Yahoo Japan Smart Stretch 360 Is A Hilarious Way To Exercise

Smartphone addiction is an epidemic. At the most extreme, we have people falling into ditches, tripping up, or getting into all sorts of painful or at least embarrassing situations due to keeping their eyes glued to their screens. But even "regular" users will at the very least experience discomfort from prolonged use and poor posture, especially on the neck. Some call this "text neck", like stiff neck, and Yahoo! Japan happens to have the perfect 360-degree exercise video to fix that and have you laughing your guts out while you're at it.

This is one of the perfect examples of the fun and strange things that come out of Japan. But while it does have a lot of eccentricity and humor into it, it does belie a serious condition affecting many smartphone users. "Text neck" might sound like a joke, but, like bad posture, it could lead to something worse down the line. Considering how smartphones have become ingrained in our lifestyles, it's not a problem that will go away any time soon.

Using this Smart Stretch 360 exercise is quite simple. Simply prepare the video in the YouTube mobile app, sit on a chair, and hold out your smartphone in front of you at arm's length. And then simply follow the "energetic" guide to exercise your neck and arms. To recap, here are the instructions:

If you're done laughing at this point, it should probably be noted that this is a partly serious effort made by Yahoo! Japan to celebrate 20 years of operations in the country. But who are we kidding! It's a ridiculously funny way to exercise. But, hey, if it works, who are we to argue?

Use this link to watch the 360-degree video on YouTube. It is best experienced using the mobile app since it makes use of the smartphone sensors for orientation and movement. On PC web browsers, you can follow along with the cursor keys, but it won't have the same desired effects, of course. Other than laughing.

SOURCE: Yahoo! Japan