68 this year, from the gym he works at in a Shanghai suburb.
Chinese state media have reported Chen’s story with enthusiasm because it fits in with the government’s push to encourage people of all ages to get in shape.
Chen Jifang sports a flat stomach and toned muscles that are the envy of people decades younger than her.
That message has been amplified this year with the claim that staying in shape is one way to help beat the coronavirus, which emerged in Wuhan in late 2019.
The Xinmin Evening News labeled Chen a “hardcore grandmother” and the Xinhua News Agency called her a “heavy-duty grandmother.” She has also appeared on television.
For Chen, who worked for a food company before retiring, iron pumping came late in life.
She began hitting the gym after a chance encounter with a personal trainer, driven into action by concerns about her deteriorating health and weight gain.
But she has gotten rid of the sagging and says that last year doctors gave her a certificate of good health, having previously had problems with fatty liver, high blood pressure and eye cataracts.
Chen, who has a 14-year-old grandson, recalled the shocked looks he received the first time he walked through the gym door.
The admirable grandmother is determined to continue her daily gym routine for as long as she can physically.
Aunts dancing
Under the watchful eye of a personal trainer, and barely pausing for breath, Chen performs a series of exercises using weight machines, free weights, and other dynamic movements designed to burn fat and gain muscle.
Despite her active lifestyle, Chen has no sports background and says she barely got out of bed when her daughter was very young because her body was so weak from giving birth.
“If your muscles are strong and powerful, it will protect your bones if you fall, because the elderly are more afraid of falling,” he said.
“In fact, I also fell once and fell terribly, hurting my forehead, hips, knees, and toes.
“They saw an old woman with white hair lying on the ground and passers-by started calling for an ambulance.
“I said ‘no’, and got up. I said I’d been exercising, so I’m fine.”
On a typical warm autumn afternoon, so-called “dancing aunts” fill Shanghai’s parks and public spaces. For many women middle-aged and older, square dancing is the only form of exercise they do.
“No matter how much you square dance, you can’t reach my current condition,” Chen said, flexing his biceps for the camera.
He added: “At our age it’s not about how much money you have, who you are or how good your kids are.
“All you want is a medical history as short as possible.” – AFP
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