3 . Do you like to exercise?     1     Do you prefer playing a team sport, like volleyball or baseball? Or do you like to run for miles and miles all by yourself? Maybe you would rather lift weights or do push-ups or sit-ups!

You know that exercise is good for your body. It helps you grow stronger. It can also help keep your heart and other important organs in excellent shape. But can it make you smarter?

Maybe! The work you do at school every day is like exercise for your brain. Learning and thinking can help you become smarter.     2    

Some researchers point out that exercise stimulates the body’s nervous system, causing it to release chemicals that make us feel happy and calm. This helps to explain why many people feel more alive and active after exercising.     3     On the whole, you can work or study at a higher level after exercise.

Others point to studies that show that exercise can stimulate the growth of new brain cells. As your brain gets bigger, the areas in connection with memory and learning get bigger and brain function improves.

    4     Experts believe that as little as 15-30 minutes per day three times a week may be enough to improve brain performance. Thirty to sixty minutes per day four to five times a week is even better.

Exercise is good for your body in so many ways, so include as much exercise as you can into your daily or weekly routine.     5    

4 . Are you sitting more than ever?     1     You’re probably sitting while reading this. Sometimes you sit when you are driving or attending a meeting. Other times you sit when you engage yourself in watching a movie or playing computer games. That’s undoubtedly a lot of sitting. The fact is, the amount of time spent sitting has increased over time.     2    

We know sitting too much is bad, and most of us naturally feel a little guilty after a long-time TV watching.     3     A study on nearly 8,000 adults suggests that there’s a direct relationship between the time spent sitting and our risk of early death of any cause. As the total sitting time increases, so does the risk of early death.

“Sit less, move more” is what the Heart Association encourages us to do.     4     It is like telling someone to just ”exercise“ without telling them how. Exercise guidelines are always more practical. For example, the Center for Disease Control recommends adults do exercise for two hours and 30 minutes every week, plus muscle strengthening activities two or more days a week. We need similar guidelines for sitting.

    5     “It would probably be like, for every 30 continuous minutes of sitting, stand up and move or walk for five minutes at a quick pace,” Diaz, the lead researcher said, adding that the study has put us a step closer to the satisfying guidelines. But more researches are needed to confirm their approach.

5 . Ten fitness exercises you can do at home

Walking

An effective walking workout at home will help to strengthen your legs, while getting some low impact aerobic exercise as well. If you don’t have any stairs available, just walk around the house a few times —it may not be very exciting, but it will do the job!

Jumping jacks

These are always fun, as they bring back memories of being a kid! Who hasn’t done jumping jacks for fun as a child? Well, surprise —they are also great cardio exercises, and good for warming up, too.

Push-ups

These are probably not the most favorite exercise of many people, but while they can be hard to do, you can find easier ways to do them. You don’t need to pretend you’re “Rocky”, and do them with one hand: just do what works for you. Do them on your knees, instead of keeping your legs straight. Or, do them by standing up against a wall. You will build up arm strength and work out muscles in your chest area.

Leg lifts

These are great for building up strength and muscles in your legs. If you find it hard to do the exercises with your legs straight, try bending them slightly.

Crunches

It’s the best exercise for building up and strengthening belly muscles. When you’re just getting started, don’t worry about getting your head all the way up. So long as you’re going up until you feel the stretching of the muscles, you will see some benefit.

Jogging in place

Jogging is a great exercise for your heart. You can jog in place at home while watching TV or listening to music. The only equipment you will require is a good pair of shoes, to eliminate any stress to your legs.

Squats

These are wonderful exercises for your legs and bottoms. You can even just try these by sitting and standing up again from a regular chair, if you’re finding them to be too difficult. As long as you’re able to do a few repetitions, you will provide some benefit to your body.

Dancing

Dancing is a wonderful exercise, which is great for your heart. Not only that, but it can lift your spirits as well, and give your overall feeling a boost.

7 . Exercise is good for physical and mental health, but with coronavirus cases surging across the country, exercising indoors with other people could increase your chance of infection. So, as gyms reopen across the country, here are some things to consider before heading for your workout.

Assess your own risk

It starts with you. You have to make your own assessment of how risky it is based on knowing your medical situation and whether you are someone who’s at high risk of infection. People aged 65 and over are at higher risk of getting a severe case of COVID-19.     1    , it may not be worth the risk.

Consider alternatives for working out

Exercise outdoors is a great low-risk alternative. When you are outside, it’s easier to control how close you get to other people.    2    . Outdoors you have sunlight which has been shown to quickly inactivate the virus. And outside airflow and humidity (湿度) help weaken it.

Assess your gym’s safety measures

There are things gyms can do to help decrease the risk of infection.    3    . Are they taking your temperature? Are you seeing them regularly clean equipment? And are staff and other clients in the gym wearing a mask?

Pay attention to air flow

Your best bet is going to be a gym that is larger, able to have windows open or have multiple floors or levels to allow for physical distancing. That’s because more space and more air flow decrease the concentration of the virus in the air and likely reduce the risk of transmission.    4    .

Location, location, location

    5    . Exercising indoors in hot spots where cases are surging is riskier than in areas with low infection rates, says Bruno Murtha. So check out this color coded tracker to look up the COVID-19 risk in your county, and nearby counties.

8 . It’s truly never too late to begin exercising, according to the researchers led by Pedro Saint-Maurice of the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Even for people who were “couch potatoes” in their youth, starting regular exercise in middle-age can still greatly cut the probability of death from any cause.

The study tracked the lifetime exercise patterns of more than 315,000 people. The investigators found that folks who’d exercised all their lives had a 36 percent lower risk of dying during the study period, compared to people who’d never exercised. But, perhaps surprisingly, people who’d been inactive in youth but decided to get more physical in their 40s and 50s saw almost the same decline—35 percent—in their probability of an early death.

The study also found that a mid-life start to physical activity seemed to cut the probability of death from the two major killers—heart disease and cancer. For people who began exercising in their 40s and 50s, rates of death from heart disease fell by 43 percent compared to people who’d never exercised, and the cancer death rate fell by 16 percent. Those declines were similar to those seen in people who’d exercised all their adult lives.

“This study, once again, indicates the importance of physical activity in relationship to one’s long-term mortality,” said Dr. Evelina Grayver. “Whether or not you start exercising when you are younger or older, the benefits will always be there. But starting exercising at a later age and still getting the same mortality benefit doesn’t mean that one should not exercise in younger years. Overall effects of continuous physical activity decrease the risk of an early death.”

The researchers also noted that while other research linking exercise to longevity has looked at physical activity at just one point in the lifetime, theirs is the first to examine the role of “participation in physical activity throughout the different stages of adulthood.” This new research demonstrates the crucial relationship between physical activity and the prevention of death at any age.

10 . Regular jogging (慢跑) can reduce your risk of health problems. If you’re new to jogging, getting started can seem a little difficult.     1    .

Fuel your body 2 hours before jogging

Eat a healthy meal rich in fruit and vegetables before jogging.    2    . It will also help muscle grow and repair. If you’re jogging for weight loss, try increasing your intake of fruit and vegetables. Reduce your intake of sugary food and drinks.

Warm up for 5 minutes before jogging

It’s very important to warm up before you jog.    3    .Some good warm-up exercises include doing knee lifts, side-stepping and climbing stairs. You may have heard that it’s important to stretch (拉伸) before you run, but stretching before exercise can put additional strain (拉紧) on your muscles. Therefore, focus on warming up before jogging.

    4    

Most people think how far and how long you run has to do with patience and a strong will. However, having the proper running form plays an important role in jogging. To make the most of your jogging, remember to keep your head straight and your muscles relaxed, avoid lifting your knees too high, and touch the ground lightly with the middle of your foot.

Cool down after your jogging

After jogging, you can avoid strain on your heart and muscles by doing cool-down exercise. Finish your jog with 5～10 minutes of walking.    5    , You should do deep stretches and hold each stretch for 15～30 seconds.