Author and professional magician Amit Kalantri once said “if monkey became a man, then a man can become a hero.”
This quote may just have been what a 50-year-old Chinese man kept in mind when he started exercising by moving around on all fours and climbing trees like a monkey every day for the past 30 years.
The man identified as Chen Haigang is a fitness enthusiast and his unusual exercise routine draws attention whenever he exercises in public.
Unlike most of his countrymen who are into tai-chi, jogging or simple stretching, the man from China’s Shanxi province acts like a monkey by walking on all fours, crouching his back and dangling his arms, and even imitating the primates’ tree-climbing techniques.
He claims that this bizarre exercise has kept him in perfect health and also disclosed that he was inspired by a monkey at the zoo.
“I started doing this walking exercise when I was about twenty years old,” Chen Haigang told Pear Video. “I often watched the monkeys at the zoo. I thought it looked so fun and I started imitating.”
“[I used to have] little problems like a cold, toothache or tinnitus when I was a farmer working in the countryside. Since I moved to the city for work, I’ve spent my free time doing the [monkey] walking exercise. I can say this – I never need to see a doctor,” the 50-year-old added.
He started the routine gradually by first imitating a monkey’s walk. He then went on to climbing trees as a primate as well, swinging from branches, jumping from one to another.
He recently started other animals’ movements into his fitness routine, like the crawl of a crocodile.
The fitness enthusiasts told Pear Video that many people have come up to him to ask about the unique workout over the years, but most of them were too shy to do it in public, which is a shame as it’s “such a great sport.”
