A posture-correction routine developed by an Osaka sports gym is becoming increasingly popular with the elderly.
In an hourlong class at the Shisei and Sports Club Big Es Kuzuha in the city of Hirakata, more than a dozen students repeat a regimen of slow moves, sometimes twisting their bodies while lying on the floor and at other times bending their elbows as they kneel and lean all the way forward.
Guided by 50-year-old instructor Sayuri Ashida, the seniors, who are mostly older than her, are told to lie on their bellies and stretch a leg and arm on one side while bending their counterparts on the other. "You don't have to do this on the other side if it hurts," she says.