Lim won the competition after four years of meeting in 2019 at the age of 75, after finishing second in the 38+ figure category at the 24th WBC Fitness Open World Championships. “I didn’t expect to win, but I’m flabbergasted. I think it’s because I’ve been working on my muscles,” he said. He started lifting weights in 2018 and trained systematically for three months for this competition. For Mr. Lim, muscle building has given him a whole new life. Lim was featured in the June 6, 2019 edition of the Dong-A Ilbo’s “Yang Jong-gu’s Health Tips for Centenarians”. Since then, he has been featured on domestic broadcasts as well as the BBC and ARD in Germany.
“I couldn’t use my right foot due to stenosis in my lower back (lumbar vertebrae 3 and 4), so I went to the hospital, but even though I got an injection, it was only for a short time, and the pain didn’t go away, so I went to the gym to find a new way, and I met a new world,” Lim said. Park Yong-in, 61, a former bodybuilder, told her that she could get rid of the pain through exercise토토사이트, so she signed up for a private lesson (PT) right away.
Jongso Lim receives his trophy at the WNC Signature Bodyfitness Competition on Tuesday. Courtesy of Jongso Lim
After working his muscles for an hour three times a week, the pain was gone. “It was amazing,” he says. The pain was gone, but it could come back, so I kept working out, and my body started to change. After about six months, I was surprised at how much better I looked in the mirror. My shoulders were better, my posture was better…. My mood was really uplifting,” he recalls.
He went from 43 kilograms to 46 kilograms, an increase of three kilograms. This was due to the increased muscle mass. After 35 years of aerobics, Lim has been hooked on weight training ever since. Health and happiness followed. After becoming famous, she also worked as a senior model. She is a “grandmother” with a 56-year-old son and a 30-year-old granddaughter, but she has forgotten her age.
“Honestly, people often don’t realize how old I am,” she says, “and when I tell them, they’re surprised and say, ‘You look like you’re in your early 60s.’ I’ve never really thought of my age as something that prevents me from doing anything, but when I watch TV and see people my age struggling with illness, I think, ‘I’m that age, too.
Jongsoh Lim at a competition in 2019.
He said his daughter-in-law, who is in her early 50s, also started working out after seeing Lim. “My daughter-in-law was supposed to work out for her health, but she couldn’t, so she said, ‘I got courage from you,’ and she’s been going to the gym. There are many people around me who want to work out too. I’m doing it for my own health, but if I can inspire others to follow suit, that’s even better.”
Lim advises first-time exercisers to always seek professional help.
“If you go to the gym, you’ll see a lot of people working hard on their own, but they can’t get any muscles. It’s like any other exercise, but especially muscle work, if you don’t do it with the right form and method, it won’t work. You can prevent injuries. If you want to keep your body young, you have to invest in it, and you have to do it under the guidance of a professional.”
He said he feels “80 years younger” because of his muscle workouts.