'Hardcore grandma' - ageing fitness buff proves hit in China

Chen Jifang has 410,000 followers on TikTok with her impressive exercise routines

Published: September 24, 2020 08:34 AFP and Compiled by Christian Borbon, Senior Web Editor

1 of 12

Chen Jifang hits the gym for at least two hours every day and has the physique to prove it. At nearly 70, she's being held up as a shining example as China orders its vast population to get fit and lose the bulge. Image Credit: AFP

2 of 12

The grandmother from Shanghai has become a minor celebrity in recent months as her newfound and unlikely love for working out made national headlines. Image Credit: AFP

3 of 12

After becoming a gym bunny in December 2018, Chen lost 14 kilos (30 pounds) in three months and now sports the kind of flat stomach and toned muscles that people decades younger aspire to. Image Credit: AFP

4 of 12

She has also built up a fan base on social media, clocking up 410,000 followers on TikTok with her impressive exercise routines and encouraging others to follow her example. Image Credit: AFP

5 of 12

A post on the video-sharing app of the pensioner doing a rapid set of lung-busting squats and lunges has been viewed more than one million times. Image Credit: AFP

6 of 12

"I will work out as long as I'm still alive," Chen, who turned 68 this year, tells AFP at a gym in a Shanghai suburb. Image Credit: AFP

7 of 12

Chinese state media have reported Chen's story with gusto because it fits the government's drive to encourage people of all ages to get fitter. Image Credit: AFP

8 of 12

That message has been amplified this year by the assertion that being fit is one way to help beat the coronavirus, which emerged in Wuhan in late 2019. Image Credit: AFP

9 of 12

Xinmin Evening News labelled Chen "hardcore grandma" and Xinhua news agency called her "heavy-lifting granny". She has also been featured on television. Image Credit: AFP

10 of 12

For Chen, who worked for a food company before retiring, pumping iron has come late in life. She began going to the gym following a chance meeting with a personal trainer, propelled into action by worries about her deteriorating health and weight gain. Image Credit: AFP

11 of 12

But she has shed the flab and says that last year she was given a clear bill of health by doctors, having previously had problems with a fatty liver, high blood pressure and eye cataracts. Image Credit: AFP

12 of 12

Chen, who has a grandson aged 14, recalled the shocked looks she got the first time she walked through the gym door. "They found it very strange, they don't usually see people at such an old age who care about their health so much," she says. Image Credit: AFP

Photos Lifestyle

'Hardcore grandma' - ageing fitness buff proves hit in China

More From Photos

US food regulator gathering information on Indian spices after alleged contamination

Taiwan hit by several quakes, strongest reaching 6.1-magnitude

Blinken confronts China over ‘powering’ Russia’s war

Air China to buy 100 locally made C919 jets in $11 billion deal

GULFNEWS SECTIONS

Trending

'Hardcore grandma' - ageing fitness buff proves hit in China

More From Photos

US food regulator gathering information on Indian spices after alleged contamination

Taiwan hit by several quakes, strongest reaching 6.1-magnitude

Blinken confronts China over ‘powering’ Russia’s war

Air China to buy 100 locally made C919 jets in $11 billion deal

GULFNEWS SECTIONS