2 . You’ve probably heard countless times how exercise is “good for you”. But do you know that it can improve your mood too?    1    .

Exercising regularly can help prevent weight gain, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Exercises like jumping or lifting weights can help keep your bones strong. Also, when you exercise, your body makes chemicals that help you feel good. Exercise lowers your chances of depression and decreases feelings of anxiety.     2    .

Considering all the health benefits of being physically active, it’s easy to see why doing exercise is wise. And the great thing is that it’s never too late to start.    3    — like taking a short bike ride, walking the dog or raking (用耙子拢) leaves.

However, sometimes you may find it hard to keep exercising regularly. One of the biggest reasons people drop an exercise program is a lack of interest. If what you’re doing isn’t fun, it’s hard to keep it up.     4    . If you need a little more motivation, take a class, join a team or find an exercise buddy to help keep you on track.

    5    , even those with disabilities or medical problems. But if you have a health problem or other concerns, talk to your doctor before beginning an exercise plan.

3 . Running is often tiring and a lot of hard work, but nothing beats the feeling you get after finishing a long workout around the track.

But while it’s long been believed that endorphins (内啡肽) —chemicals in the body that cause happiness—are behind the so-called “runner’s high”, a study suggested that there may be more to this phenomenon than we previously knew.

According to a recent study published by a group of scientists from several German universities, a group of chemicals called endocannabinoids (内源性大麻素) may actually be responsible for this familiar great feeling.

To test this theory, the scientists turned to mice. Both mice and humans release high levels of endorphins and endocannabinoids after exercise. After exercising on running wheels, the mice seemed happy and relaxed and displayed no signs of anxiety. But after being given a drug to block their endorphins, the mice’s behavior didn’t seem to change. However, when their endocannabinoids were blocked with a different drug, their runners’ high symptoms seemed to fade.

“The long-held notion of endorphins being responsible for the runner’s high is false. Endorphins are effective pain relievers, but only when it comes to the pain in your body and muscles you feel after working out,” Patrick Lucas Austin wrote on science blog Lifchacker.

Similar studies are yet to be carried out on humans, but it’s already known that exercise is a highly effective way to get rid of stress or anxiety. The UK’s National Health Service even prescribes (开药 方) exercise to patients who are suffering from depression. “Being depressed can leave you feeling low in energy, which might put you off being more active. Regular exercise can improve your mood if you have depression, and its especially useful for people with mild to moderate (中等的) depression,” it wrote on its website.

It seems like nothing can beat that feeling we get after a good workout, even if we don’t fully understand where it comes from. At least if we’re feeling down, we know that all we have to do is to put on our running shoes.

4 . Exercise helps to keep us in good health. Doctors at the American Heart Association suggest getting at least 150 minutes of proper physical activity every week. Many people exercise for a few minutes every day or every other day. So, getting 150 minutes every week is easy.

But what about those times when you are sick? If you do not feel well, should you keep following your exercise habit? Following are the answers from health experts.

Edward R. Laskowski is a doctor at the Mayo Clinic. He and other experts have a general rule about exercising when you are sick. It is usually fine to exercise properly (not hard), he explains, if your symptoms are all “above the neck”. These signs may include a runny nose, sneezing (打喷嚏) or a sore throat.

Geralyn Coopersmith, a physical fitness trainer who has written several books on exercise offers similar advice. However, both Coopersmith and Dr. Laskowski suggest taking a break from exercising if signs of your illness appears “below the neck”. Pay special attention to symptoms such as chest congestion (胸闷), bad cough or pain in the stomach.

There are other symptoms that can tell you to avoid exercise. They include a higher than normal body temperature, a sense of feeling very tired, and widespread muscle pain.

Both Coopersmith and Dr. Laskowski suggest listening to your body. If you feel really bad, take a break and let your body rest. If you don’t feel too bad, these experts both suggest cutting down the amount of exercise. For example, if you usually run, take a quick walk instead.

5 . Sports play a key role in the physical and mental development of children. While it’s great to see a child succeed in one sport. it’s important to keep their activities in balance. Participation in multiple sports enables children to build a solid foundation of movement skills. Aside from this, here are some other good reasons why kids should be encouraged to play multi-sports.

Repetitive (重复乏味的) movements can overstress growing bodies which later on can lead to injuries. With multi-sports, each sport works the body slightly differently. This will lead to fewer overuse injuries.

Also, kids who overspecialize in one sport may end up losing interest and eventually quit. Specializing in a sport raises expectations and may put too much pressure on young kids. Having a variety of experiences will keep children interested and motivated, and even make them enjoy sports without any pressure.

Multi-sports also allow kids to experience different roles. Being a goalkeeper in a football team is very different from being a point guard in basketball. Being exposed to baseball develops better hand-eye coordination (手眼协调). Soccer develops better footwork. Volleyball develops jumping and hand-eye coordination. Martial arts develop strength, mobility, and discipline (自制力). Swimming develops full-body coordination and strength. The list goes on and on! Participation in multiple sports broadens a child’s developmental, social, and situation al experience. It opens opportunities to become a better competitor and a promising athlete—flexible and energetic.

Many sports superstars like Stephen Curry achieved their standing today by playing multiple sports. Curry played basketball, but he also played baseball, football, soccer and everything else in a sports buffet. What worked for Curry, experts say, could work for most of us.

Aside from developing a wide range of sports skills, more importantly, multi-sports provide opportunities for children to discover their liking. With the help of the right coaches, sports become fun. inspiring kids’ interests. So if you can’t decide whether your child should focus on one sport or try some different sports. I hope you can make a better decision now.

7 . There are many ways to travel within a city. We can walk, cycle, or take a bus. But no matter which way we travel, we have to stick to the route (线路) the city planners laid down for us.

Parkour practitioners (跑酷爱好者), however, see the city in a completely different way. To them, there are no fixed routes. There are no walls and no stairs — since they jump, climb, roll and crawl to move across, through, over and under anything that they find in their path. The city is their playground.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has noticed that this activity is drawing more and more people to it — there are 100,000 people taking part in parkour today in the UK alone, according to The Guardian — and how it is helpful for people to be much stronger: It trains coordination (协调性) and balance. So the organization is thinking about recognizing parkour as a new sport and adding it to the Olympics by 2024.

But parkour practitioners themselves don’t seem to be happy with the idea. “They see parkour as a lifestyle,” wrote the website NextSportStar. “It’s a competition against the conditions rather than just a sport.”

“Indeed, many do parkour just to escape the daily routine (常规) and experience the city in different ways,” wrote reporter Oli Mould on The Conversation. They see parkour as a way to express themselves through relaxing moves and creative routes while freeing themselves from the pressure.

It’s great that the FIG wants to develop a new sport and stay close to a new cultural form. But it would be greater if they knew that not everything in life is a competition.

9 . All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer. Many people like to watch others play games. They buy tickets or turn on their TVs to watch the games. Often they get very excited when “their” player or team wins.

Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for them. Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers. What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China, Egypt or Italy! And think of people in cold countries. Think how many people love to skate or ski in Japan, Norway or Canada. Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. They are about one hundred years old. People are inventing new sports or games all the time. Water-skiing is one of the newest in the family of sports.

People from different countries often become good friends after a game together. Sports help them to understand each other. One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace.

10 . Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature. However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should be aware that your sport of choice might have great influence on the environment.

Some sports are resource-hungry. Golf, as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water. Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses (球场) in good condition. This causes major environmental effects. For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf causes serious water shortage in some local areas.

There are many environment-friendly sports. Power walking is one of them that you could take up today. You don’t need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don’t have to worry about your purse. Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit. If you walk regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones. Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sleep well and have better weight control.

Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environment-friendly equipment   and buying products made from recycled materials. But the final goal should be “green gyms”. They   are better replacements for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers. Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or other open spaces.

There is no special requirement for you to start your membership. And best of all, it’s free.