Taking It to Extremes
Regular exercise benefits people extensively, from weight control to lengthened life. Exercise sets up a chain reaction that is generally positive for the human body, preventing and controlling some health problems. However, endurance sports, requiring the sustained efforts for long periods of time, reveal a darker side of exercise.
A common endurance sport is marathon. Running 26.2 miles is an achievement, but it’s ultimately harmful. In one study, about 75% of marathon runners suffered from kidney injury after finishing the race. Similarly, cross-country skiing offers excellent cardiovascular benefits when performing at a leisurely pace. Yet cross-country skiing alters the structure of the heart, making it more easily damaged to an arrhythmia, a condition where the heart beats irregularly. When it came to the participants’ hearts, competitive success in cross-country skiing doesn’t always translate into better health. The most extreme endurance races, such as Ironman Triathlons, provide more discouraging data.
Endurance athletes face another serious problem: they may drink much water while competing. Proper hydration while exercising is key to health and performance. But, too much of a good thing can be dangerous. Reportedly, over 10% of the participants in the triathlon suffered from hyponatremia, occurring when the level of sodium (钠) in the blood becomes dangerously low, often when the sodium concentration is too low with water. Evidently, extreme endurance sports can transform the basic necessity of drinking water into a potential source of harm.
Does running help a person live longer? A study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings concluded that running distances of 0.1 to 19.9 miles a week, at six to seven miles per hour, was linked to a lower risk of death. However, running distances and speeds beyond this was not tied to higher rates of survival. This finding demonstrates no exercise is better for one’s health than excessive exercise in endurance sports.
Certainly, none of this means that exercise in moderation is harmful, but it shows that the benefits of exercise level off, and even reverse, when a person exercises too much. Endurance sports may continue to be a popular pursuit for those seeking a challenge, but for those eager for better health, a little can work.
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Every year, and more parents complain to their children’s schools about PE. They believe that their children shouldn’t have to participate in physical activity if they don’t want to. Supporters of PE, however, believe that it is a necessary element of all-round schooling and our society’s well-being. They insist PE in schools remains one of the few places by which the youth can be forced to participate in aerobic exercise.
Firstly, they believe that participation in sport promotes health. In fact physical education is a springboard for involvement in sport and physical activities throughout life. Government is, or should be, concerned with the health of its citizens. Encouraging physical activity in the young through compulsory PE fights child overweight and contributes to forming lifelong habits of exercise. This doesn’t have to be through traditional team sports; increasingly schools are able to offer exercise in the form of swimming, gymnastics, dance, etc.
Besides, physical education help to develop character and the mutual respect required to succeed in an adult environment. Playing team sports builds character and encourages students to work with others, as they would be expected to do in most business or sporting environments. Sport teaches children how to win and lose with good grace and builds a strong school spirit through competition with other institutions. It is often the experience of playing on a team together that builds the strongest friendships at school, which endure for years afterwards.
Finally, the pursuit for national sporting achievement begins in school. If schools don’t have compulsory PE, it is much harder to pick out, develop and equip athletes to represent the country on a wider stage. However, it’s much easier to find suitable individuals with a full sports program in every school.
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What I think of boxing as a sport
Boxing is a popular sport that many people seem to be fascinated by. Newspapers, magazines and sports programmes on TV frequently cover boxing matches. Professional boxers earn a lot of money, and successful boxers are treated as big heroes.
It seems to me that some people, especially men, find it appealing because it is an aggressive sport. When they watch a boxing match, they can identify with the winning boxer, and this gives them the feeling of being a winner themselves. Sometimes fans are rooting for a particular boxer, moreover because the boxer comes from their own country, and if“their”boxer loses, they often feel as if they have lost a fight themselves. It is a fact that many people have feeling of aggression from time to time, but they cannot show their aggression in their everyday lives. Watching a boxing match gives them an outlet for this aggression.
However , there is a negative side to boxing. It can be a very dangerous sport. Although boxers wear gloves during the fights, and amateur boxing even have to wear helmets, there have frequently been accident in both professional and amateur boxing, sometimes with dramatic consequences. Boxers have suffered from head injuries, and occasionally, fighters have even been killed as a result of being knocked out in the ring. For example, studies have shown that there are often long-term effects of boxing, in the form of serious brain damage, even if a boxer has never been knocked out.
To conclude, I am personally not at all in favour of aggressive sports like boxing. I think it would be better if less time was given to aggressive sports on TV, and we celebrated more men and women from non-aggressive sports as our heroes and heroines in our society. I believe that the world is aggressive enough already! Of course, people like competitive sports , and so do I, but I think that hitting other people in an aggressive way is not something that should be regarded as a sport.
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Marathons can be bad for your health, scientists have warned after a study found 80 percent of competitors suffer kidney (肾) injury because of dehydration (脱水).
Researchers said that although the kidneys of the participants in the 26.2 mile race fully recovered within two days, their findings raise questions concerning the potential long-term impact at a time when marathons are increasing in popularity.
The findings were published by the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, as thousands of people prepare for next month's London Marathon.
Previous research has shown that engaging in unusually vigorous activities - such as military training - in warm climates can damage the kidneys, but little is known about the effects of marathon running.
A team of researchers led by Professor Chirag Parikh, of Yale University in the US, studied a small group of participants in the 2015 Hartford Marathon.
They collected blood and urine (尿液) samples before and after the event. They analysed a variety of markers of kidney injury, including serum creatinine (肌酐) levels, kidney cells on microscopy, and proteins in urine.
The researchers found that 82 percent of the runners that were studied showed Stage 1 Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) soon after the race. AKI is a condition in which the kidneys fail to filter (过滤) waste from the blood.
Prof Parikh said: "The kidney responds to the physical stress of marathon running as if it's injured, in a way that's similar to what happens in hospitalised patients when the kidney is affected by medical and surgical complications (并发症)."
The researchers stated that potential causes of the marathon-related kidney damage could be the sustained rise in core body temperature, dehydration, or decreased blood flow to the kidneys that occur during a marathon.
While the measured kidney injury resolved within two days of running the marathon, the researchers said the study still raises questions about the effects of repeated strenuous activity over time, especially in warm climates.
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我们每个人的生活方式都有所不同，有些比较健康，有些一般，有些不太健康。请你谈谈你自己的生活方式。
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Take Care of Your Spine (脊柱)
The spine stands at the center of your health, providing your body with structure and support. It also contains your spinal cord, a massive collection of nerves that sends electric signals from the rest of your body to your brain. Therefore, it’s important to take care of it.
Maintaining your good posture is one of the most important things you can do to keep your spine healthy. Proper posture means standing or sitting while keeping your spine straight, except for its natural curves. Posture comes into play even when you’re asleep. Sleeping on your side puts less stress on your spine than most other positions. Having a comfortable bed is also very important as sleeping in a position that isn’t comfortable can leave your back feeling sore the next day.
Exercise is also an important factor in the health of your spine. Staying still for too long—even if your posture is good—can be hard on your back. Especially if you work at a desk most of the day, it’s important to get up and stretch periodically. Stretches can help the muscles around your spine relax and allow bones to shift into better positions. Strength exercises with light weights or bodyweight exercises like pushups can also help by strengthening the muscles around your spine. However, don’t overdo the exercise, as repeated motions can hurt the muscles around your spine.
Your diet also affects the health of your spine because many vitamins are necessary for bones and nerves. In particular, B vitamins help keep nerves healthy, so you may want to consider taking a supplement (补充物). Another important factor is vitamin D, which is essential for strong bones, but it’s also absorbed from sunlight, so it may help to do some of those back exercises outside.
Take care of your spine (脊柱)
The spine stands at the center of your health, providing your body with structure and support. It also contains your spinal cord, a massive collection of nerves conveying electric signals from the rest of your body to your brain. Since your spine is so central to health, it's important to look after it.
Maintain good posture (姿势)is one of the most important things you can do to keep you spine healthy. Proper posture means standing or sitting while keeping your spine straight, except for its natural curves. Posture comes into play even when you're asleep. Sleeping on you side puts less stress on your spine than most other positions. Staying still for too long----even if your posture is good---can be hard on your back. Especially if you look at a desk most of the day, it's important to get up and stretch periodically.
Exercise is also an important factor in the health of your spine. Stretches can help the muscles around your spine relax and allow bones to shift into better arrangement. Strength exercises like pushups can also help by strengthening the muscles around your spine. However, don't overdo the exercise, as repeated motions can strain the muscles around your spine.
Finally, your diet affects the health of your spine because many vitamins are necessary for bones and nerves. In particular, B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids keep nerves healthy, so you may want to consider taking a supplement. Another important factor is vitamin D, which is essential for strong bones. Vitamin D can come from some foods, but it's also absorbed from sunlight, so it may help to do some of those back exercises outside.
Many of the actions necessary to keep your spine healthy are identical to those need to preserve your health in other ways. So protect our back, and the rest of body will benefit.
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