2 . The Netherlands is the only country in the world with more bicycles than residents. By 2022, the Netherlands has had a total of about 23 million bicycles, with an ownership rate of 1.35 bikes per person. One study published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that in the Netherlands cycling prevents about 6,500 early deaths each year, and that Dutch people have 1.5 years longer life expectancy (预期寿命) due to cycling.

“The time spent cycling was about 74 minutes per week for Dutch adults aged 20 to 90 years old. The time was fairly stable over adulthood and reached its apex in the early days of retirement, in one’s 60s. The death rate reduction, which was a direct result of the average time spent cycling for a certain age group, was therefore also the highest among the seniors who just retired,” said Jeremy Smith, an expert from NIH.

What is it that makes cycling so beneficial? Obviously, cycling is a form of exercise. It is a great form of cardio (有氧的) exercise, which gets your heart pumping and helps strengthen the heart muscles. Doing cardio exercise may also help lower your blood pressure.

Furthermore, solid evidence proves the link between cycling and better thinking skills. Even younger adults claim that a bike ride helps shift their thinking to a higher level — and research backs them up. In one small study, young men are required to cycle for 30 minutes every day for 3 weeks. They also completed a series of cognitive (认知的) tests before and afterward. After cycling, they scored higher on memory, reasoning and planning, and they were able to finish the tests more rapidly than before.

Besides all the benefits mentioned above, cycling, as many Dutch put it, is a way of life. In their simplest form, bikes are tools for travelling. But they’re so much more. They are cognitive improvement, environmental protection, satisfaction and an expression of freedom. They bring people of the same passion together and connect them to a greater journey of life.

5 . The benefits of exercise have been fully noted and your resolutions have been made. Yes, you want to be fit and live a long and healthy life.     1    .

According to standard advice issued by the World Health Organization, adults should be getting at least 150 minutes of moderate physical workout or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week to extend their lives, get fit, have stronger muscles and be a healthy weight. If that didn’t already sound a lot, the WHO says to double that if you want to get further benefits.

The good news for those who dislike sports is that it’s possible to stick to these guidelines without entering a gym or breaking into a jog.     2    .

This idea is in line with evidence from a study last year of more than 130,000 people in 17 countries, which found that walking to work and housework such as vacuuming or mopping the floor are activities enough to reduce the risk of early death by 28 per cent, as long as you do 150 minutes a week. If you aren’t one for housework, you will be pleased to hear that your weekly amount of exercise can be put into the weekend with no ill effects, says Gray Donovan of Loughbirough University, UK.     3     But his team analyzed data from more than 63,000 adults in the UK covering 18 years and found that people who favored a “weekend fighter” plan had pretty much the same reduced risk of early death from all causes as those who spread out exercise. “One weekly exercise is usually sufficient to reduce mortality and morbidity (死亡率和发病率),” Donovan says. Even weekend fighters who did less than the recommended amount for the week fared better than inactive people.

    4     “No level of exercise is too much,” says Donovan. “There’s no increase in mortality or morbidity if you keep increasing the amount.” Just don’t go too hard each time.

8 . Lack of sleep can be compensated for by exercise

Staying active and fit could help to ward off some of the negative health impacts that would normally result from low-quality sleep, according to a large study of 380,055 middle-aged people involved in the UK Biobank research project.While the health benefits of exercise and sleep are nothing new,     1    .It could even give doctors another option to suggest for patients dealing with sleep problems.

"We found those who had both the poorest sleep quality and who exercised the least were most at risk of death from heart disease, stroke (中风), and cancer," says epidemiologist Bo-Huei Huang, from the University of Sydney in Australia.     2    .

Participants were grouped into three levels of physical activity (high, medium or low) and were also given a sleep quality score from 0-5 based on the amount of shut-eye they got, how late they stayed up, insomnia (失眠), snoring and daytime sleepiness.Those with the highest risk of dying from cancer or heart disease during the study period were those with the worst quality sleep and who didn't meet the WHO recommended guidelines for exercise.     3    .

    4    , for example, those at the unhealthiest end of the sleep and exercise scale had a 45 percent higher risk of dying from cancer than those with good sleep scores who kept physically active.     5    .

If you’re looking     1     (maximize) the amount of fat burned in your next workout,     2     (think) about having a coffee half an hour before you get started ——as a new study suggests     3    can make     4    significant difference to fat burning, especially later on in the day.

Researchers found that 3 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight can boost the rate of fat burning during aerobic(有氧的) exercise,     5     (base) on results gathered from 15 male volunteers.

The coffee dose(一剂) was shown to increase maximal fat oxidation rate (a measure of how     6     (efficient) the body burns off fat)     7     an average of 10.7% in the morning and 29% in the afternoon.

“Overall, these results suggest that a     8    (combine) of acute caffeine intake     9     exercise at moderate intensity in the afternoon     10     (provide) the best scenario(方案) for individuals seeking to increase whole-body fat oxidation during aerobic exercise,” the researchers conclude.