While the spread of the new coronavirus is forcing people to stay put and thus exercise less, apps and videos helping them move their bodies at home have recently gained popularity. People are snapping up tools like an app that introduces exercises doable at home and a dance video that can be enjoyed by all generations.
Tadao Isaka, a professor at the College of Sport and Health Science at Ritsumeikan University, and his research team have posted videos on YouTube that children, parents and grandparents can enjoy together. They are designed to make it possible for everyone to dance to the same music with different, age-appropriate movements.
For example, in a choreography sequence that trains body balance, all three generations stand on one leg, but children also quickly bend and stretch their arms and legs and turn their bodies. The bending and stretching for parents is a little slower, and the grandparents' version has even simpler and slower moves. If the elderly can learn from children, it will be a good opportunity for intergenerational exchange. Dance videos aimed at each generation, as well as for all ages to use together, are available on the team's website.
"It's important to continue every day, even if you do it for only three to five minutes daily," Isaka said. "There are a lot of videos available on the internet that can help you overcome a lack of exercise, so you won't get bored if you choose several that match your physical strength and flexibility and do a combination of them. If you continue every day, you'll notice changes in your physical condition immediately."
There are also apps that give advice on simple exercises do to at home, as well as how parents and children can have fun playing together.
Tokyo-based BeatFit Inc. provides a smartphone app that lets users exercise while listening to a personal trainer's advice. Those who download the app by the end of June can use it for the first 30 days for free.
The app has videos explaining how users can stretch their bodies in the morning to "switch on" their mood, and how to squat while taking a break in the evening to train the muscles in their legs and waist. A trainer explains how to do the exercises to rhythmic music.
"This is a program that even people with little exercise experience and middle-aged and older people can try," Kotone Nomura, a personal trainer who works exclusively for BeatFit, said. "Refresh your mind by moving your whole body, mainly your lower body."
The National Recreation Association of Japan on its website introduces physical activities in a bid to enhance children's physical strength.
The website introduces games children can enjoy in a small space, such as "udetate janken," in which they play rock-paper-scissors with one hand while facing each other in a push-up position, and "senaka pittari," an exercise in which two people squat with their backs against each other and their arms folded.
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