During the COVID-19 pandemic (流行病), some people found their exercise was greatly reduced. However, it was an attraction for others to increase their physical activity. With the change of working from home, some physical activity was reduced. People took this newly freed up time as a chance to add exercise to their day, with online fitness programs and health apps (应用软件)reporting an increase.
However, the early drive to exercise appears to have been short-lived for many, with a study comparing activity levels between the first and second waves of COVID-19 in Victoria finding most people reported a reduction in their physical activity levels the second time around because of a shortage of encouragement. A study found that COVID-19 has reduced physical activity and increased sedentary (久坐不动的)behavior，and the effects could be lasting.
Continuing concerns about COVID-19 have led to carefulness about returning to public spaces such as gyms. But also, with many people changing their exercise habits and setting up home gyms during the pandemic, it's become much more convenient to exercise at home. It's clear for many of us that COVID-19 changed how and how much we exercise. But the changes don't necessarily have to be for the worse.
People who changed to online workouts (锻炼), fitness apps and home gyms during the pandemic said their exercise was less satisfying, less enjoyable and they felt less active com-pared with doing exercise in gyms. Besides the physical effects, people reported missing the social communication, friendship, and being avoidable of the gym. In-person classes also offer the advantages of management and instruction, which can help make sure workouts are com-pleted safely and effectively.
However, online workouts, fitness apps and near-home workouts are likely here to stay, and offer many advantages, such as no need to travel to the gym and convenience, making it easy to fit in a workout while working and shouldering family responsibilities.
