1 . How to Be a Good Athlete

Being a good athlete is about much more than just being great at a sport. The following will do you a favor.

Work with a coach.     1    . Besides, they can stay focused on achieving them, and find ways to help your improve if you fall short. There are a variety of coaches that can work with conditioning, technique, and skill level.

Create an individual program. In order to improve your athleticism, you should focus on improving your particular weaknesses.     2    , but you’ll also want to make sure you set aside time to improve your skills. Mixing up your routine is also a good way to improve your overall performance and decrease the risk of injury.

Show up on time.     3    , whether by yourself or with a team, your coach or trainer has a time set aside to work with you. Maximize your time by making sure you are there when it is time to begin. That usually means that if your practice starts at a certain time, say 9:00 am, you should be dressed and ready to go then, not just arriving.

    4    . It can be easy to let your mind wander when you are doing drills and exercises. It is important, though, that you stay focused on what you are doing.

Cool down after exercising. Once you have finished a workout or practice session, take some time to give your body a physical cool-down period. Some low-intensity (低强度) movements and stretches are good to help restore your muscles.     5    .

3 . For decades, different variations of home workouts are regarded as the solution to busy lifestyles. In 1982, there was actress Jane Fonda’s popular VHS aerobic (有氧的) routines, the fitness expert Billy Blanks’ Tae Bo workouts in the 1990s, backbreaking P90X training that took off and more casual Nintendo Wii Fit routines of the same age.

More recently, design and advancements in technology have offered expanded and personalized training options, while reducing the large footprint of most home gyms. In 2018, former ballet dancer Brynn Putnam released Mirror, a fitness system that allows users to follow along with virtual personal trainers in classes including yoga (瑜伽).

That same year, entrepreneur Aly Orady launched Tonal, an AI-powered wall-mounted screen that focuses more on strength training. It features an exercise bench and resistance system that uses electromagnetism (电磁) to imitate weight machines. This month, entrepreneur Trent Ward and designer Yves Behar are uncovering their design for a mirror fitness system, Forme. Forme is reflective like Putnam’s design, uses machine learning to improve workouts like Tonal, and offers attachments including ankle belts, rope handles and a heart rate monitor. When not in use, the two arms that form the resistance system fold behind it and the display screen disappears, turning Forme into a simple full-length mirror.

Interest in home exercise has particularly spiked in recent weeks around the world as physical gyms have temporarily closed. Home workout apps have seen a significant increase in downloads, and trendy brands like Peloton have rolled out free virtual workouts for everyone stuck indoors. One French athlete who was kept away from others chose to run an entire marathon on his 23-foot balcony.

But beyond the new restrictions affecting daily workout routines, Ward and Behar are tapping into the same concerns that have made every home workout appealing: the ability to save time and sweat in the privacy of one’s home. In an age of personal metrics (衡量标准)—where one can measure their heart rate and sleep cycles with smart watches and train for marathons with AI smart sneakers — Ward and Behar want to improve exercise through machine learning. Forme evaluates performance and adjusts weights accordingly.

7 . When you love working out, taking a break from exercise can seem a waste of time — there are training plans to follow and goals to be met. So, what’s the problem? According to new research, excessive training can be damaging to mental well-being.

‌“The benefits of regular physical activity are well-established, but it’s possible to have too much of a good thing, says Janet, an expert at physical training. But how do you know if you’re doing too much? ”Over-exercising can mean training for too long or too intensely without enough rest for your personal limits,‌” she says. “Some of us may feel unable to stop.‌” Indeed, one research shows almost 40 percent of us feel guilty if we miss a workout and less than 59 percent regularly take a rest day. So should you be taking more time out?

By exercising beyond your limits, not only could you injure your body and reduce muscle mass, you could also end up feeling anxious, too. Over-exercising can impact your mood, relationships and ability to function in other areas of your life, warns Janet. “Exercise releases the stress hormone cortisol. For most people, this can help you better manage stress levels. Over-exercising, however, can lead to increased levels of cortisol in the blood stream which can lead to poor sleep, depression and problems with memory and concentration.‌”

Still not convinced? If you find it hard to put down your trainers, you’re not alone. Up to 10 percent of endurance athletes are affected by overtraining syndrome, with common effects including muscle soreness, persistent fatigue and even mental breakdown, says Professor James. “In addition, over-exercise can stimulate hyper inflammation, which has a severe effect on brain health.‌” There is a simple solution, however. “It has been shown that exhaustion may be delayed almost indefinitely by frequent and regular short breaks,‌” assures James.

8 . Games like Pump It Up are enjoyable because it takes things that make games addictive—points, levels and challenges, for example—and puts them and physical movement together.     1    You can apply these techniques to your everyday fitness routines to make exercise feel as fun as a video game.

Have an objective.

When you’re playing a game, there’s always an objective.     2    Exercise should be no different. Create a clear fitness goal. Aim to walk 10,000 steps a day, for example, or try to run a total of 6 miles every week.

Compete against others.

Research suggests that adding an element of competition to your exercise routine can actually help you work out harder.     3     Competing against others will help you walk more steps. You can also look into fitness programs that encourage friendly competition.

    4         

Researchers found that collaboration—getting a group to work together toward a common goal—was also an effective way to increase physical activity. So grab a close friend or family member and bring them to the gym with you—there’s a reason why the “gym buddy” exists.

Add an element of novelty.

Some people love video games because there’s a lot of unpredictability and surprise. You can recreate this sense of wonder in your own exercises.     5     Ride your bike from one friend’s house to another. Beat your personal record to the peak of a trail run.

9 . Here we’ve got three tips to help you start an exercise habit that can stick. It’s a lot easier than you think.

    1    

You don’t have to be a marathoner to get meaningful health benefits from exercise. Experts say even daily activities, which include mopping the floor, organizing a room or carrying groceries up the stairs can reduce the risk of diseases like diabetes, heart disease and even some cancers.

So remind yourself that it’s not a choice between hours-long workout or nothing at all. Instead, think of starting an exercise routine like standing up from your chair and sitting back down repeatedly.     2    

Focus on how exercise makes you feel great

There are so many positives that happen when you move. It improves all the tasks that demand focus and creativity. It helps you generate energy. It boosts mood.     3    . When you feel better, you will bring more enthusiasm and energy to your work and the people working around you.

Forget long- term benefits like weight loss or better overall health.     4    . Actually, they’re not super motivational in real-time and can be disheartening when you don’t see results quickly.

Figure out what kind of exercise and workout location makes you feel good

If weightlifting in a crowded gym gives you anxiety, try to get a set of weights for home or follow workout videos on YouTube or ride a bike in the park.     5    .

10 . Over the past decades, experts have done a considerable amount of research to explore different ways to encourage children’s learning. Especially, there has been a common focus on how physical activity, separated from the learning activities, can improve children’s learning. However, there has been less of a focus aimed the potential of integrating physical activity into the learning activities.

The main purpose of the Basket Mathematics study conducted at five Danish primary and elementary schools by researchers from the University of Copenhagen therefore was to develop a learning activity that integrates basketball and mathematics and examine how it might affect children’s motivation for mathematics.

756 children from 40 different classes at Copenhagen area schools participated in the project, where about half of them－once a week for six weeks－had Basketball Mathematics during gym class, while the other half played basketball without mathematics.

“During classes with Basketball Mathematics, the children had to collect numbers and perform calculations associated with various basketball exercises. An example could be counting how many times they could sink a basket from three meters away vs at a one-meter distance, and adding up the numbers. Both the math and basketball elements could be adjusted to suit the children’s levels, as well as being adjusted for whether it was addition, multiplication or some other operations that needed to be practiced,” explains Linn Damsgaard, a leading researcher.

The results showed that children’s motivation for math integrated with basketball was 16% higher compared to classroom math learning. Children also experienced a 14% increase in self-determination compared with classroom teaching. Meanwhile Basketball Mathematics improved their math confidence.

“We are planning to do research to examine whether the Basketball Mathematics model can strengthen performance in mathematics. Once we have the final results, we hope that they will inspire school teachers and principals to prioritize more physical activity and movement in such subjects. Eventually, we hope to succeed in putting these tools into school system and teacher education,” says Associate Professor Jacob Wienecke.