The Tough Guys:Kidults’ Stunts in the Park

Text by Chen Xi & Li Han

Photos by Zhu Xiyong & Huang Shifeng

For some senior citizens in Wuhan,capital city of Central China’s Hubei Province,keeping fit is not the only purpose of daily exercise.

Exercise brings about fun and challenges to grow.These “kidults” in Wuhan have their own ways of exercising with self-made tools and routines.We spent almost one month frequenting the parks in Wuhan and witnessing the special talents of these strong “kidults.” Their conduct and spirit fully illustrate the well-known motto “Health lies in movement.”

The exercises adopted by these old men are no easy task and they certainly have some risks.Please do not imitate them at home!

To find out how the elderly could keep up proper exercises,we interviewed Mr.Ye Xujun,director of the Geriatrics Department in Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University.Mr.Ye said that cardiopulmonary function is one of the major factors that affect athletic ability.Exercising can help the young improve the cardiopulmonary function and the elderly reduce the degradation speed of the cardiopulmonary system.So the elderly should choose some moderate exercises according to their health conditions,such as jogging,walking,dancing,swimming and Tai Chi.It is better to exercise with partners or in groups.

Old but Strong

“Strong muscle,” “healthy and stout,” “flexible,” these words are the comments people made about 72-year-old Qiu Jun.

When we met him in Zhongshan Park,he was doing pull-ups.His strong muscles made him look more like a middle-aged man,rather than an old man.

“It was unbelievable that a 70-plus-year-old man could have such strong muscles.” Mr.Zhu,a 50-year-old man commented.However,Qiu Jun said that it was not easy for him to maintain such a body.He started training to build muscle when he was 42 years old.He spent 1.5 hours every day doing a whole set of exercises to increase the strength of his shoulders,chest,back,abdominals,and legs.

“Look at my double leg lifts.Such movements will build your abdominal muscles.The pull-ups will work your chest,back,biceps,and triceps.” Qiu Jun explained to his friends while demonstrating the exercises.

72-year-old Qiu Jun won the championship in National Bodybuilding Contest for Seniors by training in the park.72歲邱鈞在公園里練成全國(guó)老年人健美冠軍

健身對(duì)武漢一些大爺而言，不是鍛煉身體那么簡(jiǎn)單。

玩轉(zhuǎn)健身，樂(lè)趣無(wú)窮，自制神器，挑戰(zhàn)自我，這些老頑童們有著各自的健身之道。近一個(gè)月來(lái)，記者到武漢多個(gè)公園，見(jiàn)證一群身手不凡的老頑童們的絕活！他們這些民間高手，有力地詮釋了“生命在于運(yùn)動(dòng)”。

老爹爹們曬出的絕活，各有其難度和風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，大家切勿盲目效仿。

針對(duì)老年人如何做到鍛煉適度，記者就此采訪武漢中南醫(yī)院老年科主任葉旭軍，他表示，心肺功能是制約運(yùn)動(dòng)能力的主要因素之一，年輕人健身是為提高心肺功能，而老年人健身目的則是減緩心肺功能的衰老速度，所以要量力而行，慢跑、散步、跳舞、游泳、打太極拳等舒緩的運(yùn)動(dòng)方式都能達(dá)到健身目的，此外健身時(shí)最好結(jié)伴而行。

古稀老人秀強(qiáng)健肌肉

肌肉飽滿，強(qiáng)壯健碩，身姿輕盈，這是一群玩伴對(duì)72歲邱鈞的評(píng)價(jià)。

記者在中山公園鍛煉區(qū)見(jiàn)到他時(shí)，他正在做引體向上，一展肌肉的線條美，一點(diǎn)都不像古稀老人，倒像一位中年壯漢。

72-year-old Fang Jinsheng playing with his dragon-shaped Kongzhu in Zhongshan Park72歲方金生自制的空竹在中山公園玩出“龍卷風(fēng)”

“Reduce the intake of salt,oil,and sugar.Eat small but frequent meals.70% full is sufficient for your stomach.” Qiu Jun also shared his experience in diet.He believes that both exercise and a good diet are important to health.

Handstand Walking and Splits

In Zhongshan Park,a grey-haired man was walking around on his hands.His splitting won rounds of cheers from the passers-by.

He was Wang Chunnan,a 75-year-old man.“He has such a flexible body.How does he make it?” A 40-year-old man was amazed and said he couldn’t do it.

“I started exercising when I was young.I have practiced handstand walking for 40 years.You should exercise when you are young.” Mr.Wang shared his secrets of exercise.

Mr.Wang continued,“I liked playing when I was young.I got inspired by gymnastics and acrobatics on TV,and started to try a headstand against the wall.Then I could do the headstand without the support,and finally walked with hands.It took me three years of practice to walk steadily.It was the same with the splits—it is the years of exercising that keeps the flexibility of my body.Now I can walk with my hands for more than 30 meters at a time.”

Skating Around the Hainan Island

In the Beach Park of Wuchang District,an old man wearing a pair of roller skates was posing like a flying swallow.With arms stretched flat and one leg lifted backwards straight in parallel with the ground,the old man was enjoying the freedom of flying.His name was Liu Fapu.Few residents could tell his real age of 84 years.

84-year-old Liu Fapu doing a flying swallow pose in the roller skates84歲劉發(fā)菩輪滑玩出高難動(dòng)作燕子飛

75-year-old Wang Chunnan (first from the left) is good at handstand walking,splits,and other gymnastic movements.75歲汪春南（左一）倒立行走、劈叉、體操樣樣行

“70多歲的爹爹，肌肉還能這么飽滿，真不簡(jiǎn)單，了不起！”50歲市民朱先生說(shuō)。這個(gè)“了不起”來(lái)之不易。邱鈞說(shuō)，他42歲就開(kāi)始走上正軌鍛煉肌肉，肩、胸、背、腹肌、腿部等循環(huán)鍛煉，每天鍛煉1 個(gè)半小時(shí)，持之以恒！

“你看這雙抬腿，就是鍛煉腹肌的，引體向上就是鍛煉胸背、二頭肌和三頭肌的。”邱鈞邊做動(dòng)作邊向周邊鍛煉的朋友講解。

“少鹽少油少糖食，少吃多餐，七分飽即可。”邱鈞說(shuō)，擁有健康體魄，鍛煉是一方面，飲食也挺重要。

倒立行走劈叉樣樣行

在中山公園鍛煉區(qū)，一位頭發(fā)花白的老年朋友正在倒立行走、劈叉，引來(lái)眾人的掌聲與喝彩。

他名叫汪春南，今年75歲。“柔韌性還這么好！這是怎么鍛煉的啊？”市民李先生今年40歲，但已沒(méi)法倒立。

“我年輕時(shí)就鍛煉，玩倒立行走已40年。鍛煉要趁早！”汪爹爹一語(yǔ)道破秘訣。

汪爹爹說(shuō)：“年輕時(shí)愛(ài)玩，從看體操、雜技中受啟發(fā)，自己就嘗試先靠墻倒立，再憑空倒立，最后才慢慢行走，也是苦練兩三年后才能倒立行走的。劈叉也是如此，年輕時(shí)慢慢鍛煉的，所以如今身體韌性仍不錯(cuò)，一次倒立行走能走30米以上。”

輪滑刷了一圈海南島

在武昌江灘，像燕子一樣飛翔的輪滑老爹爹，—雙手展平，一腿后翹，享受著飛翔的輕盈與暢快。這位老爹爹名叫劉發(fā)菩，誰(shuí)能想到他今年已84歲。

老爺子一生愛(ài)運(yùn)動(dòng)愛(ài)旅游，從小就踢足球、游泳和跳水。最近9年，輪滑成了他的最愛(ài)，“去歐美旅游時(shí)，在公園看見(jiàn)七八十歲的老年人都在玩輪滑，一問(wèn)得知可防止老年癡呆，從此就愛(ài)上輪滑，回國(guó)后加入漢口快樂(lè)輪滑隊(duì)。”劉發(fā)菩聊起學(xué)輪滑的初衷。

起初在家門(mén)口的江灘輪滑健身，后來(lái)和輪滑朋友一同繞海南島刷了一圈。

現(xiàn)在老爺子出門(mén)買(mǎi)菜或外出辦事，都是輪滑出行。

空竹舞動(dòng)“龍卷風(fēng)”

輕抖雙桿千變化，力懸一線萬(wàn)般功。抖空竹，是中國(guó)的傳統(tǒng)文化。72歲的方金生玩轉(zhuǎn)傳統(tǒng)的空竹后，自制一條龍空竹。

記者在中山公園見(jiàn)到他時(shí)，他雙手利索地轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)空竹龍，龍騰空而起，在空中飛舞，龍頭插一面國(guó)旗，就像玩轉(zhuǎn)呼啦圈一樣栩栩生風(fēng)。

70-year-old Bai Yuliang training with a 5 kg broadsword70歲白玉良在耍5公斤的關(guān)公大刀

The old man likes playing sports and traveling around.He started playing football,swimming,and diving at an early age.In the past 9 years,rollerskating has become one of his favorite activities.“During my trip to America and Europe,I noticed a lot of old men who were more than 70 or 80 years old roller skating in the park.They told me it would prevent dementia.I started to learn and fell in love with roller-skating.I joined the Hankou Happy Roller Skating Team when I came back home.” Liu Fapu recalled how it all started.

Liu usually skated in the Beach Park near his house,and once he even joined a group and skated around the Hainan Island,South of China.

Roller-skating became a necessity in Liu’s life.He even wears them when he goes to the market or runs an errand.

The Swirling Dragon-shaped Kongzhu

A light move of the rods produces thousands of changes; the strength of the string requires years of practice.Kongzhu,or Chinese yo-yo,is a kind of traditional Chinese game.72-year-old Fang Jinsheng is an experienced practitioner of Kongzhu.To have more fun,he made a dragon-shaped Kongzhu.

We met him in Zhongshan Park where he was playing with his dragon-shaped Kongzhu.With a Chinese flag at the top,the dragon-shaped Kongzhu was dancing and swirling like a moving hula hoop.

“This is a Kongzhu I made before the National Day.I put our national flag on the top and named it Chinese Dragon.” Fang Jinsheng said proudly.Playing with his Chinese Dragon can work out all the parts of the body,including the shoulders and neck.It requires more strength than the traditional Kongzhu game.So one can only go for several minutes at a time.

“No matter what kinds of exercises you choose,interest is the most important factor,and the goal is to detoxify through sweating.A simple lifestyle makes life easier.” Fang Jinsheng shares his secret of happiness.

A group of 60-plus-year-old men whipping their 1-ton spinning top一群60歲以上的大爺鞭打自制1 噸重的陀螺健身

Whipping a 1-ton Spinning Top

In Moshui Lake Park of Hanyang District,3 middle-aged and elderly men whip a huge spinning top with all their strength.They rotate with another group every 30 seconds.“Wow! So exhausting! How heavy is the spinning top?” Ms.Xu,a passer-by,asked out of curiosity.

“It weighs 1000 kilograms!” Gao Wei,chairman of Wuhan Spinning Top Whipping Association,said with a smile as he introduced more about it.The spinning top was made of rosewood on the outside and iron steel inside.To promote the traditional culture of spinning tops,the association ordered this special spinning top from the factory.It cost 200,000 yuan.

“We started practicing with small spinning tops which weighed several kilograms and our original purpose was to keep fit.” Gao Wei said.The 67-year-old man started to whip the spinning top at the age of 56.He suffered a lot from periarthritis then,and as advised by his friend,he decided to pick up the spinning top.The exercise made him stronger and he began upgrading his spinning top,with the weight increasing from 50 kg to 150 kg,and then to 1000 kg.He hasn’t taken any medicine since he started exercising with the spinning top.Last year,he even drove all the way from Wuhan to Tibet with his wife.

(Translation:Li Li)

“這是異形空竹，我自己做的，國(guó)慶時(shí)，插了面國(guó)旗，取名中國(guó)龍。”方金生說(shuō)，玩這個(gè)空竹，相當(dāng)于全身運(yùn)動(dòng)，鍛煉肩周和頸椎，只是與傳統(tǒng)空竹相比，要費(fèi)體力一些，所以一次只能玩幾分鐘。

“無(wú)論什么鍛煉方式，興趣最重要，出汗排毒是目的，簡(jiǎn)單生活，生活才會(huì)簡(jiǎn)單。”方金生一語(yǔ)輕松。

自制1 噸陀螺練身手

在漢陽(yáng)墨水湖公園內(nèi)，3 名中老年人手持鞭子接力抽打著一個(gè)大陀螺，他們用盡全身的力量鞭打，30 秒就得換一撥人。“哇！三個(gè)人抽一會(huì)兒就沒(méi)力氣了，這陀螺得有多重啊？”一旁觀摩的市民徐女士好奇地問(wèn)。

“1000 公斤呢！”在場(chǎng)的武漢鞭陀會(huì)高偉會(huì)長(zhǎng)笑著說(shuō)，別看這家伙的外皮是花梨木，內(nèi)膽可是勢(shì)大力沉的鋼鐵軸心呢，特意找廠家定制的，總費(fèi)用20 萬(wàn)元，為的是傳播陀螺文化。

“我們是從十幾斤的小陀螺開(kāi)始練習(xí)的，最初也只是想鍛煉身體。”高偉細(xì)說(shuō)道，他今年67歲，從56歲開(kāi)始打陀螺，那時(shí)患有肩周炎，在朋友建議下開(kāi)始打陀螺鍛煉身體，慢慢手勁、臂力都增大了，陀螺也開(kāi)始加重，從100多斤到300 多斤，到如今的1000公斤。自從打陀螺，就沒(méi)吃過(guò)藥，去年還帶著老伴自駕去西藏呢。