1 . Lloyd Black, who became a member at Anytime Fitness in Semmes, Alabama, last year at age 90, was named as the club’s Member of the Month for January.

Ashley Seaman, the gym’s general manager, congratulated Black in a Facebook post that went viral (走红). “We have seen nothing but inspiration from him since he started,” Seaman wrote in the post along with a photo of Black wearing his overalls (工装裤). “He says he is 91 years young and talks about how much his workout routine has helped him in his daily routine. Seeing someone like him encourages others to keep it up and include fitness in their life. Seeing him in the gym three times a week working out in his overalls brightens our day.”

Black said he started working out to keep up with his lifestyle. “I had reached the point where I could no longer do simple housework, so I started going to the gym and it has really helped.” said Black. “I’m also inspired by my dad who never gave up.”

Black’s gym routine includes the running machine, upper body strength training and the leg press. As a result of his work at the gym, Black finds it easier to cut the grass at his house and work in his woodworking shop. He experiences less daily discomfort and moves more easily.

According to Seaman, Black has become a valued member of the gym through his devotion to improving his personal fitness, his helpfulness and his warmth toward other members.

While Black is not a member of Facebook to see the reaction to the post, he has received local attention for his fitness journey. “I don’t feel very comfortable being in the limelight, but if it encourages someone else, I’m willing to do it” said Black.

2 . Guernsey International Poetry Competition — Poems on the Move

Your poem could be on show in 2024. Winning entries are displayed in two stages: 21 bus poems will be chosen, and the top 9 of these will take part in a second, larger exhibition, first at Guernsey Airport, then all over the island.

·Online by completing the online entry form and payment, at www.poemsonthemove.com.

·By email: PotM@guernseyliteraryfestival.com .

·By post: Poems on the Move 2024, Guernsey Literary Festival, PO Box 174, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, UK,GY1 3LG.

·Entries are £4 per poem or 3 poems for £10.

·Fees are not refundable.

·Young People’s Poetry: Aged 11-17, entries FREE

·Entries must be no longer than 14 lines and must be typed and fit on a single A4 page.

·Please do not write your name or age on the same sheet as your poems.

·Enter each poem on a separate page and enclose another separate sheet with your name, address, telephone number, email address, plus the title(s) of your poems.

·Entries must be entirely the work of the entrant and must never have been published, self-published, published on any public website or broadcast, nor winning or placed in any other competition.

·Closing date for receipt of entries: February15, 2024

The prize is open to anyone except those involved in organizing the competition. Winners will be contacted by March 5, 2024. Winning poems will be shown on Guernsey buses, and 9 of these poems will become part of the Poems on the Move exhibition, for no less than six months.

7 . Playing tennis might add years to your life, according to a new study of Danish men and women. The study found that adults who frequently participate in tennis or other racket (球拍) and team sports lived longer than people who were spending a lot of time sitting down. They also lived longer than people who took part in activities such as jogging, swimming and cycling. The results raise interesting questions about the role that social interactions might play in enlarging the benefits of exercise.

No one doubts that being physically active improves our health and can extend our longevity (寿命). But whether some activities might be better than others remains in argument. One widely publicized 2017 study of more than 80,000 British men and women found that those who played racket sports like tennis tended to outlive those who jogged.

The researchers widened their inquiry and looked at a variety of sports and their associations with life. To start, they turned to the same data resource they had used for the jogging study, the Copenhagen City Heart Study. The study’s participants had all completed health exams and lengthy questionnaires about their lifestyles and whether and how often they took part in some sports common in Denmark, including cycling, swimming, running, tennis, soccer and, perhaps unexpectedly, badminton.

According to the data, cycling added an average of 3.7 years to riders’ lives, compared to sedentary Danes. Running added 3.2 years while tennis 9.7 years. These associations remained unchanged even when the researchers controlled for people’s education, socioeconomic status and age.

“Why and how some sports might add more years to people’s lives than others is impossible to know from this kind of observational study,” says Dr. James O’Keefe, a study co-author. “But we know that social support probably has unique effects on helping people get more benefits from the exercise.”

For now, people who run or ride alone might consider finding a group or partner to work out together. “Raising your heart rate is important for health,” he says. “But it looks like connecting with other people is, too.”

9 . On Aug. 7, 2021, Xu Shixiao and her partner, Sun Mengya, won gold in the first women’s canoe double 500 m event at the Tokyo Games. It was also the first Olympic gold medal for China in the event.

    1     Xu was born in a small county in a mountainous area in Jiangxi. Before becoming a paddler, Xu couldn’t even swim since her hometown is surrounded by mountains.

In 2005, the 13-year-old, who was much taller than her peers, attracted the attention of a rowing coach who came to look for potential paddlers in her school.     2    

“Every day my canoe turned over dozens of times. I drank lots of water in rivers,” recalls Xu of her first canoeing training. Xu kept training for a year and she made the final of a national race for teenage athletes out of a dozen paddlers at the centre.

In 2013, the news that women’s canoeing was still not an Olympic event dealt her a heavy blow.     3     Xu gave up her career and found her first job as a saleswoman in a furniture company.

When Xu Shixiao went to work as usual in the furniture company five years ago, she was surprised to get a call from her former coach, inquiring about her willingness to return to canoeing and compete in the Tokyo Olympic Games.     4     “I never thought that one day I could go back to the sport. Now that I have started again, I will do my best,” says Xu.

    5     She is also looking forward to taking part in the Paris Olympics in 2024.