Get Inspired to Work Out This Fall

As fall approaches, a lot of people make resolutions to exercise more and improve their physical condition. However, most of the time, these objectives are quickly forgotten and daily habits are resumed. 【小题1】 Here are some ideas for maintaining your motivation to work out frequently.

Joining a sports team is one of the best methods to maintain your commitment to fitness and your motivation. Sports teams are a terrific way to stay active and to improve your health. 【小题2】 Being a member of a sports team has many bonuses, one of which is having a uniform to wear and be proud of, especially if you win any prestigious matches or competitions.

【小题3】 When trying to reduce weight, it can take a while to see any changes, but there are other things you can keep an eye on before you look in the mirror. Simple things to remember are how long it takes you to complete a 5-kilometre run, and how much weight you’re carrying when working out. You will see improvement as you perform tasks more quickly and lift larger weights.

Another option is to work with a personal trainer. 【小题4】 They will be able to assist you through the proper form of exercise to ensure that you’re doing it safely. Since they are authorities in their industry, they can guide you to the destination of your choice and are well qualified to do so.

Taking care of your body is another technique to maintain your motivation for exercise. You may improve your general health by paying more attention to your eating habits, stress, and anxiety. You are more likely to desire to work out and exercise if you take care of yourself in all facets of your life. Simple adjustments can be made, such as your diet planning. 【小题5】

Playing tennis regularly could help keep people off death, but football, rugby and running may not help people to live longer, a study suggests.

A study followed more than 80,000 people for an average of nine years to find out if certain sports protected them against early death. It found that people who played racket sports regularly were the least likely to die over the study period, reducing their individual risk by 47 percent compared with people who did no exercise. Swimmers also reduced their chance of death by 28 percent, aerobics (有氧运动) fans by 27 percent and cyclists by 15 percent. Yet running appeared to have no impact at all on dying early, and neither did playing football or rugby.

Scientists say the difference may lie in the social aspect which goes alongside sports like tennis and squash (壁球), which often involve clubs and organized activities outside of the game. It means that people often have larger social net-works and tend to keep up activities into later life, both of which are proven to be good for health.

In contrast, people who play team sports often do not move onto a new sport once their teams break up for family, or injury reasons. They become watchers rather than participants in their chosen activity.

The researchers found that playing racket sports was associated with a 56 percent lower risk from heart death. Similarly, swimmers lowered their heart disease or stroke risk by 41 percent, and people who took part in activities like aerobics, dance or gymnastics lowered their risk by 36 percent. But again running, football and rugby had no significant impact on heart deaths.

However, other experts argue that this study must not be misinterpreted as showing that running and football do not protect against heart disease. In this study both runners and footballers had a lower rate of death from heart disease.

As I put down the exercise equipment, my brain tries to focus on what my trainer has said.

“Describe that to me,” asked Rob. He is looking for an answer that required me to connect my brain to my body.

Yes, I know. My brain is connected to my body—the thing that has been carrying my head around for the last 56 years. Since completing my undergraduate degree I have been increasingly immobilized by my working life. Sitting still at a desk, staring at a screen, it’s mostly through my fingers that I connect to my brain.

“I felt great,” I reply. “I could feel it in my back.” Rob is quick to encourage and set up more weight. Then cheerfully he’ll say “okay, next set.”

Every accomplishment in my life has been entered in my head—grades, degrees, promotions, published papers and teaching. But on reflection, I wasn’t paying much attention to my body.

Weightlifting is different. Rob is a trainer and manager at my local gym, my guide in helping me with a single goal—get strong. Despite my age, size and beginner status, Rob has made me feel safe. He is always close by, watching and posing questions. Like “where did you feel that?” or the more general request, “Describe that for me.”

Early on I took these as rote pleasantries. Over time I realized he wanted more than just routine answers. Having shown me how to do an exercise, Rob would encourage me to think about the muscle or chain of muscles as they moved. The questions were a test of that connection. Gradually, I started thinking my way back into my body. Not my body as a whole but as individual, connections to newly identified places. Intentionally. Specifically. Magically. It’s surprisingly difficult.

I am five months into a new way of living with this 56-year-old body. It talks to me in a totally different way now. It reminds me of my capabilities, my muscles calling me to move, demanding to be challenged. And I long to continue this dialogue so that I’m ready the next time Rob says: “Describe that tome.”