1 . The first time I realized that I had a love for sports competitions was during the Field Day in elementary school. Small for my age, and more of a bookworm than a sports enthusiast, I had suffered that special humiliation of being picked last for various gym teams. The Field Day, which focused on individual skills, was different. In the Softball Throw event, I got my first taste of sporting victory. Credit goes to the example of my first coach, my father. He lifted weights every morning at home. He bought us all baseball gloves and hats, and in the warm months, we spent hours playing catch. Come fall, our backyard football games began with passing practice.

Once I got to sixth grade and switched to private school, our entire student body was assigned to either the Red or the White team. Throughout the year, we competed against each other in various games and exercises for points. I eventually became president of The Committee of Games, accelerating (加速) my competitive fever. However, in girls’ sports games at my school, I was no star. I also played on the field hockey team and the basketball team. School sports did not bleed into the weekends, as they do today, but at home, playing tennis, skating, skiing and biking were simply normal things we did. During break time, magazines were also quite popular for us teens. These regularly featured articles on physical exercise. Somehow, my college roommate and I took up the habit of completing Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) exercises every day, a practice that continued into my marriage, when we had no spare funds to use to join a gym.

So, though it shocks some of our friends, that early foundation evolved in adulthood into a sports and fitness focus, considered essential even on vacation. I still love reading and the arts, too. As far as I’m concerned, life is the richest with my feet in both worlds.

3 . Three Ways to Create an Exercise Habit

A lot of people want to know how to get motivated to work out and build an exercise habit that sticks. Of course, wanting to make exercise a habit and actually doing it are two different things.     1    . Living a new type of lifestyle is hard. But there are some strategies that can make it easier to stick with an exercise habit.

Develop a routine to make starting easier.

Habits are behaviors that you repeat over and over again. That means they are also behaviors that you start over and over again.     2    , then it will be much easier to follow through. You can start building your own routine by adding your exercise habit on top of a current habit or by setting a schedule for yourself.

    3    .

The best way to make exercise a habit is to start with an exercise that is so easy that you can do it even when you can’t get motivated to work out. Struggling to find motivation to go for a run?     4    . That’s all you have to do to consider today’s workout a success. Often, this little start will be enough to get your motivation flowing and help you finish the task.

Focus on the habit first and the results later.

    5     Most people start with some type of goal. “I want to lose 20 pounds in the next 4 months.” Or, “I want to squat (蹲举) 50 pounds more six months from now.” This is the wrong approach. What matters most in the beginning is establishing a new normal that you will stick to, not the results that you get.

5 . At 81 years old, Jeanne Daprano is still pushing her body to the limit. She’s still running competitive races, breaking world records and taking on new challenges.“The thing I’m learning about aging is that it’s inevitable,” Daprano said.“I’m not going to escape it. There are two ways to go:You can either press on or give up.”

Daprano grew up in Iowa. Then, she moved to California. As a primary school teacher, she began running in order to keep up with her student.“I was known as a running teacher,” she said.“I had my students do fitness before we studied in the morning and then throughout the day.”Then she began running competitively with 5K and 10K road races before moving to the track. She is now the world record holder in the women’s 75-year-old age group 400 meters and 800 meters. “When I get to the final fi nish line, I want this body to be worn out. I’m not doing this to live to be 100. I’m doing this to be the best I can be today.”

After moving to Atlanta about a decade ago, Daprano met fitness trainer David Buer. Ever since, she’s been coming to his gym, where he tailors workouts for Daprano’s specifc needs.“When she came to me, she was pushing 70 years old,”Buer said.“I’ve worked with other individuals of Jeanne’s age, but she came to me with different goals. She had a unique drive and passion—not just a passion for fitness or athletics but for life in general.”

Last February, Daprano took on a new challenge: her first indoor rowing competition. In classic fashion, she broke the world record in the 80-to-84 age group, rowing 2,000 meters in 9:23:7. For those hoping to either start getting in shape or stay in shape for a long time, she offers this advice: Listen to your body. What are you passionate about? How are you going to keep physically fit and mentally fit? Start where you are. Don’t look ahead or compare yourself to somebody else.

6 . When it comes to exercise, less is not more—but it’s certainly better than none. Physical inactivity accounts for as many as 23% of all deaths from major chronic (diseases).     1     Some people say that they have no free time for physical activity at all.

    2     While light activity is good, moderate activity is even better, and health experts encourage everyone to have at least 30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity.     3     As recent studies have confirmed, “lifestyle” activities, such as walking, house cleaning and gardening, are as effective as a structured exercise program in improving heart function, lowering blood pressure and keeping or losing weight.

In one study, overweight middle-aged men and women who learned behavioral skills to make them more physically active, such as walking around airports or train stations while waiting for a departure, reduced their body fat percentage and improved their heart function as much as individuals participating in structured programs at a fitness center. In another study, fat women ranging in age from 21 to 60 who adopted a more active lifestyle lost as much weight as women in a low-impact aerobics(有氧运动)program.     4    

There are different levels and types of activities, like aerobics and muscle exercise.       5     Besides, short periods of exercise during the day are nearly as beneficial as one long session.

8 . Sports can help contribute to a healthy body and get you close to 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 impact on the environment.

    1     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.     2     For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held, responsible for serious water shortage in some local areas.

There are many environment-friendly sports.     3     You don’t need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don’t have to worry about resources and your purse. Simple and free, it can also keep you fit.     4     Experts say that 20 minutes 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.     5     And best of all, it’s free.

10 . The health benefits of staying active are already well-known. It can help you manage weight, keep blood sugar levels down and reduce risk factors for heart disease.

Now, a new study suggests that regularly playing sports, especially badminton or tennis, is not only healthy but also reduces your risk of death, at any age, by approximately 50%. This is a big scale population study to explore the health benefits of sports in terms of death rate. The study evaluated responses from 80, 306 adults aged 30 and above in England and Scotland, who were surveyed about their health, lifestyle and exercise patterns.

After adjusting factors such as age, sex, weight, smoking habits, alcohol use, education and other forms of exercise besides the named sports, the researchers compared the risk of death among people who took part in a sport to those who didn’t. The percentage of reduced risk of death was found to be: 47% for racket(球拍)sports, 28% for swimming and 15% for cycling.

In addition to this, the study didn’t find any significant reduction in the risk for sports like running and football. The findings also exposed that over 44% of the participants met the guidelines for the recommended exercise levels to stay fit and healthy, which amounts to 150 minutes of moderate(适度的) physical activity in a week.

Does this mean you stop running or playing football and switch to tennis instead? Every kind of sport and physical activity has different physical, social and mental benefits attached to it. The apparent lack of benefits of running and football could result from several variables (变量) that were not taken into account.

Being active helps you feel happier and live longer. So, the most important step is to take part in any kind of sport that you are likely to enjoy and follow in the long term.