83-year-old Kiran Bai has set an example that the world needs. She’s a grandmother whose videos on weightlifting have gone viral.
She deadlifts two five-kilogram bars with ease. Kiran spends her mornings performing weight-lifting exercises with her grandson in a makeshift gym they built at their house in Chennai.
When this Chennai-based grandma began uploading her weightlifting videos, many people were apprehensive of her lifting weights at this age.
“Some people said that she should not lift weights and instead stick to doing walking or yoga. But, friends and family members encouraged us. Many, who felt motivated, requested if I could customise a fitness routine for their elderly parents and grandparents,” says Chirag, a certified personal trainer. It was during the lockdown that he designed a training schedule for his grandmother Kiran. Chirag made the fitness routine only after thoroughly observing her medical history.
Kiran was born and brought up in Chennai. She was quite a high-spirited girl in her childhood days. She was very active in sports and had indulged in swimming, kho-kho, kabaddi etc. She was always part of sports competitions held at her school.
After her marriage, though she didn’t participate in sports but she made sure that she was active by doing the daily chores like milking the cows, carrying buckets of water up the staircase, and grinding masalas using hand equipment so that she could always stay fit. However, as she grew older, she developed a series of diseases, and her health began to decline.
“It was in my sixties my health deteriorated. My life became very sedentary. I was dependent on others for everything. And life became bad to worse when the lockdown was imposed in 2020. My movements became restricted and this worsened my health. I became very weak and and my limbs became limp. That’s when my grandson Chirag introduced me to strength training. I began lifting weights and pushing sofa in my house. Gradually, I realised that I was getting stronger and fit” narrates Kiran.
“After my fall, I despised the sedentary lifestyle. Despite family support, my road to recovery was long and I began to feel like my death was approaching. My grandson, fortunately, is a personal trainer, and he took it upon himself to nurse me back to health. We’ve been working out for three months and there’s no turning back now. Kiran recalls, “I’m reminded of those good old days when I was fearless and energetic.”
Kiran’s routine is very systematically planned. She practices weights thrice a week. She combines it with glute bridges, upper and lower body exercises, bicep curls, deadlifts, balance-oriented workouts, landmine press, split squats. You name it, she can do it anything. And what makes her proud is that she does all these with so much ease clad in a Marvari-style sari.
“She dresses comfortably at home and walks around barefoot. Her workout starts with a warm-up. Resistance exercise, contrary to popular opinion, develops your muscles and bones as you become older. Research has proved that this training, in reality, increases brain function, reduce mortality risk, and avoids falls. What I have observed is that my grandma is now able to sit and get up from the toilet seat and the floor,” Chirag explains.
Kiran’s commitment to exercise has restored her independence. “It gives me energy, confidence, makes me feel powerful and capable, and gives me a reason to live.” My feet are no longer swollen, and my arms have regained strength. The joint discomfort and BP concerns faded over time, and I began to feel more vibrant. I’m training because I want to be able to go about my daily tasks without fear. “To all my friends and visitors who are in awe of me,” Kiran says, “you too can accomplish this if you have the willpower.”
Kiran has contributed in a major way to the elderly community by busting myths about senior citizens indulging in weight-training. Her social media posts are a big hit and she has been educating them about its benefits of weight training.
“At any age, strength training is essential. Every workout programme is created with the individual’s training history and injury history in mind. Most of our elders lack the ability and energy to travel great distances without assistance. As a result, they require this, and instead of feeding their inhibitions, we must motivate them. If you have elderly citizens living with you and you’re advising them not to do something because you don’t think it’s safe for them, watch your words. Find a way to assist them in maintaining their autonomy.” explains Chirag.
After receiving multiple requests from other senior citizens who watched the videos, Kiran has now designed workouts to be performed twice a week with simple videos requiring minimal equipment at home. “People can individually reach out to me and I can modify workouts to meet their training needs. The goal is to improve the quality and strength to do daily activities with ease. This is my way of making training accessible to the other elderly crowd,” asserts Kiran who started a free trial week on November 23. A sample workout video is available on his Instagram page.
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