2 . Over the years, I've found some easy tricks to get myself more active daily. Going to the gym and doing a weight workout isn't required.     1     Here's my secret sauce.

1.Start small

A lot of people assume they need to run themselves tired in the gym to get more fit, but that's really not true. Experts recommend a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week—that breaks down to a little more than 20 minutes each day. They also recommend strength-training at least two times a week.     2    

2.Get active at work

    3     Rather than using your full lunch hour to eat, take some time to go to the gym, speed walk around the office or run errands. You can also break up the boring work of the day by taking a walk during one-on-one meetings instead of sitting at a desk or conference room — anything to get up and get moving.

3.Do exercises you actually like

This is a big one. If you hate exercising, it might be because you aren't doing workouts you enjoy. Very few people actually enjoy running around in circles for miles. So don't. Branch out and try different kinds of workouts until you find one you genuinely enjoy.     4     But it'll be worth it when working out no longer feels like a chore.

4.Make it social

Exercise doesn't need to be alone. In fact, having a workout partner can help keep you motivated and hold you accountable in your routine.     5     The structure of working out in a group can push you to work harder while also introducing you to new people.

3 . Move over soccer, basketball and football, there’s a new competition sweeping Australia. It’s competitive bird calling. Yes, bird calling!

Scores of kids in New South Wales are spending their spare time practicing for the Bournda Bird Olympics, an event that aims at young bird-callers against each other to see who can deliver the clearest, most enthusiastic and most accurate bird call. The principal of the Bournda Environmental Education Centre, Doug Reckord, encourages the kids to listen to bird calls on YouTube to prepare for the event. The children also work on identifying birds by their beaks, claws and calls.

Surprisingly, the Bournda Bird Olympics isn’t Australia’s first competition with competitive bird calling. The first competition took place in Sydney in 1912. It was supported by the Gould League of Bird Lovers, a foundation that encouraged children to bird watch and learn about birds.

Even back then, New South Wales was the country’s bird calling leader. Students from the New South Wales region had access to much more bird sounds than city kids. They won the Dawson Memorial Shield for best bird calling six times between 1953 and 1962. Today, New South Wales is bringing back the bird calls. Led by the Bournda Environmental Education Centre, the Bournda Bird Olympics renewed in 2018. The event now features former bird calling champion, Bruce Chapman, as the “celebrity” judge.

When showtime finally arrives, three judges at the Bournda Bird Olympics rate people taking part on their enthusiasm, accuracy and clearness. The players can earn a maximum of three points in each type. Some 45 children took part in the 2022 event. The most popular bird call to imitate (模仿) was the kookaburra’s unique laugh. But the winner that year came from a girl copying a king parrot. Her call sounded so accurate that a king parrot in the trees actually called back to her.

8 . One well-below-freezing morning, I walked through the grounds of Ontario Place. Trees were frosted sculptures, and large chunks of ice ________ in the lake. I stopped to take a photo, and that’s when I saw them: a group of people ________ up and down in the water.

I didn’t quite believe my eyes. The ice warriors emerged from the lake, their skin   ________.They were laughing and hugging each other. Watching them, I felt a surge of   ________. I called out: “You guys are awesome!” One woman smiled back and said, “Come and join us! You can ________ online.” When I got home, I did that and received a(n) ________email telling me what to bring.

The night before my first dip, I was excited and nervous. I checked the ________: it was -14 C, or -20 C with Toronto’s well-known wind chill. But there wasn’t a cancellation message.   ________, the dip was on. The next morning, a young man first led us through ________ and breathing exercises. Then, along with the others, I ran in my bathing ________ and water shoes. Together we bounced up and down, and then dashed into the ________. We dipped down until just our heads and hands were ________ water, and yelled into the sky.

Knowing it was my first time, people ________ me a lot. When we swam back out of the water, my skin was bright red. It felt ________. After we’d all _______, we met back on the beach, and danced and sang by a small fire to warm up. I could ________ remember the last time I’d felt so delighted.

There are times when you can try to get out of comfort zone. It won’t ________ everything in our lives, or the world at large — but for ________ reason, it helps. Not only was I stronger and more ________ than I had thought, but also discovered a strong interest and a world I hadn’t known existed. As another winter sets in, I’m more than ________ to embrace the cold again.

9 . During the COVID-19 pandemic (流行病), some people found their exercise was greatly reduced. However, it was an attraction for others to increase their physical activity. With the change of working from home, some physical activity was reduced. People took this newly freed up time as a chance to add exercise to their day, with online fitness programs and health apps (应用软件) reporting an increase.

However, the early drive to exercise appears to have been short-lived for many, with a study comparing activity levels between the first and second waves of COVID-19 in Victoria finding most people reported a reduction in their physical activity levels the second time around because of a shortage of encouragement. A study found that COVID-19 has reduced physical activity and increased sedentary (久坐不动的) behavior, and the effects could be lasting.

Continuing concerns about COVID-19 have led to carefulness about returning to public spaces such as gyms. But also, with many people changing their exercise habits and setting up home gyms during the pandemic, it’s become much more convenient to exercise at home. It’s clear for many of us that COVID-19 changed how and how much we exercise. But the changes don’t necessarily have to be for the worse.

People who changed to online workouts (锻炼), fitness apps and home gyms during the pandemic said their exercise was less satisfying, less enjoyable and they felt less active com-pared with doing exercise in gyms. Besides the physical effects, people reported missing the social communication, friendship, and being avoidable of the gym. In-person classes also offer the advantages of management and instruction, which can help make sure workouts are completed safely and effectively.

However, online workouts, fitness apps and near-home workouts are likely here to stay, and offer many advantages, such as no need to travel to the gym and convenience, making it easy to fit in a workout while working and shouldering family responsibilities.