The star here is 70-year-old Chen Jifang, who used to be a saleswoman in a local food company before retirement, with 3 million likes on her Douyin videos.
"The main group that I wanted to encourage was people aged 30 to 50," says Chen, "They will be motivated to work out in the gym after seeing that a granny like me can. The message I want to convey is that it is never too late to pursue good health. In the past, whenever I felt uncomfortable, I would lie at home for an entire day."
Chen had been in a poor physical condition since she was a child. She even had to give up her job after giving birth to her daughter because her health was severely affected by the pregnancy. Her husband shows his approval by doing most of the household chores.
An overweight Chen started with light jogging, but a fitness coach later advised her to rehabilitate her knee before running. Because of this, Chen entered a gym for the first time on Dec 29, 2018.
"Everyone in the gym was young. They were giving me weird looks," recalls Chen, who made it a point to walk 3. 5 kilometers to the gym every day.
Her daily training started at 8 am with 50 pushups, mountain-climbing workouts, running and weightlifting. After a short break at 9 am, Chen continued working put until 3 pm. She hit the gym every day in 2019. For Chen, her passion for exercising was born out of a need instead of desire to become famous.
When her health and fitness improved, Chen embarked on high-intensity training sessions and dealt with the more challenging workouts like kettlebell swings, battle ropes and deadlifts. Three months later, she lost a whopping 28 kilograms. Her body mass index also returned to normal.
