1 . Playing sports is a lot of fun, but getting hurt is not.     1    

Wear protective equipment.

The equipment you wear depends on the sport you play. Helmets (头盔) are the most common protective equipment. They protect your head while you’re playing football, baseball, softball, biking, skateboarding, and so on.

Warm up.

    2     Doing some stretching (伸展) can get you prepared to hit the field. By warming up, you get yourself ready to play. Warming up your muscles and practicing a sport help keep you safe, too.

Know the rules of the games.

Traffic lights help prevent crashes between the many cars that drive on the roads together. This works because drivers know the rules and follow them.     3     When players know the rules of the game, fewer injuries happen. For example, you know that in soccer you can’t come from behind, crash into a player’s legs, and steal the ball.

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Some rules don’t have anything to do with scoring points. Some rules are just about protecting other people. For example, a diver would make sure that the pool was clear before diving in. Otherwise, he or she might land on someone else.

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This is a really important one. If you love sports, you may get right back in the game, even after an injury. But playing when you’re hurt is a bad idea. It can lead to an even worse injury.

3 . We all know about the health benefits of swimming. It offers a great exercise for the body — it builds patience, muscle strength and cardiovascular (心血管的) fitness. If you don’t mind getting wet, it can be fun too.     1     Well, many people are taking the jump, based on evidence that it can actually be good for us.

Cold-water swimming is sometimes called “wild swimming”, namely swimming in natural areas including ponds, rivers and the sea. Jumping in gives a short sharp shock to the body, but many participants say that they have got used to it. A cold dip might wake you up, but research has found that it can have much bigger benefits than that for your body and mind.     2    

    3     One man who suffered constant pain after surgery claimed that he was cured by taking a swim in cold open water. And another swimmer, Sandria Simons, told the BBC, “The immersion (浸没) of your body in cold, salt water, just feeling like you’re at one with nature if you like, just feels amazing.”

But what is it that people are gaining from this cold and uncomfortable experience? Doctors say that getting into cold water causes a stress response, but the more you do it, the less stress you will have. It’s also thought to have a strong anti-anger effect.     4     Some experts believe that cold-water swimming helps “cross-adaptation”, where one form of stress prepares the body for another. For example, it also helps to reduce the stress of exercising at high altitude.

    5     You should approach it with caution, swim with a friend, and maybe start in the summer, when the water temperatures are higher.

5 . Benefits of Sports

Doing sports is a physical, mental and social adventure. It’s a great way for children to take a break from studies and release extra energy. It also helps them lead fuller and happier lives as regular sports have proven beneficial to overall well-being.

The physical benefits of doing sports are probably the most obvious. Regardless of your fitness level when you start playing sports, you’ll notice an increase in your overall fitness once you’re involved.     1     Basketball players focus on strength training; football players work on speed while track athletes train through longer runs. The training process helps promote physical fitness and performances in competitions.

    2     Playing sports also contributes to mental health, helping to increase confidence and self-worth. A pat on the back, a high five from a teammate, or a handshake after a match really boosts a child’s confidence. Words of praise and encouragement from the coach, parents and other players raise self-worth.     3     So after a game, it’s a better idea to ask “Did you enjoy the game?” rather than “Did you win?”

Children who participate in sports might also benefit from the social aspect, feeling part of a group, building up responsibility and leadership.     4     Teamwork involves both being dependable as a teammate and learning to rely on your teammates to achieve a positive outcome. Teamwork breeds responsibility and challenges you to be responsible for your actions. Being part of a team gives you an opportunity to be a leader.

Discipline is another social advantage. Most organized sports require a strict training and practice schedule. As a student-athlete, you need to balance studies and athletics.     5    

There is no shortage of reasons to find a sport to get involved in. Are you ready to go? Pick one and get moving!

8 . Nowadays, are you sitting more and more? Take a moment to think about your sitting habits. You’re probably sitting while reading this.     1    Besides, many people still lie on the sofa swiping their phones instead of doing exercise after work. That’s undoubtedly a lot of sitting. The fact is that the amount of time spent sitting has increased over time.     2    

People know sitting too much is unsuitable, and most of us naturally feel a little guilty after a long-time TV watching. But what problems gradually exist when we seat ourselves for nearly eight hours per day? A study on nearly 8000 adults suggests that there’s a direct relationship between the time spent sitting and our risk of early death from any cause.     3    

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

    5    One of them is from Diaz’s research team. “It would probably be like this: for every 30 continuous minutes of siting, 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 approaches.

10 . Benefits of sport

Every sport has its own specific health benefits. Swimming, for example, is an excellent physical activity as nearly all muscles are used when you swim. As a result, it provides a terrific full-body workout, improving coordination, flexibility, balance and muscle strength.     1    

Sport, as well as being a physical activity, has a mental aspect too. It can help define who you are and who you can become. Sport builds character and promotes the development of a number of qualities that are essential for a successful and fulfilling life.     2    

Sport requires self-discipline, without which there will always be the temptation to simply give up. In order to excel in sport, you will have to set goals, make plans and persevere with thoughts and actions, even without immediate rewards.

    3     Everyone has their ups and downs, their triumphs and their tragedies and, therefore, a big part of life means having to deal with success and failure. Engaging in competitive sport will help you understand that winning a competition does not make you superior to everyone else and that losing is only a temporary setback, from which you can learn and progress.

Sport will help you understand the importance of teamwork. It will show you that you often need to rely on others for your success.     4    

The world of sport is a fairground of exciting opportunities where you can discover who you really are.     5