Recently, a poll(民意调查) finds that although almost three in four adults played sports when they     1     (be) younger, only one in four continue to play sports as adults.

But that decline in interest doesn’t stop parents from encouraging their children to make sports a part of their lives.     2     fact, almost nine in ten parents     3     middle school or high school aged children play sports say that their children benefit     4     great deal or quite a bit from playing sports.

And, while most adults no longer play sports     5     (they), the majority of parents say it is very likely or somewhat likely that their children will continue playing sports when they become adults. One in four parents also hope their children will become     6     (profession)athletes.

“Sports are an important part of a healthy community. They help children and adults maintain a fit     7     (weigh), teach acceptance and teamwork, and expand opportunity for children     8     (live) in poverty(贫困),” said a researcher. “This poll     9     (indicate) that we must continue to encourage children to play sports, but just as important, we must find ways     10     (keep)adults engaged in sports in order to maintain health and well-being.”

3 . Five days a week I go out for a run—a short and slow run. The only way I can _______ to it is to keep it a habit. It’s a spiritual approach to making exercise a habit.

We’re meant to treat the _______ with respect, doing all we can within our power to keep it _______ and serviceable.

I have a wild heart history. I have _______ heart surgery twice in my life. After each procedure, I signed up for cardiac rehab (心脏康复) where I worked with a nurse, a physical therapist (治疗专家) and got exercise three days a week, building back my _______ and my confidence.

The last time I wanted to _______ running, the nurse and therapist urged me on, for running is _______ for my body and my soul.

Their _______ was a reminder: keep it up. _______ jogging up and down hills, I’m not out to ________ any races. Recently, as I came up the hill running with a friend, a neighbor cried out, “You look like the last two finishers of the marathon.”

“You must really ________ to run,” people will say to me. Love is a too ________ word. But I love to finish a run. That feels good.

The only way I can do it is make it a habit. Sometimes I do it ________ in the morning. As the weather gets cold, I prefer going later in the day when I won’t ________. I can learn and grow while running.

Good habits are, in turn, habit-forming. I find it ________ if I simply make it a rule, trying a spiritual approach to making running a habit.

4 . You start by running around the school track three times to warm up. This is followed by exercises or long jump for the girls and football or basketball for the boys. That is an average 45 -minute PE class— but do you really enjoy it?

For students at the Second High School Attached to Beijing Normal University, sports classes have experienced a welcome change. Senior 2 students now learn the traditional Chinese martial art of sword-fighting (中国剑术), making PE the most popular lesson on the timetable. “The classes used to be boring as we just did the same things again and again,” said Xiao Tong. “But now PE classes are such fun. Sword-fighting is so cool.” His classmate Wei Jie agrees. “As well as being fun, we learn about traditional Chinese culture,” she said. The usual morning exercises performed to music on the school playground have been replaced by kicking and punching practice (搏击操) to a pop music by Zheng Xiuwen. “We didn't pay much attention when we heard the old music,” Xiao explained, “But when Zheng's music is played, we get excited.” Mao Min, the PE teacher who introduced the changes, is pleased that the students now enjoy sports lessons more. “The classes encourage healthy lifestyles and I am always looking for creative ways to keep the students active,” he said. Schools offer activities according to what sports facilities (设备) they have. For example, students at the Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University can choose to learn swimming, taekwondo (跆拳道) or volleyball. “I take my volleyball very seriously so I keep fit by playing it,” said Senior 2 student Zhang Zheng. “Students only try hard in sports that interest them.”

9 . Yoga has a well-deserved reputation for helping to improve balance and flexibility and for promoting calm and relaxation. But when it comes to weight loss, many people assume that other types of exercise, like cardio or strength training will be more helpful. While you might not burn as many calories (卡路里) by practicing yoga as you would by running or doing some other high-intensity aerobic activity (有氧运动), yoga can still raise your heart rate and help build muscle-and, at rest, muscle burns about twice as many calories as fat does. “Studies show that aerobic forms of exercise, which is any exercise that uses your large muscle groups and raises your heart rate, are beneficial for weight loss,” says Sally Sherwin, a yoga teacher with the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Yoga. “Power or vinyasa yoga, a type of high intensity yoga, fits this kind.”

Just how many calories you burn varies depending on how long and intense your exercise is, as well as other factors, such as your weight, age and gender. But according to Erin Casperson, lead faculty with the Kripalu Center for Yoga &Health, practicing yoga can also help you burn more calories long after you hit the mat, even if you don’t do more intense forms of yoga. That’s because yoga’s other benefits can help with weight loss too.

Yoga helps manage stress, and studies show that high levels of cortisol (皮质醇), a stress hormone, can lead to an increase in abdominal fat, Cortisol surges can also increase your cravings for high-fat and high sugar foods and drinks while simultaneously reducing your muscle mass. “Yoga has an impact on the body’s stress response and reduces the production of hormones linked to weight gain such as cortisol,” Erin Casperson says.

Several studies have confirmed that doing yoga does reduce cortisol levels. In one study, researchers found that practicing yoga seemed to impact the hypothalamus (下丘脑), reducing cortisol production. And a 2020 study found that doing meditative yoga reduced participants’ salivary cortisol levels.

10 . Three stretches (伸展) you should do every day

For one who doesn’t get much physical activity, a sore and achy back is a common problem.     1    . What are the basic stretches everyone should try?

Here are a few simple moves that anyone can fit into their daily exercise.

    2    

Slowly rolling your neck in one direction, then the other, is a simple but effective way to relax some of your muscles. When you’re done, move on to rolling your shoulders forwards and backwards. They may seem simple, but these are really good for reducing stress and tension in the body. Most people hold a lot of tension in their shoulders.     3    .

Forward folds (弯曲)

Even if you can’t touch your toes, folding your body forwards is a great move for loosening up your back.     4    : you can stand up and bend down towards the ground, sit down with your legs in front of you and reach towards your feet, or even just bend forwards in your office chair.

Butterfly poses

It’s great for you to stretch your back and inner thighs.     5    . If the pose is new to you, don’t worry about making the stretch very deep — you can move your feet further away from your body to make things easier, and stay seated straight up.