I am 70 years old, female, and I exercise every day.

This is Aunt Fengfeng, who just celebrated her 70th birthday this month. She started going to the gym regularly at the age of 58 and has persisted for 12 years.

Earlier this year, my daughter accidentally shared her exercise video on Xiaohongshu, which attracted a lot of attention. Some people lamented, "I am a 30-year-old loser, and some people exclaimed, "From the back, I look 30 years younger than my actual age, and some people believe it."

Image source: Provided by the interviewee

What is it like for the elderly to go to the gym? What does sticking to exercise mean to the elderly? In the face of aging and disease, how do you view the challenges and risks in exercise? Science Popularization China contacted Aunt Fengfeng and talked to her about these topics.

The following is Aunt Fengfeng’s own account.

The names of the interviewees in this article are pseudonyms.

Written by: Xuezhu, Linlin

1

If you ask me to describe myself, I don’t think I can be called a sports expert, but I am definitely very self-disciplined.

My daily routine is like this: I wake up at 6:30 in the morning, do some abdominal exercises before getting up, wash up, and make a nutritious breakfast. After breakfast at around 8 o'clock, I do housework, or read a book, listen to music, and copy some good words and sentences. I take a half-hour nap at noon, and go to bed at 10-11 o'clock at night. Before going to bed, I will check my phone to see if there are any messages that need to be replied.

I go to the gym three times a week, usually on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays, and exercise for an hour each time. Sometimes my daughter asks me to go with her, and to accommodate her schedule, we go at noon. If I go alone, I go in the evening. In the past, I practiced yoga, with a large class of more than a dozen people. Last year, I started practicing Pilates, with a small class of four or five people. I think this is a kind of fun. Every time I go to class, I am very excited. After the class, I feel very relaxed and walk for half an hour to go home.

On days when I don't go to the gym, I will exercise at home, usually in the afternoon. I will spread out the yoga mat, put on some music, and practice yoga moves by myself, or train my core muscles.

I started exercising systematically when I was 58. That summer, my daughter and I happened to pass by a gym, and she suggested going in to take a look. There were all kinds of programs there, and after a round, I fell in love with yoga, which I felt was quite suitable for us old people and was quite relaxing. It was my birthday at the time, so my daughter gave me an annual membership card as a birthday gift.

Later, I renewed my contract every year. If a gym went bankrupt, I would switch to another one. I changed three gyms in total and kept going.
One of the reasons why I insist on exercising is that I value my health. This is related to two thrilling experiences: one was a difficult labor when I gave birth to my daughter, which almost killed me. I also had a serious infection after delivery and had to undergo surgery; the other was when I was 41 years old, I was taking a bath and suddenly collapsed on the ground, with a blurred consciousness.

After these two times, I thought that I must take good care of my health. When I am old, I must not be a burden to my children. Our next generation is all only children, and they are under a lot of pressure.

On the other hand, I hope to have a good figure throughout my life. My face may age, but my body shape cannot. Of course, the premise is that I cannot be thin and unhealthy. Some people are like this. Their weight numbers are impressive, but they look sick and have a bad complexion. I am not like that. I have a rosy complexion.
Over the years, my weight has been maintained at 95-100 catties (1.6 meters tall); my waist was 1.9 feet when I was young, and it is still 1.9 feet now; all the clothes I like will never be outdated, I can wear them whenever I want, and I can wear them whenever I want. A few days ago, when I celebrated my 70th birthday, I wore the cheongsam that my daughter bought for her wedding 10 years ago...

Image source: Provided by the interviewee

I don't need to be urged to exercise. It's like three meals a day for me. I can't go without eating and moving every day.

In the past 12 years, except for the surgery, there were only two or three years after my granddaughter was born that I didn't go to the gym regularly. She lived in our house at that time, and I took care of her almost 24 hours a day. On weekends, if my daughter brought her home, I would take time to take a class. In order not to lose the basics, I would sometimes exercise while the child was asleep.

During the pandemic, all gyms were closed, so I downloaded a training app on my phone and practiced for at least half an hour every day, or ran back and forth in the living room, at least 6,000 steps. I couldn't stop exercising. There were a few times when I realized that I hadn't exercised that day, so I quickly made up for it by doing 100 sit-ups and 50 push-ups.

I don't think this is very harsh on myself, because it is what you want to do from the bottom of your heart, and it is what you require of yourself, so it is easier to execute. If someone else (or the outside world) asked you to do it, it might be a little more difficult.

2

When we were young, there seemed to be no such thing as fitness. On the one hand, there were few professional venues at that time, and everyone's financial conditions were limited. More importantly, everyone was busy with life and lacked awareness in this regard.

At that time, my husband was an advanced worker in his unit every year. He was extremely busy at work, and I basically took care of all the things at home. I was also very strong at work, so I was rushing back and forth every day. My home, the unit, and my parents-in-law were all far away from each other, so I felt that the amount of exercise was enough. I was busy until I retired, and finally I had time to do something I liked.

Strictly speaking, when I first went to the gym, I was a "novice in sports". I remember the first move I learned was the Vajra Sitting, which required straightening the instep and kneeling on the feet. My instep was tight and it hurt so much that I couldn't kneel down. There was also the Spreading Legs, which was like the splits. My inner thighs were also tight and I couldn't bend my upper body at all.
In my first trial class, the instructor told us, who were in our 50s, "Don't think you are too old to do it. Yoga is not age-specific. If you feel you can't do it as well as young people, it's okay. Take your time. Time will prove that you can do it well."

The coach was less than 50 years old at the time. She first came into contact with yoga because she was ill, with problems in her spine and lumbar spine. After the operation, the doctor told her to exercise, so she went to learn yoga. Later, when she recovered, she also fell in love with yoga, so she took the exam and became a coach.

I thought, since she has trained her body well, how can I not train well? I have confidence in myself.

Image source: Provided by the interviewee

Many people think that going to the gym to exercise is very painful. It is indeed painful at the beginning. After each class, I feel sore here and there, and it is even worse when I wake up the next day. But once you get used to it, you will enjoy it. You will feel that your limbs are very relaxed and you will not feel uncomfortable no matter how you shake.

And there will be a sense of achievement from constantly challenging yourself. For example, there is a movement where you pull your hands together and turn them from the top of your head to the back. Most people can't do it at the beginning. The coach will ask you to take a towel and practice pulling the two ends first, and then slowly get closer. One day, you won't need a towel. Later, I could do this movement very easily.

Because my coach often praised me and told everyone to learn from me, I felt that I should do my best as she said. I couldn't do worse than others just because I was older. That way I would never be able to practice to the right level. If a movement is not done correctly, it may be because of lack of skill or lack of muscle opening. There is no such thing as age.

With the encouragement of my coach, I felt that I made rapid progress in the first two or three years and was able to perform most of the difficult movements.
Later, I changed the venue twice, and I was able to sign up smoothly both times, without any obstacles due to my age. When people see you, they know that you are a person who sticks to exercise, and they won't have any bad impressions. Instead, they think that you can motivate those younger people to stick to it.

In the past two years of Pilates training, my classmates are younger than before, and some are born in the 2000s. Sometimes the coach asks everyone to guess my age, and the highest they say is 60 years old. I feel embarrassed because many people's figures can't compare with mine, but you can still tell from my face that I am older. If you only look at my back, it's impossible to guess. Everyone says I have a girl's back and no fat at all. Some people think I am in my thirties.

When I took classes with young people, they all envied me and said they didn’t know what they would be like when they reached my age. I said, “You are luckier than me because you started exercising systematically earlier than me. I didn’t start until I was 58. As long as you take care of your nutrition, you will be better than me when you reach my age.”

Some time ago, I shared a Pilates class video with my daughter. She thought it was good and posted it on Xiaohongshu. The number of clicks was quite high, higher than other content she posted. The comments below were all praise and encouragement. Some people even said they forwarded it to their mothers to encourage them to exercise as well.

In fact, there are quite a lot of people born in the 60s in the gym now. These people have just retired, their children are grown up, and they don’t have grandchildren to take care of yet, so they can often hang out in the gym. They are very active, maybe at this age, they want to age slowly. Some who live nearby have several classes a day. Sometimes when I say hello to them after class, they say they want to continue practicing.

I always feel that the gym is a positive environment. Those who come here are those who demand progress and will not be lazy. In this environment, I think I will never get old.

Image source: Provided by the interviewee

3

Of course, people like us who are older will consider the risks more carefully when exercising. For example, I initially chose to do yoga because I thought it was not that intense.

When I first came to this venue, in addition to Pilates, I also tried aerial yoga and wall ropes. Aerial yoga requires a lot of arm strength, otherwise I can't hold the hammock, let alone do the movements. The coach evaluated me first and saw that I had a good foundation before letting me go up. There was a head-down movement at the time, which was quite challenging and had certain requirements on the core muscles. The coach also tested my plank support before guiding me to do it.

Although I did all those movements and the photos I took were beautiful, I still felt that aerial yoga was not suitable for me. After all, it is in the air, and if you lose your grip and fall from that height, you will get into trouble. There are also wall ropes, which are fixed to the side walls. With the help of the ropes, you can flip back and forth. If you don't flip well, you may fall down with a "thump", which is also risky. So in the end I chose Pilates, which is done on the ground or on a Pilates bed, which is safer.

Image source: Provided by the interviewee

Although I love sports so much, when I have physical problems and need to stop exercising, I will never get anxious because I can't exercise for a long time. I am a very optimistic person. There is no point in being anxious. I will take good care of myself first, and then exercise after I recover. As long as I work hard, I will definitely be able to be like before. When I start exercising again, I must also do a good assessment and proceed step by step.

For example, last March, I had an operation to remove a lobe of my lung. During the physical examination, a nearly 3-centimeter mass was found. Before the operation, I didn't expect it to be so serious. Later, the removed lung tissue was sent for a biopsy and it was found to be malignant.

After the operation, I asked the doctor: "I have one less lung than others now, so my breathing must be weaker than others. I really want to recover to my original level. Is it possible?" The doctor said yes, there is a special breathing trainer, and I can use it for training after the wound heals.

The first month after the surgery, I rested and didn't move around. I had to be responsible for myself and make sure the wound healed well.

About 40 days after the operation, I started to try breathing exercises with the aid of an instrument. At first, I could only blow a few times, but after 10 days, I could blow 50 times, and several times my lung capacity reached 1000ml. Three months after the operation, I could blow 120 times, half of which reached 1500ml, and occasionally I could blow 1800ml.

Four months after the operation, I started to try to do sit-ups, slowly, just a few, to see if I could bear it. At that time, I was still a little short of breath, so I stopped. Later, my lung capacity gradually recovered, so I increased the amount little by little.

It was not until my lung capacity returned to its original level that I began to consider whether to go back to the gym for classes. It had been more than half a year since the surgery. After one class, I did not feel any breathlessness, which showed that my lungs could withstand such a volume of exercise.

Over the years, I have not suffered any injuries or discomfort from sports. In fact, people of all ages should exercise under the premise of safety and according to their physical conditions. Without these, there is no point in talking about it.

Image source: Provided by the interviewee

4

A large part of my monthly pension is spent on exercise and nutritional supplements. Generally speaking, people of our generation are very frugal. Many people think that it is not worth spending so much money on this. When you are older, you can just keep the money in the bank, and you will definitely spend it in the hospital in the future.

I think differently from them. Why not use the money on myself now and live a better quality life instead of waiting to go to the hospital later?

Three generations of women in my family are very passionate about sports. My daughter also takes classes regularly at a gym near her home. She prefers Zumba and other sports. This year, she and I practiced Pilates several times, and the coach always said, "You are not as good as your mother. You need to work harder!"

Because she doesn't have any yoga foundation, and she hasn't been doing exercise as long as I have, so her flexibility and strength are still a little behind. My granddaughter is also very athletic. She is the only girl on the football team, playing center. The coach said she has long legs and runs fast. She also knows tennis, swimming, taekwondo, and is also good at dancing.

A few years ago, I did couple yoga with my granddaughter, and my daughter dug out some photos a while ago. Now, every weekend, as soon as my granddaughter comes home, she immediately spreads out the yoga mat and asks me to exercise with her. No matter what moves she makes, I have to follow her.

I joked with her: "Luckily, your grandma practices yoga, otherwise you would have killed her." She wanted to cheat on me a few times, but I told her not to force it. But I was not to be outdone. If she had the guts, she would compete with me in core exercises, such as sit-ups and push-ups. I have been practicing them all the time, and she couldn't beat me.

Image source: Provided by the interviewee

Now I don't take the surgery last year seriously. A few times my family reminded me to take it easy when exercising, but I told them not to worry, I know what I'm doing. I don't really want them to mention this. I don't think I'm inferior to others, so why do you think I'm not good enough?

Last month, my family went on a trip and climbed Mingsha Mountain. My husband and daughter climbed up the mountain by stepping on wooden steps. It would have been difficult to climb directly on the sand without the help of wooden steps. But my granddaughter and I climbed up the mountain without wooden steps and didn’t feel anything. This is a testament to my physical strength.

My view is that age is just a number, and this number will always go up, and you can't pull it down. But it doesn't mean anything. Your mentality and your body are largely under your control. If you know how to manage them, you will naturally be younger than your peers (who don't know how to manage them).

So I never thought that there was anything wrong with being old. On the contrary, I would be proud to tell others that I am 70 years old.

I don't just hang out with the elderly. I like making friends with young people. I can meet young people at the gym, and when I'm tired of working out, I can meet young people when I go for a massage. My husband and I also go on road trips with young people.

I think I will stick to this lifestyle even when I am 80 or 90 years old, as long as I don't leave (this world).

Because it's great, why not?

Huang Tao (formerly a rehabilitation therapist at the Department of Sports Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital) commented:

First of all, I would like to give a thumbs up to Aunt Fengfeng who wrote this article!

Regardless of age, there are many benefits to regular exercise. From the perspective of sports medicine, there are mainly the following:

1. Regular physical exercise can keep the body's muscles at a certain level, and muscles are the most important tissues for maintaining bone joints. Sufficient muscle strength can not only increase the life of joints and prevent falls, but even if falls occur, sufficient muscle can minimize the occurrence of fractures, joint ligament injuries, etc.

2. Regular, systematic and moderate exercise can reduce the incidence of osteoarthritis in middle-aged and elderly people. Many people worry that excessive exercise will wear out the cartilage. In fact, exercise can secrete synovial fluid in the joints and reduce cartilage friction. At the same time, exercise itself is the most effective way to promote cartilage metabolism. On the contrary, people who do not exercise will have a faster rate of cartilage degeneration.

3. Regular exercise can also prevent osteoporosis. Bone loss in the elderly is a natural phenomenon, but proper exercise can promote the activity of osteoblasts in the bones, promote calcium deposition, increase bone mass, and prevent osteoporosis.

In general, regular and systematic exercise is of decisive significance for protecting health and improving the quality of life. For the elderly, with the decline of various body functions, they should pay attention to the following when exercising:

First, exercise should be gradual. Never do high-intensity, long-term exercise right away. It is recommended to start with the lightest amount and then gradually increase the amount to prevent some unexpected situations.

Second, reserve some muscle strength in advance. For example, if you want to do yoga, you can do some equipment training in advance for the muscles of the waist, abdomen, core, legs, and upper limbs to ensure that your strength can support these exercises and greatly avoid accidents.

Third, if any discomfort that affects exercise occurs during exercise, it is recommended to stop in time. In addition, if there is a jam or noose in the joint, such as the joint suddenly cannot move, but it may open again after a few movements, it generally indicates that there may be meniscus or cartilage damage. If there is an acute sprain or fall, and there is a clear joint deformity and abnormal movement, it is recommended to let a professional doctor make a judgment and cooperate with imaging examinations when necessary. The joints of the elderly are different from those of the young. Many of them have some potential cartilage or ligament degeneration. Don't force your will and quality.

Fourth, you must choose the exercise that suits you, such as quiet walking, swimming, yoga and other gentle exercises, and try to avoid some more intense sports that involve jumping and changing direction, such as badminton, basketball, etc. This is because some elderly people have osteoporosis or muscle atrophy. If they fall or collide during exercise, the risk of joint injury is greatly increased.

Author: Chen Aiqian Popular Science Author Lin Lin Popular Science Author

Reviewer: Tang Qin, Director and Researcher of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Medical Association