My Opinion on Innovative Exercises

4 . Doctors have long known that diet and exercise are the best ways to stay healthy. But few people get enough exercise. Only 20% of Americans get the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week. More than 80 million Americans over age 6 are entirely inactive. People leading a sedentary (久坐的) life pay a price. They are at higher risk for serious health problems. These include heart disease and cancer.

Health experts want people to know about the benefits of exercise. They believe it can lead to slower aging, better moods, stronger vision—the list goes on.

This year, the U. S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is starting a major study. It will record in detail what happens inside a body in motion (运动). Through its research，the NIH hopes to prove scientifically that exercise is good medicine.

The project will run for six years. A group of about 3, 000 sedentary people will take part in the project. They will range from 11-year-olds to the elderly. The group will begin an exercise program. Their blood, fat, and muscle will be studied before and after each workout. Scientists will look for clues to how the body changes with physical activity. A group that doesn't exercise will also be tracked. Experts will compare the two groups. Studies show that many positive changes happen in the body during and after a workout.

One of the best pieces of news is that much of what we already do counts as physical activity. “Sweeping the floor, watering the plants, washing the car—all that is exercise,” says Jack Berryman. He is a retired professor of medical history at Washington University School of Medicine, in Seattle. “Physical activity includes all movement, not just throwing a ball through a basket.”

Bamman hopes the NIH study will help doctors give each of their patients a detailed workout plan. In the meantime, here is a prescription (处方) for good health: Get active!

6 . As a teenager, I hated sports and physical education classes. I was always making up _________ to get out of them.

However, when I started university, I decided to _________ kung fu. To my _________, I loved it! It was a friendly and casual club. I used to go two or three times a week to _________. Because it is not a team sport, I didn't feel _________ about not being very good. And because it is a combat sport, you train in pairs, which means that you get to _________ people and talk to them. I also _________ that the focus of the classes was on getting better at kung fu, _________ exercising to change my body. I think that advertising puts us under an unhealthy pressure to change our _________. When I was doing kung fu, my body did change — I got __________ and quicker — but the __________ were a side effect of the sport, instead of the goal. __________, in the last year of university I was too busy to do kung fu most of the time.

When I moved to Italy this year I wanted to start doing a __________ sport again. I found a great local __________ that does mixed martial arts. The club is more __________ than the one at my university and we do lots of sparring (practice fights). I think that sparring is like chess, but much faster and much more fun! If your sparring partner tries to __________ you, you have to decide in an instant how to __________. You could dodge (巧妙躲避), block or even __________ their arm and then throw them to the mat.

When I was a teenager, I never __________ that I would like sports. Now I think that everyone should try as many __________ as possible because I believe there is something out there for everyone!

7 . Yesterday, my daughter had to go to work earlier than usual. Since the gym where I work out is not far from her ___________, I decided to take her to work and then go to the gym.

At quite an earlier hour, the gym was ___________ full of men and women of all ages, working out. I ___________ go to the gym at this early hour, and was ___________ to see so many people. It seems that many go to the gym before going to ___________. Some want to lose weight, others want to ___________ their body, and a great number of people like to build their muscles (肌肉). I know how difficult it is for most people to start exercising. Most people know it is good for their body, ___________ they are too lazy to go to the gym, ___________ in the morning. They ___________ to spend an extra hour in bed before starting their ____________. In the afternoon, they are too ____________ after work, and want to stay at home or go out to meet friends.

If you’re one of them, you need to overcome (克服) your ____________. If you ____________ going to the gym and exercising, you will start to ____________ it. This usually ____________ when you see you’re losing weight, that your body is getting into a better shape, and that you feel stronger.

It is the same in every other area of life. Everything becomes easier if you have great motivation.

9 . Long after the coronavirus pandemic is declared over, another health plight(困境) could take its place: a mental health crisis, experts have warned. But according to a new study, practicing yoga may help to reduce the blues, at least somewhat.

Researchers with the University of South Australia, in a partnership with the Federal University of Santa Maria, UNSW Sydney, Kings College London, and Western Sydney University, conducted what is said to be the first “world study” on the mental health benefits of practicing yoga.

In a meta-analysis of 180 studies across six countries that involved some 1,080 participants-all of whom had a “formal diagnosis of a mental disorder, including depression and anxiety,” according to news release on the findings-researchers found that the participants’ mental health improved with “movement-based yoga,” with the benefits “being incremental(递增的) with the amount of yoga they practiced,” they said.

Movement-based yoga was defined by the researchers as “any form of yoga where participants are physically active at least 50 percent of the time, that is, forms of yoga that emphasize holding poses and flowing through series of poses,” according to the news release.

“As self-isolation continues and people find themselves working from home and unable to physically catch up with their friends and family, we’re likely to see more people feel lonely and disconnected,” said lead researcher and University of South Australia Ph.D. candidate Jacinta Brinsley, in a statement. “Exercise has always been a great strategy for people struggling with these feelings as it boosts both mood and health. But as gyms and exercise classes of all kinds are now closed — even jogging with a friend is strongly discouraged — people are looking for options, and this is where yoga can help.”

Our research shows that movement-based yoga improved symptoms of depression(or improved mental health) for people living with a range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, post-traumatic(创伤后) stress and major depression. “So, it’s very good news for people struggling in times of uncertainty,” Brinsley added.