1 . Knowing how many kilometers or miles per hour you’ll likely cover while hiking is of great importance.     1     It’s also important to build in time for breaks and extra time in case of bad weather or harder situations than expected.

If you’re not sure what your average hiking speed is, don’t worry.     2     Naismith’s rule is considered useful and was invented by the Scottish mountaineer William W. Naismith. It’s a great way to work out how long it will take you to complete your chosen path and it takes into consideration both distance and elevation (海拔高度).

It can be worked out as follows. One hour for every 3 miles plus an additional hour for every 600m of ascent (升高). So let’s say you wanted to know how long it would take to hike 6 miles with an elevation gain of 1,200m. That’s 2 hours for the distance and another 2 hours for the ascent, for a total of 4 hours.     3     It doesn’t include breaks.

    4     You can choose exercises that you enjoy, whether that’s running, cycling, dance classes or something else. As long as it helps you build muscle (肌肉) strength, it will help you get your average hiking speed where you want it to be. Interestingly, specific weight training also helps increase your average walking speed on the path. It’s common knowledge that hikers should focus mainly on leg strength.     5    

3 . Scientists are now digging into precisely why exercise holds so many benefits for our mental health and memory. The answer, studies say, lies in our brain chemistry.

Each time you work up a sweat, your body releases feel-good happy hormones (荷尔蒙), including endorphins, dopamine and endocannabinoids, the latter being responsible for the so-called runner’s high. Now researchers are also pointing to myokines (肌肉因子) as an important contributor to the mental health benefits of exercise. When our muscles contract, myokines are released into the bloodstream, helping your muscles and organs communicate. They think this communication increases resilience to stress, reduces symptoms of mental suffering and anxiety and has a direct effect on depression.

A 2021 scientific report published in Neuropharmacology showed evidence that myokines boost brain function, like improving memory and mood. “Myokines reduce systemic inflammation (炎症), which is especially beneficial for people with drug-resistant depression whose low mood is linked to high inflammation,” explains Dr Jennifer Heisz, an expert in brain health and associate professor in the department of kinesiology at McMaster University in Canada.

A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine showed that treatment for depression can be much more effective when physical activity is added to the usual care. Participants found benefits after 12 weeks of exercising for 30 to 60 minutes a day. “While exercise is not a replacement for professional mental health treatment, physical activity can complement and enhance the effects of the treatment,” says lead researcher Ben Singh, a research fellow at the University of South Australia.

“It is amazing to consider how moving our bodies can heal our minds,” says Heisz. Whether you’re cycling, walking around your neighbourhood or doing yoga, getting sweaty is good for your body and mind. To get the biggest overall health boost, the key is to zero in on sports and activities you enjoy, so you’ll keep going back to them.

Plogging     1     (refer) to the act of picking up trash while jogging. Ploggers collect trash, such as plastic bottles, waste paper and cans from parks, beaches, and other outdoor areas when they exercise.

The     2     (found) of plogging was Erik Ahlstrom. He used to live in a small town, but later he moved to Stockholm,     3     capital city of Sweden. He could hardly believe     4     he saw there—garbage filled every corner of the city. So, he decided to do something     5     (change) the situation. Every time he went jogging, he would invite some friends to pick up trash with him. This gradually became a habit and inspired more and more people to join in the activity. Some famous sports brands even began to provide     6     (run) shoes for plogging enthusiasts (爱好者). Since then, plogging     7     (become) increasingly popular around the world.

Now, plogging is widely recognized as an     8     (effect) and eco-friendly way to keep healthy and contribute to the environment. Whether you are a fitness enthusiast     9     simply want to do your part to protect the environment, plogging will be a great choice. So, why not give it a try? You might find a new way to stay connected to nature and make the Earth a     10     (good) place to live on.

7 . Entering competitions can be fun, and it’s a good way to hone（磨炼）your skills. While you can’t expect to win every time, you can increase your chances of winning with the right strategy and preparation. These are general tips that can be applied to your competition of choice.

Research and choose the right competition.     1     Choose a competition at which you’ll excel, and make sure it’s far enough in the future that you have plenty of time to train effectively. Do some research into the judges and organizers as well to see what they look for in a winning competitor.

Don’t psych yourself out. Plenty of people get scared off by a competition’s requirements and don’t enter in the first place.     2     Since you’ve done your research, you can be confident in your choice to compete and your potential to win. So, stand strong even when you have your doubts and when others may be dropping out.

Learn your competition. Remember that you’re not competing with everyone in the competition. There may be many applicants and candidates, but there will only be a few contenders（竞争者）and finalists.     3    

Make a checklist. Everyone has different productivity styles. If it helps, consider making a training checklist.     4     A checklist is what weightlifters do, for example, to keep track of the exercises they’ve done, the number of reps, and the weight. With a written checklist, you also have one less thing to think and worry about.

    5     Leave sticky notes on your mirror or car steering wheel. Write down anything motivational to keep you inspired. It doesn’t have to be specific. It can simply be, “You OWN the track today!” or “35.5 IS my time!”

Jumping Over Boundaries

When I was in elementary school, we had an annual sports day. Girls could do many things like hopscotch, jump rope, tetherball, and dodgeball, except high jumping. Only boys could do high jumping.

That’s what I wanted to do — high jumping. So I went to the coach.

“Girls don’t do high jumping,” the coach said. “Girls have all these other things they can do.” He excitedly described how much fun it would be.

I’d been high jumping in the backyard with my five brothers for years. Although I am a girl, I did high jumping pretty well. My brothers could rarely beat me. Whenever my back crossed the bar, that feeling is extremely wonderful. I went home and told my mother what the coach had said. My mother, a small, thin woman only four feet eleven inches tall, said, “I think we should go visit him.”

“Visit who?” I asked confusedly.

“The headmaster.”

“Visit the headmaster?” I was terrified. Would I get in trouble? Would my mother and I be crossing boundaries we shouldn’t cross?

My mom and I went to Mr. White’s office. “Linda wants to do the high jump,” my mother said.

“Mrs. Martinez, you don’t understand. This is the tradition of our Annual Sports Day,” he said.

“But Mr. White, I don’t know where it says that girls cannot do this.”

The headmaster couldn’t find any rules that said girls couldn’t do the high jump. “I have to think about this,” he said at last.

When we got home, my mom told me something I would always remember: this wasn’t just about me. “Maybe other girls want to do this, too,” she said.

My mother waited a week, but still didn’t get the headmaster’s reply. So she walked over to the school again. “Mr. White, please. I ask you this not for me and not for Linda, but let’s just see how it works.” In the end, Mr. White agreed.

I stood on the field of the high jumping competition.

To my surprise, some of the cheers I got were from boys!

10 . For the first time in the competition’s history, two athletes are sharing a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships.

The USA’s Katie Moon and Australia’s Nina Kennedy found themselves in a difficult situation during the women’s pole vault (撑竿跳) final. They both cleared 4.90 meters, but neither managed to clear 4. 95 meters on any of their three attempts.

Kennedy says she looked at Moon and said, “Hey, girl, maybe you want to share this?”

“And the relief on her face — and you could see it on my face — and it was mutual (相互的). And yeah, absolutely incredible to share a medal with Katie Moon. You know, we’ve been friends for so long, so it’s super special,” Kennedy told reporters after the final.

Thousands of fans were on their feet at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary, for Date 5of the competition, which hosts almost 2,000 athletes from 192 countries. The dramatic event lasted two hours and ten minutes. Katie Moon told FloTrack that as the final progressed, it became clear that very little separated the two athletes.

As the competition was going. I kept thinking. “I don’t want this to go to a jump-off (加赛),” Moon told sports journalist Anderson Emerole. “This competition was the toughest battle I’d say that I’ve had. It was very emotionally draining (消耗), and I think that’s why both of us were feeling like. ‘We’re not really feeling the jump- off right now.’”

It was Moon’s second consecutive gold medal at the World Championships. She also w on an Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021. With a personal record of 4. 95meters. Moon appeared to be the favorite.

Kennedy, however, did not back down. Not only did she set a new personal record, but she also broke the Australian record by eight centimeters when she sailed over the 4.90-meter high bar. She held back tears after the career-defining leap.

“It was a miracle to get the gold. I think a miracle happened tonight.” Kennedy told reporters.