2 . What are the limits of the human body? Is there a point at which it is physically impossible to do something?

“One thing we’ve all learned in the last 30 years or so is that just about anything is humanly possible,” says Dr. Jack Wilmore, author of Physiology of Sport and Exercise. “As time goes by, I think you’ll see more records continue to fall in every sport. The talent pool is better than ever. With more and better athletes joining in and competing, records will fall and new ones will be set.”

Many believed it was physically impossible for a human to run a mile in under four minutes, but Roger Bannister proved that was wrong, with a three-minute, 59-second mile in 1954. Today, sub-four-minute miles are considered ordinary even in high school. And Bob Beamon amazed the whole world in the 1968 Olympics with his historic long jump of 8. 90 metres. In an event where a record is usually broken by me re inches, he broke the previous jump record by more than 21 inches, but even his record was broken in 1991.

One factor is now becoming more understood and paid more attention to: sports psychology (心理学). Getting inside the athlete’s head can be as effective as training and long workouts. According to Wilmore, the psychological factor of sports has become more and more valued. He thinks highly of most teams’ hiring (雇佣) professional sports psychologists to work for their players.

What’s more, everything in the sports field — training, nutrition (营养), injury treatment — is far better than it’s ever been. “Besides, children today are more likely to focus on one or two sports instead of competing in several as was common twenty-five years ago,” Wilmore says. “That means they start concentrating on a sport much earlier and put more effort into it, and thus they become much better at it.”

“There’s a lot we don’t know yet about the human body,” he adds. “And one of those things is can do.” the full range of human potential. It would be foolish to try and put limits on what the human body can do.”

3 . The 2024 “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreigners across the Globe—Calligraphy and Painting Challenge has been officially announced.

This competition invites painting, calligraphy, and Chinese language enthusiasts from all around the world to take part in this exciting event.

Participants are encouraged to submit their creative themes for the contest, with the theme selection process being determined through public nominations.

If you’re interested, feel free to submit the theme that you believe fits best with the requirements of the competition.

Here are the requirements:

Who Can Apply

The call for creative themes for the Calligraphy and Painting Challenge is open to any Chinese language enthusiasts worldwide, with no limit to age or nationality.

Submission Dates

Submissions will be accepted from June 15, 2024, to 12:00 PM on June 30, 2024(Beijing Time.)

Announcement Date

The selected theme for the Calligraphy and Painting Challenge will be announced on July 1, 2024, which also marks the official start date of the submission period for works under the selected theme.

Submission Methods

Participants can send their theme and related information to chinesebridge@chineseplus.net. “Chinese Bridge” also accepts direct messages on its official account on Facebook, Instagram, WeChat, and Weibo.

6 . Yoga has a well-deserved reputation for helping improve balance and flexibility and for inducing calm and relaxation. But as for weight loss, many people assume other types of exercise will benefit more. While you might not burn as many calories by practicing yoga as you would by running or doing some other high-intensity activities, yoga can still raise your heart rate and help build muscle.     1    

● Reduce stress and reduce pounds. Yoga helps deal with stress.     2     Yoga has an impact on the body’s stress response and reduces the production of chemicals linked to weight gain, such as cortisol (皮质醇), a stress hormone.

● Move well and eat well.     3     Participants involved in yoga practice realize that they tend to notice not only the amount of food they eat, but also what type of foods they eat and the impact of eating those foods. They become aware of the effect of certain foods on their bodies during their yoga practice.

●     4     Doing yoga long term not only can help people lose weight but also can strengthen cognitive skills to help keep it off. A multiyear study examines the possibility of yoga maintaining weight loss. Its findings suggest that yoga may help to improve long-term weight loss outcomes via improvements in distress tolerance, self-compassion and a more positive mood.

Yoga is a very reasonable form of exercise, but you have to choose the right type. A 2021 study found no difference in weight loss totals for participants practicing a gentle, restorative yoga versus a more vigorous type of yoga.     5     Everybody can benefit from a yoga practice.

8 . For people suffering from depression, there’s an all-natural treatment they should use — getting more exercise. It could help fight depression, even if people have a genetic risk, new research shows.

For the study, researchers collected information from nearly 8,000 people and found those with related genes were more likely to have depression over the next two years after examining them. But that was less likely for people who were more active at the study’s start, even if they had a family history of depression. Higher levels of physical activity helped protect even those with the highest genetic risk of depression.

Both high-intensity (高强度) exercise and low-intensity activities were associated with a reduced risk of depression. Adding four hours of exercise a week could lower the risk of a new episode (一段经历) of depression by 17%, according to the study. “Our findings strongly suggest that, when it comes to depression, being physically active has the potential to remove the added risk of future episodes in individuals who are genetically risky,” said lead author Karmel Choi. “On average, about 35 additional minutes of physical activity each day may help people to reduce their risk and protect against future depression episodes.”

Depression is a common mental illness globally, with more than 264 million people affected. “Depression is so ubiquitous, and that underlines the need for effective approaches that can impact as many people as possible,” Choi said. And mental health and primary care providers can use the findings to advise patients that there’s something meaningful they can do to lower their risk of depression.

10 . Running is often tiring and a lot of hard work, but nothing beats the feeling you get after finishing a long workout around the track.

But while it’s long been believed that endorphins (内啡肽) —chemicals in the body that cause happiness—are behind the so-called “runner’s high”, a study suggested that there may be more to this phenomenon than we previously knew.

According to a recent study published by a group of scientists from several German universities, a group of chemicals called endocannabinoids (内源性大麻素) may actually be responsible for this familiar great feeling.

To test this theory, the scientists turned to mice. Both mice and humans release high levels of endorphins and endocannabinoids after exercise. After exercising on running wheels, the mice seemed happy and relaxed and displayed no signs of anxiety. But after being given a drug to block their endorphins, the mice’s behavior didn’t seem to change. However, when their endocannabinoids were blocked with a different drug, their runners’ high symptoms seemed to fade.

“The long-held notion of endorphins being responsible for the runner’s high is false. Endorphins are effective pain relievers, but only when it comes to the pain in your body and muscles you feel after working out,” Patrick Lucas Austin wrote on science blog Lifchacker.

Similar studies are yet to be carried out on humans, but it’s already known that exercise is a highly effective way to get rid of stress or anxiety. The UK’s National Health Service even prescribes (开药 方) exercise to patients who are suffering from depression. “Being depressed can leave you feeling low in energy, which might put you off being more active. Regular exercise can improve your mood if you have depression, and its especially useful for people with mild to moderate (中等的) depression,” it wrote on its website.

It seems like nothing can beat that feeling we get after a good workout, even if we don’t fully understand where it comes from. At least if we’re feeling down, we know that all we have to do is to put on our running shoes.