BBC Take Away English (How to exercise at home 如何在家锻炼身体?)

在新冠肺炎疫情封锁期间，很多人都只能呆在家中，这样一来，运动量不足，导致体重上升。不过，有些人找到了一些能帮助我们在家拉伸肌肉和锻炼的好办法。本文讨论如何在家锻炼身体。

exercise at home

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In a time when many people around the globe are in lockdown and unable to attend the gym, emphasis has been placed on home exercising. Fears of a sedentary life and piling on the pounds are forcing many to find novel ways to move the body and stretch their muscles. You don’t need to pump iron or have expensive equipment like rowing and cycling machines to help you stay fit.

Exercising is not just important for your body, but also your mind. A study by Dr. Andrea Dunn at the Cooper Research Institute in Dallas, Texas found patients who did daily 35-minute walks per week experienced a 47% reduction in their depression levels.

Cardiovascular exercise, often simply called cardio, is designed to keep your heart rate up, which in turn will strengthen your heart and improve your general fitness. Many of us are turning to activities like skipping with an old rope, or watching one of the many ‘fitness experts’ who produce exercise videos online.

Walking is another great aerobic activity to help you increase your blood circulation. There are many affordable pedometers which can be worn like a watch and used to track your steps, heart rate, sleeping patterns and even your blood oxygenation levels. You don’t even have to step outside, with many simply power walking or jogging round there gardens or up and down their hallways.

Practising yoga or Tai Chi can help to keep our bodies supple, which in turn can lower joint pain and help to protect us from injury. Finally, strength and resistance training can be done at home by simply lifting bags of rice or boxes instead of heavy weights in the gym.

There are many ways to help us stay mobile, and indeed these online exercise routines can be carried over in our lives long after lockdown is lifted. For those of us who moan about our busy lives stopping us from hitting the gym, ten minutes a day with a rope or a bag of rice may not only help our fitness, but our mental health too.

vocabulary

sedentary life 缺少运动的生活，久坐不动的生活
piling on the pounds 体重增加
stretch 伸展，舒展
pump iron 举重
cardiovascular 心血管的
cardio 有氧运动，可提高心跳频率的运动
heart rate 心率
general fitness 整体身体素质
skipping 跳绳
aerobic 增氧的
blood circulation 血液循环
pedometer 计步器
sleeping pattern 睡眠习惯
blood oxygenation 血氧
power walking 快步走
jogging 慢跑
supple 灵活的
joint pain 关节疼痛
resistance training 抗阻训练
hit the gym 去健身房

make sentences

可以用来描述疫情期间居家封闭的词句：

• In a time when many people around the globe are in lockdown.
• After lockdown is lifted,...

1. I need to hit the gym more often.

2. Wow, you look great! Have you been pumping iron?

3. I’m on a diet. I really piled on the pounds when I was at home.

4. I need to get moving. I want to avoid being sedentary.

5. Aerobic exercise can help my blood to circulate.

@BBC Learning English