Plus, Liu understands their plight, being stuck in Shanghai’s ongoing quarantine himself.

“Forget your annoyance. Forget the sadness. Go! Go! Forget how old you are. We are all young people,” said the 50-year-old man while teaching a set of self-compiled gymnastics called the Goddess Exercise.

His core fans are primarily women, calling themselves “Liu Keng-hung girls”. “Liu Keng-hung girls never give up,” they cheer during the sessions.

Most of the movements are simple, including his signature Shuttlecock Exercise, which imitates the movements of kicking up a shuttlecock, a traditional Chinese folk game called jianzi.

He often works out with his wife or mother-in-law, showing that his programme is accessible to people of all ages and exercise backgrounds.

One woman said she had spent 10,000 yuan (US$1,500) on personal training at a gymnasium before the coronavirus outbreak. She had to stop her exercise habit after the gym facilities were closed during the lockdown.

Many internet users said they feel exhausted and their legs ached after receiving Liu’s free fitness training.

“I did the exercise for an hour, and I spent the next three days in bed,” wrote one internet user.

His account has been suspended three times for violating Douyin’s censorship rules, the first time being when the platform decided his excessive armpit hair was “indecent”.

The second time was because his tight vest accentuated his chest muscles making them look too prominent, deemed as “pornographic”.

The third time was when Liu said “I hope Jay Chou stays healthy” when interacting with his fans. The Douyin algorithm mistakenly thought he was talking about medicine without a medical license.