Singaporean ‘Pull-up Grandma’, 79, defies age with her fitness feats
Charlotte Lim is stronger and fitter than most people half her age. Here’s how she stays in shape, from exercise routine to diet
People stare when Singaporean Charlotte Lim does her usual fitness routine. After all, she makes the hard work of pull-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, burpees, rope climbs and lifting weights look almost as simple as a walk in the park.
Known affectionately as “Pull-up Grandma” or “Auntie C”, the retired anthropologist is stronger and fitter than most people half her age, able to do seven consecutive pull-ups and a weighted pull-up with 7.5kg (16.5lb).
Yet 79-year-old Lim only started working out at the gym seven years ago after her daughter, Yan Lin, encouraged her to exercise with her instead of trying to do it on her own.
Lin and Lim’s son, Tiat Lim, are both fitness instructors and co-founders of Bespoke Fitness, a gym and personal training business in a private housing estate in Singapore.
The siblings began to take fitness seriously after their father died of a heart attack at the age of 69.
They developed FitRX, a customisable workout for all ages and ability levels. It includes warm-ups in the form of bodyweight callisthenics, traditional strength training and conditioning exercises, and cardio burst exercises (high-intensity interval training).