1 . Having a personal trainer is one of the best ways to stay on track with your workouts, push your limits and try new things. But it often costs more than $100 a class, and getting to and from the gym can take up a lot of time.

Over the past ten years, fitness apps have been trying to copy the personal training experience exactly, and in recent years many have included artificial intelligence (AI) to create workouts. A growing number of products offer personalized works that match your abilities, goals and equipment you have, which usually cost around $100 a year.

However, some experts warn that while AI fitness apps are useful for many exercisers, they’re not the right fit for everyone.

AI fitness apps create personalized training programs using information from personal users and the experiences of other users.

In the future, these apps could collect even more information to give ever more personalized feedback (反馈), said futurist David Brin. But, he added, more information doesn’t always lead to better advice. “What you need to consider is whether the advice will actually be good for you, in the long run,” he said.

Furthermore, computers can learn a lot about different workout routines, but they can’t yet create the social interactions that make the training successful, said Nikola Banovic, professor of computer science and engineering at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Michigan.

The AI fitness apps we have now can’t offer encouragement or provide comfort on a bad day. “As humans, we need more than just the workouts that will get us to our goals,” Dr Banovic said. “We need to be encouraged — that’s something only a real trainer can do right now. It will be some time before AI training does this well.”

2 . A lot of people find it difficult to do exercise regularly, even though they know it’s good for their physical and mental (身心上的) health. Yet keeping on a workout routine doesn’t necessarily go to the gym or run around your neighborhood. Gardening is a great example of a popular hobby that can be used as a workout.

Nashville resident Tom Adkinson, 72, is on board with the idea of gardening to stay fit. He has three gardens, which he uses primarily to grow tomatoes, sweet banana peppers and okra. Like traditional exercise, Adkinson does a lot of preparation before gardening, and then he spends hours watering and weeding (除草) all three gardens, involving bending and stretching, which he compares to performing garden yoga.

“It is wise of Adkinson to do so. Even though gardening may not appear difficult, using the body in new ways can make you hurt if you don’t warm up beforehand,” said Zeller, who teaches at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County in New Jersey.

Working in your garden just two hours a week could improve your mood. And the communal gardening, which is done by a number of people as a group in communities and schools, provides social benefits that can reduce stress and help fight against loneliness and even dementia according to studies.

“With all these benefits, gardening for fitness will be a trend (趋势) in the coming year,” announced Mandal, CEO of the fitness coaching app Future, “Our users at Future have already been asking their coaches to add gardening and landscaping activities into their routines because it’s easy to get and fit into their lifestyle.”

5 . On Sunday, Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia shocked the running world by breaking the women’s world record for the marathon by over two minutes. Assefa finished the Berlin Marathon in just 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 53 seconds.

But Assefa’s record was far beyond what most people expected. After all, it was only her third time running a marathon.

“I wanted to break the marathon world record,” she said, “But I couldn’t imagine that it would result in a time under 2:12.”

When Assefa was younger, she started by running short races, called sprints. Then she became a middle-distance runner, running the 800 meters (half mile) race. Her best time in the 800 meters was 1 minute and 59 seconds.

Last March, she ran her first marathon. Then last September, she entered the Berlin Marathon. She won, and set a new women’s record for the course, finishing in 2:15:37.

This year, she ran almost four minutes faster than she did last year. In both races, Assefa ran faster in the second half of the race than she did in the first half.

Her time of 2:11:53 was over two minutes faster than the old women’s record (2:14:04), which was set in Chicago in 2019 by Brigid Kosgei of Kenya.

When she finished the race, Assefa kneeled down and kissed the pavement before raising her arms in victory.

Though Assefa made it look easy, she said winning the race “…was the result of hard work.” Assefa was coached by Gemedu Dedefo, who has helped train many Ethiopian star runners.

7 . College Podcast (播客) Challenge Open for Entries

The College Podcast Challenge is back for its third year, in the fall. Entries will open on Sept. 1, 2023 and close at the end of the year on Dec. 31, 2023 to give students the entire fall academic term. And, as with last year’s, the college con test will award a $5,000 grand prize scholarship and $500 prizes to finalists.

One big change this year: the college con test will be open to students of all ages doing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, as well as those who are set to graduate in 2023. College podcasters can enter your own work, without going through your school or professor, as long as you’re 18 years or older.

For the college con test this year, our basic guidelines remain pretty much the same: students can create a podcast about any topic they wish to explore. Some themes we’ve seen over and over include questions on identity and how young people fit in. Your podcast can also be in many different formats: an interview, narrative (叙述的) story or even investigative reporting. You can do it by yourself or with your entire class.

One important rule to keep in mind is that the maximum length of your podcast is eight minutes, and longer entries will be disqualified.

For more tips, advice and the latest updates on this year’s contest, make sure to sign up for our newsletter. We can’t wait to hear your stories!

8 . How to Exercise in a New Way

Get healthy with these bite-sized amounts of exercises

   What should people do when they can’t find the time or desire to do a long workout?     1    

Exercise snacks (“零食式”运动) are a popular and inventive new way for people to stay fit. Instead of requiring hours at the gym, this concept instructs you to keep it short.     2     Then you can take a break that lasts 30 minutes to four hours before another snack. It has been reported that exercise snacks can be as effective as traditional exercise methods.

Of course, the more of these brief exercises you complete in a day, the better. Just three exercise snacks a day that gets your heart pumping can be good for your health.     3     Your concentration and creativity improve, and you can become more productive. Also, “snacking” throughout the day prevents you from sitting too long — something that’s always positive.

Another great thing about exercise snacks is that there are so many to choose from. The goal is to spend a short time doing something that raises your heart rate. Acceptable activities range from sit ups to jumping rope to running up and down some stairs.     4    

●Exercises that are strength-based such as lifting weights will fit the bill. Since most people don’t keep weights at their office, lift full water bottles.

●Squats involve moving your hips as if to sit down while keeping your back straight. This exercise helps strengthen your lower body and improve your movement. Five to ten of these should make a good snack.

●For those who don’t like traditional exercises, simply turn up the music. Pick a lively song and start dancing; it’ll make for a fun workout.

    5    

9 . I’ve learned a lot in my many years in the gym, and beginner-me would be shocked by the things present-me does during the workouts.     1    . And I’ve broken pretty much every other rule besides.

Rest days are a convenient tool for making sure you’re not overworking yourself, but that’s all. Organizations like the American College of Sports Medicine recommend leaving 48 hours between intense strength-training periods for a given muscle.     2    , it’s meant to be a general recommendation for beginners and for people who are exercising just to stay healthy. Once you’re talking about athletes or enthusiasts, they acknowledge that training most days of the week is fine, if your program manages tiredness effectively.

The “10% rule” is a not-terrible guideline for figuring out how quickly to improve your training.     3    . As running coach Jason Fitzgerald told us, “While the saying is to only increase weekly mileage (英里数) by 10%, this may be either too conservative or even too aggressive depending on where you start from.” If you’re a beginner and your mileage is overall very low; if we took the rule seriously, you wouldn’t be able to increase from zero to any other number.

    4    , but none of them are necessary. Creatine (肌酸) is one of the best-known muscle-building supplements (补充剂). It’s understood to be effective, but here’s the thing: That it does something for most people doesn’t mean it does very much. Likewise, protein powder is a helpful way to get more protein in your diet, but you don’t need to use a supplement.     5    .

10 . Creative ways to change your workouts

Most people know working out is good for your health, both physical and mental.     1     Sure, you may get excited about training for a 5 K or 10 K, but once the race is over, only to become tired of it after a few weeks.

Create a word or image with your exercise route

Runners often map routes through city streets that create a word or image, then use a GPS device to “draw” it as they run.     2     Not sure what image or message to create? You can always follow artistic routes others have created and shared in the apps.Some are impressively complex and may take several excursions to complete.But that’s part of the fun.

Join a free fitness group

Exercising can be more fun with others, so look for group fitness opportunities. Many communities offer free exercise opportunities. Fitness in the Park is a summer-long activity that has been operating in New York state for a decade. Everyone is welcome to head to one of 18 different parks.     3     “The best part is grabbing a partner that you don’t know, or getting together with one that you do,” Frion said. “It’s always so much fun.”

    4    

Sure, you can run a 5 K. But why not try orienteering (定向越野赛)? This timed navigational sport requires you to use detailed maps to find orange-and-white flags that are hidden in parks or remote areas. Races involve difficult running routes

Dance

Whether you take a class or practice at home, dancing is a great way to get your body moving. Dancing doesn’t seem like exercise to a lot of people, which is why it’s always a popular choice.     5     “The workout allows for a creative aspect and meditation at the same time,” she said. “Many people come because it is an opportunity to try something different, as well as to dance in a nonjudgmental space.”