These workouts are a little more “personalized” than the ones your local gym offers…
exercise
In any park in China you’re bound to see people exercising, whether it’s by jogging, dancing, tai chi, or downing unmanned aircraft. But just when you think you’ve seen it all, a whole new way of working out gets born. The basic philosophy is “Why walk on only two legs, when you have two perfectly good arms as well?”
And so, recreational crawling was born. At the moment it seems to be practiced mainly by a small band of people in Henan Province, but numbers are growing. It’s also said to have health benefits beyond that of regular bipedal walking.
Every year since 1957, Japan’s Good Design Awards have honored products which are designed in such a way to have a positive impact on people’s lives. The award system, which is now operated by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion, has recently released their list of 2015’s Good Design Best 100 award winners.
With such innovative ideas as LED jump ropes and basketball courts, these awards are truly the best place to catch a glimpse of athletics equipment of the future!
We all need to make time for exercise, even hardworking students preparing for exams. But between the pressures of class, cram school, homework, and social obligations, it can be difficult to find the time to squeeze in a proper workout, particularly if you’re constantly finding yourself caught in the middle of your friends’ madcap schemes and practical jokes.
However, according to a recent parody of the infamous Wonder Core commercial, getting pranked again and again could well hold the secret to giving you a rock-hard set of abs. Who knew!
There’s a growing fitness trend in Tokyo, but it’s nothing new really, being based on age-old traditions: Katana Exercise.
Not only will you be taught to swing a sword like a samurai by a handsome teacher, but you’ll cut out stress and extra fat. Check out our hands-on experience of the class after the jump!
Who doesn’t love lifehacks? These simple outside-the-box tips have the potential of making your life exponentially better. Need a new wallet? Use a Starbucks bag. Have sink slime? We’ve got you covered.
One Japanese Twitter user has recently gained a lot of attention from some cute drawings she posted informing her followers of a few cool and creative tricks for beauty and health.
Thanks to the Internet, we’ve seen pets on treadmills, animals interfering with their owners’ workout routines, and curious pups and kittens joining adult yoga sessions with adorable poses of their own. In amongst all the action, though, there’s been one thing missing: this cat doing stomach crunches.
While it’s hard to believe, not everyone is born fitting perfectly into the extremely high (and sometimes, a little repetitive) standards of what a person “should” look like. Recently, some Korean net users were reminded of this little fact of life when they came across photos of a gorgeously curvaceous South Korean fitness instructor during her days as a cute girl-next-door type.
Not believing the woman could become this dramatically beautiful without the help of a good plastic surgeon, the before and after pics sparked a debate about beauty standards and why we care so much about how we look. Click below to see more photos of the fitness guru who went from cute to va-va-voom.
The Showa period (1926-1989) was a time of immense change for Japan when the country went from being an imperial power to a poverty-stricken post-war nation and then becoming an economic powerhouse that dominated automotive and electronic industries around the world. Twenty-seven years since that era ended and the current Heisei era began, fond memories of “Showa Japan” still flood many Japanese minds.
But a recent online poll asked netizens to take off their rose-tinted glasses and consider the aspects of daily Showa-period life that, while seeming completely normal back then, would be unthinkable now. Join us after the jump for a look at the slightly grim feedback.
In the past, the image of yoga seemed to revolve around bendy indian gurus who were so close to enlightenment you wouldn’t be surprised if they started floating in the air. However, over the past decade or two, yoga began to gain widespread popularity around the world as a form of exercise that promotes both health and mental wellness.
While some ladies prefer to stay in shape with more intensive cardio workouts at the gym, this mother of two keeps her body lean and mean by practicing yoga. Her daily practices have influenced her daughter’s interest in yoga, and their adorable and inspiring photos have garnered a huge following of over 780,000 users on Instagram!
Have you made that New Year’s resolution to be healthier but just can’t seem to make the commitment to work out? Is the only flexible thing in your life the elastic band around your sweatpants after you gorge yourself on cake? We think we can motivate you into a more active lifestyle by seeing a Chinese lady in her 50s doing her morning stretching routine that will be sure to shame you into eating healthier and exercising more!
If a guy yells “Hey, fattie!” at you, the natural reaction from many girls would be a good slap in the face. But apparently when it comes from the perfect lips of a hot guy, it’s just motivation…
Located about 120 kilometers outside of the city of Huayin, Shaanxi province, Mount Hua is one of China’s Five Great Mountains. Certainly beautiful, the mountain has historically been a religious retreat for “strong-willed” monks able to find “the way” to the top on narrow pathways alongside gut-churning drops.
With tourism now booming in a more affluent China, the government has worked to improve access to the top of the mountain by widening the trail, adding railings and safety chains, and in general working to prevent hikers from experiencing a quick, unplanned descent to the bottom. Let’s find out what the dizzying location has to offer!
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Apparently Japan is under the impression that Mattel’s Fijit Friends toy is actually America’s favorite new diet tool.
The below video – which we pray to God, Buddha and Zombie Jesus is a misguided parody of some kind – shows Japanese women going nuts over the new “fijiet” trend.
Quite common in Western countries, the concept of shared accommodation in Japan is still relatively new. However, according to Oak House, a guest house and apartment operator in Tokyo, such accommodation is gaining in popularity. Fifteen years ago, the company managed about 150 units; today that figure has risen to 2,300. Shunned by some as being inconvenient and a hassle, others are being drawn to added-value properties featuring amenities such as yoga studios and home theater facilities. Oak House said there is a waiting list of 100 people at its most popular location.
Shared accommodation also has the benefit of being cost effective as no key money (a mandatory, nonrefundable payment, typically equivalent to two months’ rent, given to the landlord for the privilege of being able to live in the unit) or security deposit (typically two months’ rent, and though technically refundable, is seldom returned in full as apartment cleaning fees and other expenses are deducted) are required. Additionally, furnishings are provided, something else that is not common in Japan, meaning initial outlays can be kept to a minimum.
With the popularity of this type of housing increasing, companies in Japan are concocting various inducements in an effort to draw in renters.
For those whose work has them chained to a desk, concerns about whether or not they are getting enough exercise often creep into their minds.
In Japan, it is estimated that an average adult male should burn about 2,000 calories a day while an adult female should use around 1,700 (numbers vary according to age and build). Even armed with that knowledge, many people still consume more calories than they burn by indulging in snacks between meals and eating excessively late into the night. A lot of desk jockeys are probably wondering what they should do to better their situation.
Well, there might be some good news. The number of calories burnt at the click of a mouse has recently been calculated.
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Oh, Japan, we love you so much.
Morning stretches, or asa taisou, may look faintly ridiculous to many westerners, but it’s not uncommon for companies both large and small to have their entire staff standing up and performing a daily warmup routine each morning, often to music. Stroll past a construction site at around 8:30 a.m. and you’ll likely see a team of burly men wearing hard hats doing shoulder shrugs in unison or doing hip gyrations chanting one, two, three, four!
Just this morning, however, we at RocketNews24 witnessed perhaps the greatest example of morning stretch routines ever; a spectacle that had us chuckling, scratching out heads and finally nodding in agreement.
Prepare yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, for the Michinoku Librarian Union’s daily exercise routine!
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