【翻譯練習】運動，具有更重要的目的
Changing Our Tune on Exercise
日期：August 27, 2012
作者：JANE E. BRODY
來源：http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/changing-our-tune-on-exercise
What would it take to persuade you to exercise?
你為了什麼而運動？
A desire to lose weight or improve your figure? To keep heart disease, cancer or diabetes at bay? To lower your blood pressure or cholesterol? To protect your bones? To live to a healthy old age?
減重塑身？遠離心血管疾病、癌症、糖尿病？降低血壓或膽固醇？強健骨骼？確保老年健康？
You'd think any of those reasons would be sufficient to get Americans exercising, but scores of studies have shown otherwise. It seems that public health experts, doctors and exercise devotees in the media -- like me -- have been using ineffective tactics to entice sedentary people to become, and remain, physically active.
你可能會以為上述任何一項原因都足以讓美國人加入運動行列，然而許多研究顯示，實情並非如此。公共衛生專家、醫師、媒體中的運動愛好者（包括我）總想鼓吹懶怠的人們加入運動並成為運動永久會員，可是一直以來所採用的策略，似乎是無效的。
For decades, people have been bombarded with messages that regular exercise is necessary to lose weight, prevent serious disease and foster healthy aging. And yes, most people say they value these goals. Yet a vast majority of Americans -- two-thirds of whom are overweight or obese -- have thus far failed to swallow the "exercise pill."
幾十年來，眾人皆知規律運動對於減重、預防重病、強化老年健康等方面都是不可或缺的因素，很多人也確實重視運動有如此好處，但是絕大多數美國人（其中有三分之二過重或肥胖）還是吞不下｢運動｣這劑靈藥。
Now research by psychologists strongly suggests it's time to stop thinking of future health, weight loss and body image as motivators for exercise. Instead, these experts recommend a strategy marketers use to sell products: portray physical activity as a way to enhance current well-being and happiness.
現在心理學家的研究，強烈建議別再使用健康、減重、塑身作為鼓勵運動的誘因。專家們另推薦一種商場行銷手段：運動，令你身心安康，幸福美滿。
"We need to make exercise relevant to people's daily lives," Michelle L. Segar, a research investigator at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan, said in an interview. "Everyone's schedule is packed with nonstop to-do's. We can only fit in what's essential."
密西根大學女性/性別研究學院研究主持人Michelle L. Segar於訪談中表示：｢運動應融入日常生活。每個人的行程表總是滿滿的待辦事項，那麼我們就把運動也變成重要的待辦事項。｣
Reframing the Message
口號重新包裝
Dr. Segar is among the experts who believe that people will not commit to exercise if they see its benefits as distant or theoretical.
Segar博士也和其他專家意見一致：如果人們只知悉運動在長遠以後或理論上的片面好處，便不會認真去做運動了。
"It has to be portrayed as a compelling behavior that can benefit us today," she said. "People who say they exercise for its benefits to quality of life exercise more over the course of a year than those who say they value exercise for its health benefits."
她說：｢運動這件事需要有一股強制性，不過這種強制性是有益的。一年當中，為了生活品質而運動的人，比單純為了健康因素的人更常去運動。｣
Her idea for a public service advertisement to promote exercise for working women with families: A woman is shown walking around the block after dinner with her children and says, "This is great. I can fit in fitness, spend quality time with my kids, and at the same time teach them how important exercise is."
對於提倡職業婦女多運動的公益廣告，她有此構想：一名婦女在晚餐後同她的小孩繞著街區散步，說著｢運動真好，我可以維持身材，陪伴小孩，又能讓小孩知道運動的重要｣。
Based on studies of what motivates people to adopt and sustain physical activity, Dr. Segar is urging that experts stop framing moderate exercise as a medical prescription that requires 150 minutes of aerobic effort each week. Instead, public health officials must begin to address "the emotional hooks that make it essential for people to fit it into their hectic lives."
根據有關何種因素可促使人們維持體能活動的研究，Segar博士極力阻止專家把適量運動作為一種醫藥處方，死板地指示每週至少150分鐘有氧運動。較佳的推廣運動方式，應是公衛官員須在情緒方面強調運動的好處；無論生活如何緊湊忙碌，人們仍會認知運動的重要性，把運動當作生活必需的一部份。
"Immediate rewards are more motivating than distant ones," she added. "Feeling happy and less stressed is more motivating than not getting heart disease or cancer, maybe, someday in the future."
她補充說明：｢回饋就是要立即見效，如果長遠後才獲得效益，便不怎麼吸引人了。運動能帶來愉悅心情，有助壓力紓解，這聽起來比運動能預防心血管疾病、癌症還來得有激勵效果，何況也不確定運動是否真能完全防阻心血管疾病或癌症的發生。｣
In a study of 252 office workers, David K. Ingledew and David Markland, psychologists at the University of Wales, found that while many began to exercise as way to lose weight and improve their appearance, these motivations did not keep them exercising in the long term. "The well-being and enjoyment benefits of exercise should be emphasized," the researchers concluded.
英國威爾斯大學二位心理學家在一份針對252名上班族的研究中發現，雖然許多人出於減重及雕塑身型的目的而開始運動，如此目的卻無助於令他們長久維持運動習慣。研究結論：｢必須強調，在身心健康及生活情趣方面，運動能帶來莫大好處。｣
Dr. Segar put it this way: "Physical activity is an elixir of life, but we're not teaching people that. We're telling them it's a pill to take or a punishment for bad numbers on the scale. Sustaining physical activity is a motivational and emotional issue, not a medical one."
Segar博士如此解釋：｢運動可說是長壽仙丹，但是我們卻灌輸人們：你要不就乖乖運動，要不就等著看到體重計上殘酷的數字。維持運動必須從情緒動機方面著手，而不是講醫學道理。｣
Other studies have shown that what gets people off their duffs and keeps them moving depends on age, gender, life circumstances and even ethnicity. For those of college age, for example, physical attractiveness typically heads the list of reasons to begin exercising, although what keeps them going seems to be the stress relief that a regular exercise program provides.
其他研究指出，年齡、性別、生活型態、甚至種族，都是有關人們決定是否遠離美食並投入運動的因素。舉例而言，大學生主要為了體型健美而開始運動，不過支持他們運動下去的動力，倒是來自於規律運動的紓壓效果。
The elderly, on the other hand, may get started because of health concerns. But often what keeps them exercising are the friendships, sense of community and camaraderie that may otherwise be missing from their lives -- easily seen among the gray-haired women who faithfully attend water exercise classes at my local YMCA.
另一方面，老年人多由於健康因素而加入運動行列，而令他們持續運動的原因，通常是友誼、群體感、同伴扶持，這些因子可能是老年人的生活中所缺少的。我觀察到老婆婆們風雨無阻地參加社區YMCA水中運動課程，即為明顯例證。
In a recent study of 1,690 overweight or obese middle-aged men and women, Dr. Segar found that enhancing daily well-being was most influential factor for the women in the study. Men indicated they were motivated by more distant health benefits, although Dr. Segar suspects this may be because men feel less comfortable discussing their mental health needs.
最近一項針對1690位過重或肥胖的中年男女的訪查當中，Segar博士發現，研究樣本中的女性，運動的誘因最主要是可增進身心安樂，至於男性觀點則偏向長遠的健康考量，不過Segar博士猜測也有可能是男士們因感到彆扭而不願多談內心層次的需求。
"What sustains us, we sustain," Dr. Segar said. "We need to promote what marketers call 'customer loyalty.' We need to help people stay engaged with movement by teaching them how it can help sustain them in their lives."
Segar博士說：｢『客戶忠誠』的概念，不僅應用於商品行銷，也需要推廣到運動上。須讓大眾廣知運動是如何支持我們的生活。支持著我們的，我們也支持他。｣
Value Beyond Weight Loss
不只是減重
Many, if not most, people start exercising because they want to lose weight. But very often they abandon exercise when the expected pounds fail to fall off. Study after study has found that, without major changes in eating habits, increasing physical activity is only somewhat effective for losing weight, though it helps people maintain weight loss and shedding even a few pounds, especially around one's middle, can improve health.
很多人，或許可說是大多數人，因為想要減重而運動。然而一旦沒有達成預期的減重數字，他們也不繼續運動了。多項研究早已提示，若無搭配飲食習慣的改變，增加運動充其量也就只有那麼一點點的減重效益。不過運動確實有助於體重下降，而且就算體重只減掉一點點，仍然有益健康的，尤其對於中年人而言。
For example, researchers in Brisbane, Australia, and in Leeds, England, studied 58 sedentary overweight or obese men and women who participated in a closely monitored 12-week aerobic exercise program. Weight loss was minimal, but nonetheless the participants' waistlines shrunk, their blood pressure and resting heart rate dropped, and their aerobic capacity and mood improved.
例如，澳洲布里斯本及英國里茲的研究人員，密切監測58名參加12週有氧運動計畫的男女，他們都是久坐少動的過重/肥胖者。體重雖未明顯下降，但腰圍卻變小，血壓與靜止心跳率降低，有氧能力進步，心情更是變好。
"Exercise should be encouraged and the emphasis on weight loss reduced," the researchers concluded. "Disappointment and low self-esteem associated with poor weight loss could lead to low exercise adherence and a general perception that exercise is futile and not beneficial."
研究者結論：｢應該多鼓勵運動，但別強調運動的減重效果。減重成效不佳，帶來失望，自尊受損，使得人們更不信服運動的好處，卻認為運動是徒勞無用的。｣
I walk three miles daily, or bike ten miles and swim three-quarters of a mile. If you ask me why, weight control may be my first answer, followed by a desire to live long and well. But that's not what gets me out of bed before dawn to join friends on a morning walk and then bike to the Y for my swim.
我一天走路3哩或騎單車10哩，再加上游泳3/4哩。如果要說為什麼運動，控制體重會是第一個原因，再來是因為想要長壽健康。但這些因素還不足以驅使我天未亮就起床和朋友一同晨間散步，再騎車到YMCA游泳。
It's how these activities make me feel: more energized, less stressed, more productive, more engaged and, yes, happier -- better able to smell the roses and cope with the inevitable frustrations of daily life.
真正的原因，是運動帶來的心理感受：活力充沛，壓力紓減，創造力豐富，投入當下。而我也真正變得更加快樂了，快樂得讓我沐浴在玫瑰花的芬芳，並且更有力量去面對未知的挫折。
日期：August 27, 2012
作者：JANE E. BRODY
來源：http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/changing-our-tune-on-exercise
What would it take to persuade you to exercise?
你為了什麼而運動？
A desire to lose weight or improve your figure? To keep heart disease, cancer or diabetes at bay? To lower your blood pressure or cholesterol? To protect your bones? To live to a healthy old age?
減重塑身？遠離心血管疾病、癌症、糖尿病？降低血壓或膽固醇？強健骨骼？確保老年健康？
You'd think any of those reasons would be sufficient to get Americans exercising, but scores of studies have shown otherwise. It seems that public health experts, doctors and exercise devotees in the media -- like me -- have been using ineffective tactics to entice sedentary people to become, and remain, physically active.
你可能會以為上述任何一項原因都足以讓美國人加入運動行列，然而許多研究顯示，實情並非如此。公共衛生專家、醫師、媒體中的運動愛好者（包括我）總想鼓吹懶怠的人們加入運動並成為運動永久會員，可是一直以來所採用的策略，似乎是無效的。
For decades, people have been bombarded with messages that regular exercise is necessary to lose weight, prevent serious disease and foster healthy aging. And yes, most people say they value these goals. Yet a vast majority of Americans -- two-thirds of whom are overweight or obese -- have thus far failed to swallow the "exercise pill."
幾十年來，眾人皆知規律運動對於減重、預防重病、強化老年健康等方面都是不可或缺的因素，很多人也確實重視運動有如此好處，但是絕大多數美國人（其中有三分之二過重或肥胖）還是吞不下｢運動｣這劑靈藥。
Now research by psychologists strongly suggests it's time to stop thinking of future health, weight loss and body image as motivators for exercise. Instead, these experts recommend a strategy marketers use to sell products: portray physical activity as a way to enhance current well-being and happiness.
現在心理學家的研究，強烈建議別再使用健康、減重、塑身作為鼓勵運動的誘因。專家們另推薦一種商場行銷手段：運動，令你身心安康，幸福美滿。
"We need to make exercise relevant to people's daily lives," Michelle L. Segar, a research investigator at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan, said in an interview. "Everyone's schedule is packed with nonstop to-do's. We can only fit in what's essential."
密西根大學女性/性別研究學院研究主持人Michelle L. Segar於訪談中表示：｢運動應融入日常生活。每個人的行程表總是滿滿的待辦事項，那麼我們就把運動也變成重要的待辦事項。｣
Reframing the Message
口號重新包裝
Dr. Segar is among the experts who believe that people will not commit to exercise if they see its benefits as distant or theoretical.
Segar博士也和其他專家意見一致：如果人們只知悉運動在長遠以後或理論上的片面好處，便不會認真去做運動了。
"It has to be portrayed as a compelling behavior that can benefit us today," she said. "People who say they exercise for its benefits to quality of life exercise more over the course of a year than those who say they value exercise for its health benefits."
她說：｢運動這件事需要有一股強制性，不過這種強制性是有益的。一年當中，為了生活品質而運動的人，比單純為了健康因素的人更常去運動。｣
Her idea for a public service advertisement to promote exercise for working women with families: A woman is shown walking around the block after dinner with her children and says, "This is great. I can fit in fitness, spend quality time with my kids, and at the same time teach them how important exercise is."
對於提倡職業婦女多運動的公益廣告，她有此構想：一名婦女在晚餐後同她的小孩繞著街區散步，說著｢運動真好，我可以維持身材，陪伴小孩，又能讓小孩知道運動的重要｣。
Based on studies of what motivates people to adopt and sustain physical activity, Dr. Segar is urging that experts stop framing moderate exercise as a medical prescription that requires 150 minutes of aerobic effort each week. Instead, public health officials must begin to address "the emotional hooks that make it essential for people to fit it into their hectic lives."
根據有關何種因素可促使人們維持體能活動的研究，Segar博士極力阻止專家把適量運動作為一種醫藥處方，死板地指示每週至少150分鐘有氧運動。較佳的推廣運動方式，應是公衛官員須在情緒方面強調運動的好處；無論生活如何緊湊忙碌，人們仍會認知運動的重要性，把運動當作生活必需的一部份。
"Immediate rewards are more motivating than distant ones," she added. "Feeling happy and less stressed is more motivating than not getting heart disease or cancer, maybe, someday in the future."
她補充說明：｢回饋就是要立即見效，如果長遠後才獲得效益，便不怎麼吸引人了。運動能帶來愉悅心情，有助壓力紓解，這聽起來比運動能預防心血管疾病、癌症還來得有激勵效果，何況也不確定運動是否真能完全防阻心血管疾病或癌症的發生。｣
In a study of 252 office workers, David K. Ingledew and David Markland, psychologists at the University of Wales, found that while many began to exercise as way to lose weight and improve their appearance, these motivations did not keep them exercising in the long term. "The well-being and enjoyment benefits of exercise should be emphasized," the researchers concluded.
英國威爾斯大學二位心理學家在一份針對252名上班族的研究中發現，雖然許多人出於減重及雕塑身型的目的而開始運動，如此目的卻無助於令他們長久維持運動習慣。研究結論：｢必須強調，在身心健康及生活情趣方面，運動能帶來莫大好處。｣
Dr. Segar put it this way: "Physical activity is an elixir of life, but we're not teaching people that. We're telling them it's a pill to take or a punishment for bad numbers on the scale. Sustaining physical activity is a motivational and emotional issue, not a medical one."
Segar博士如此解釋：｢運動可說是長壽仙丹，但是我們卻灌輸人們：你要不就乖乖運動，要不就等著看到體重計上殘酷的數字。維持運動必須從情緒動機方面著手，而不是講醫學道理。｣
Other studies have shown that what gets people off their duffs and keeps them moving depends on age, gender, life circumstances and even ethnicity. For those of college age, for example, physical attractiveness typically heads the list of reasons to begin exercising, although what keeps them going seems to be the stress relief that a regular exercise program provides.
其他研究指出，年齡、性別、生活型態、甚至種族，都是有關人們決定是否遠離美食並投入運動的因素。舉例而言，大學生主要為了體型健美而開始運動，不過支持他們運動下去的動力，倒是來自於規律運動的紓壓效果。
The elderly, on the other hand, may get started because of health concerns. But often what keeps them exercising are the friendships, sense of community and camaraderie that may otherwise be missing from their lives -- easily seen among the gray-haired women who faithfully attend water exercise classes at my local YMCA.
另一方面，老年人多由於健康因素而加入運動行列，而令他們持續運動的原因，通常是友誼、群體感、同伴扶持，這些因子可能是老年人的生活中所缺少的。我觀察到老婆婆們風雨無阻地參加社區YMCA水中運動課程，即為明顯例證。
In a recent study of 1,690 overweight or obese middle-aged men and women, Dr. Segar found that enhancing daily well-being was most influential factor for the women in the study. Men indicated they were motivated by more distant health benefits, although Dr. Segar suspects this may be because men feel less comfortable discussing their mental health needs.
最近一項針對1690位過重或肥胖的中年男女的訪查當中，Segar博士發現，研究樣本中的女性，運動的誘因最主要是可增進身心安樂，至於男性觀點則偏向長遠的健康考量，不過Segar博士猜測也有可能是男士們因感到彆扭而不願多談內心層次的需求。
"What sustains us, we sustain," Dr. Segar said. "We need to promote what marketers call 'customer loyalty.' We need to help people stay engaged with movement by teaching them how it can help sustain them in their lives."
Segar博士說：｢『客戶忠誠』的概念，不僅應用於商品行銷，也需要推廣到運動上。須讓大眾廣知運動是如何支持我們的生活。支持著我們的，我們也支持他。｣
Value Beyond Weight Loss
不只是減重
Many, if not most, people start exercising because they want to lose weight. But very often they abandon exercise when the expected pounds fail to fall off. Study after study has found that, without major changes in eating habits, increasing physical activity is only somewhat effective for losing weight, though it helps people maintain weight loss and shedding even a few pounds, especially around one's middle, can improve health.
很多人，或許可說是大多數人，因為想要減重而運動。然而一旦沒有達成預期的減重數字，他們也不繼續運動了。多項研究早已提示，若無搭配飲食習慣的改變，增加運動充其量也就只有那麼一點點的減重效益。不過運動確實有助於體重下降，而且就算體重只減掉一點點，仍然有益健康的，尤其對於中年人而言。
For example, researchers in Brisbane, Australia, and in Leeds, England, studied 58 sedentary overweight or obese men and women who participated in a closely monitored 12-week aerobic exercise program. Weight loss was minimal, but nonetheless the participants' waistlines shrunk, their blood pressure and resting heart rate dropped, and their aerobic capacity and mood improved.
例如，澳洲布里斯本及英國里茲的研究人員，密切監測58名參加12週有氧運動計畫的男女，他們都是久坐少動的過重/肥胖者。體重雖未明顯下降，但腰圍卻變小，血壓與靜止心跳率降低，有氧能力進步，心情更是變好。
"Exercise should be encouraged and the emphasis on weight loss reduced," the researchers concluded. "Disappointment and low self-esteem associated with poor weight loss could lead to low exercise adherence and a general perception that exercise is futile and not beneficial."
研究者結論：｢應該多鼓勵運動，但別強調運動的減重效果。減重成效不佳，帶來失望，自尊受損，使得人們更不信服運動的好處，卻認為運動是徒勞無用的。｣
I walk three miles daily, or bike ten miles and swim three-quarters of a mile. If you ask me why, weight control may be my first answer, followed by a desire to live long and well. But that's not what gets me out of bed before dawn to join friends on a morning walk and then bike to the Y for my swim.
我一天走路3哩或騎單車10哩，再加上游泳3/4哩。如果要說為什麼運動，控制體重會是第一個原因，再來是因為想要長壽健康。但這些因素還不足以驅使我天未亮就起床和朋友一同晨間散步，再騎車到YMCA游泳。
It's how these activities make me feel: more energized, less stressed, more productive, more engaged and, yes, happier -- better able to smell the roses and cope with the inevitable frustrations of daily life.
真正的原因，是運動帶來的心理感受：活力充沛，壓力紓減，創造力豐富，投入當下。而我也真正變得更加快樂了，快樂得讓我沐浴在玫瑰花的芬芳，並且更有力量去面對未知的挫折。