1 . Since you're stuck at home and spring is approaching, now's the time to get busy with gardening and other household projects.    1    

Whatever you do, aim for a minimum of 150 minutes of exercise (such as walking, biking and swimming) each week.    2    

At home or anywhere else,you have the basics for building muscle (肌肉）：gravity and your body weight. From push-ups to planks, squats to sit-ups, and leg extensions to lunges, you can target all the major muscles of your arms, legs, chest, shoulders and the muscles of your belly, back, and pelvis (盆骨）using nothing more than your weight as resistance.

But, to increase the intensity (强度）of your strength training, add some resistance.    3     For example, you might purchase a set of dumbbells, barbells, or kettlebells in varying weights for home use. Or, as a more affordable and (literally) flexible option, you can buy a set of flexible resistance bands with varying tension levels for about$25.     4     And they allow you to modify (修改）your workout simply by changing your movements and/or increasing the resistance by shortening or lengthening the band.

    5     Do at least two to three sets of 12 to 15 repetitions of each resistance exercise on two to three days a week. Wait two to three minutes between sets, and give each muscle group 48 hours between training periods to recover.

2 . Improving as a runner is about more than just running all of the time.    1    In that case, you can make large improvements as a runner in a relatively short time, no matter what your sport, race, or running habits.

    2    It is common for runners to push themselves about the same amount each time, running similarly challenging runs and gradually increasing difficulty. Outstanding runners, however, alternate(交替)an easy, resting run with a very challenging one. It is during these difficult runs，when you really push yourself, that your body snakes the most significant gains.    3    Rather, it is helping rebuild and relax the muscles needed for your big runs.

Keep a relaxed but strong upper body to conserve energy efficiently. You want to keep your chin(下巴)up and your shoulders back, with loose, relaxed arm and hand muscles. Your elbows are bent at 90 degrees but swing freely. If anything, the only muscles you want to focus on keeping strong and tight are the ones in your core(核心).    4    

Use your light run to work up a light sweat. A higher body temperature ensures your muscles are loose and flexible, and your body is pumping blood effectively throughout. For everything other than easy runs, use the first five to ten minutes to build a light sweat and get your body ready for exercise.    5    Slowly pick up speed for short 10 second runs, then return to normal warm-up pace. This helps prepare your muscles for speed.

3 . These days, many people participate in talent shows because they want to be famous.    1    Would you believe that an entire town once entered a game show so it could become famous?

In the 1950s, Hot Springs, New Mexico, was a small town known for its hot springs.    2    

At that time, the citizens of Hot Springs liked to listen to the radio. One program they enjoyed was called “Truth or Consequences”.    3    In the show, contestants(参赛者) would answer a challenging question. If they answered the question correctly, they were rewarded with a prize.

In 1950s, Ralph Edwards announced that he would visit and perform his radio show from the first town in America to change its name to Truth or Consequences.    4    True to his word, Ralph Edwards visited the town and performed his show. So the town is known as Truth or Consequences.

Today, not many people remember the radio show “ Truth or Consequences”.    5    The first weekend in May is the date of their yearly festival.

4 . The modern competitive sport of weightlifting originated in 19^th-century Europe and was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.     1     At that time, simple competitions were held to see who could lift the heaviest weight.

The first worldwide weightlifting championships were held in London in 1891. At that time, there were no female competitors. Today, the World Weightlifting Championships, organized by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), are held every year.     2    

Weightlifting as an Olympic event got off to an unsmooth start. It was not held as a separate event in the first games held in 1896, but as a field event.     3     The sport returned to the Olympics again in 1904, this time as part of the athletics program. Not until 1920 did weightlifting make its real Olympic comeback. The 1920 Olympic Games, held in Antwerp, Belgium, marked weightlifting’s debut（首次露面）as a separate event.     4     Previously, weightlifters in the Olympics were all required to compete against each other, regardless of their size. One-hand lifting was dropped from the sport in 1928. Various weightlifting exercises were added and later removed over many years until 1972.     5     The 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney saw the introduction of the women’s competition, although the IWF has held the World Weightlifting Championships for women since 1987.

5 . Before there was the written word, there was the language of dance. Dance expresses love and hate, joy and sorrow, life and death, and everything else in between.

    1    We dance from Florida to Alaska, from north to south and sea to sea. We dance at weddings, birthdays, office parties and just to fill the time.

“I adore dancing,” says Lester Bridges, the owner of a dance studio in Iowa. “I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life.” Bridges runs dance classes for all ages. “Teaching dance is wonderful.     2    It’s great to watch them. For many of them, it’s a way of meeting people and having a social life.”

    3    “I can tell you about one young couple,” says Bridges. “They’re learning to do traditional dances. They arrive at the class in low spirits and they leave with a smile.     4    ”

So, do we dance in order to make ourselves feel better, calmer, healthier? Andrea Hillier says, “Dance, like the pattern of a beating heart, is life. Even after all these years, I want to get better and better.    5     I find it hard to stop! Dancing reminds me I’m alive.”