Seniors swap sofas for sweatpants
A growing number of older people are working out regularly to stay healthy. Zhao Xinying reports.
Shen Changlin has become a fitness star among his friends. Eight years ago, severe winter smog and haze forced the exercise fanatic from Xi’an, Shaanxi province, to stop jogging on the streets and consider new ways of keeping fit.
As a solution, Shen’s son bought him membership at a fitness center near his home.
“Ever since then, I’ve visited the gym almost every day, except for the odd time it’s been closed,” the 68-year-old said.
He always starts his session by warming up for 15 minutes. That’s followed by an hour’s weight training — Shen’s favorite gym activity — and ends with 30 minutes’ jogging on the running machine and a few minutes of stretches to warm down.
“Many people around me say that I look at least 10 years younger than my actual age, and they ask for my secret of ‘staying young’,” Shen said with a smile. “My answer to all of them is ‘Keep exercising your body!’”
Physical, mental needs
Yu Chenjie, marketing director of Shangti Health Technology, a Shanghai-headquartered company that focuses on improving the health of seniors, said that the group’s health is attracting increasing attention from society as the elderly population grows.
Ageing is often accompanied by physical deterioration and chronic illness, leaving many older people feeling weak and unhappy. Also, many are lonely because their children work and live in other cities, according to Yu.
“That means this group of people has a strong need both for physical and mental health. Gyms designed especially for them, where they can do sports safely and also talk with their peers, can meet their needs well,” she said.
A report released in 2019 by the research center of Cheetah Mobile, an internet company in Beijing, showed that nine out of 10 people age 49 and older were in the habit of doing exercise (by which they meant they engaged in some form of sports at least once a week).
Their main form of exercise was jogging and the most popular venues were parks and playgrounds close to their home communities, according to the report.
However, few found professional fitness clubs attractive because of the high cost, it said.
Despite that, there are still some “pioneers” like Shen who visit gyms as frequently as, or even more than, younger people and gain great benefits from regular exercise.
Zhang Xiufang, who retired from a local government department in Shanghai five years ago, is one such example.
Believing that older people should exercise under professional guidance to ensure safety, she bought membership at a fitness club in the city’s Changning district three years ago.
Over that time, she has tried many different activities offered by the club and finally decided to focus on Pilates.
Now practicing three or four times a week, the 65-year-old said the discipline is particularly suitable for older people because “it trains the muscles in a mild way”.
Long-term activity has helped her lose 10 kilograms and alleviated her backache, a niggling discomfort that has bothered her since she was young, Zhang said.
“I feel much more energetic than before,” she added.
COVID-19 shutdown
During the COVID-19 outbreak last year, the gym Xu Baomin used to visit almost every day closed for several months in line with disease control and prevention orders.
The resident of Jinan, capital of Shandong province, found the period hard to endure because he felt weaker than before and he gained at least 2 kg as a result of the lack of exercise.
“After you have developed the habit of doing something at a certain time every day, you feel uncomfortable when you are suddenly forced to stop doing it,” the 66-year-old said.
“During that period, every time I went out, I stopped by the gym to check if it had reopened. It’s not only a place for me to keep fit, but also somewhere to chat and exchange ideas with my peers. It’s a lot of fun.”
When the gym reopened in July, Xu immediately resumed his training schedule.
“However, to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, all gym users were required to wear masks while exercising. That made me short of breath,” he said.
So, after an hour’s training in the gym, he often left and jogged on the street for another hour.
“My craving for exercise was finally satisfied that way,” he said.
That means this group of people (seniors) has a strong need both for physical and mental health. Gyms designed especially for them, where they can do sports safely and also talk with their peers, can meet their needs well.”
Yu Chenjie, marketing director of Shangti Health Technology