Before you throw the book at me, it’s just a joke, maybe. I know, I know, they tell you, “exercise is good for you!” And, caveat emptor, I am just a nerd. I don’t like sweat, and I certainly do not believe that exercise requires sweat, which is often taught in the same breath about exercise, based on somewhat skimpy data. Anyway, this story is pretty biased, and you can stop here if you are nervous, but there is a germ of truth somewhere in the story.

在你向我扔書之前，這可能只是個笑話。我知道，我知道，他們告訴你，“鍛鍊對你有益！”然而聽者自慎，我只是個書呆子。 我不喜歡出汗，我當然也不相信鍛鍊就要出汗， 儘管根據所謂的寥寥數據，人們是這樣認為鍛鍊的。不管怎樣，這個故事是很偏見的,如果你不舒服的話那麼就可以點到為止了，但在這個故事的某個地方藏著一個事實。

If I see a doctor or nurse in the medical center walking around with crutches, I will usually ask them, “exercise, right?” It’s nearly always caused by exercise, from skiing to running. Most adults in America actually handle exercise really rather poorly. While the advice to exercise is probably reasonably sound for a modern sedentary world, the trouble is precisely that, in such a sedentary population, there are also many unmentioned side effects. Unmentioned because the “exercise is good” mantra is practically dogma nowadays.

如果我在醫學中心看到一個醫生或者護士拄著拐杖散步的時候，我通常會問，“鍛鍊呢？”不管是滑雪還是跑步都是受鍛鍊想法影響的結果。大多數美國成年人應付鍛鍊非常特別差。對於整天坐著的現代人來說，鍛鍊的建議是合情合理的。 但問題却是，對這些整天坐著的人群，（“鍛鍊有益”）有很多未被提及的副作用。未被提及是因為“鍛鍊有益”似乎已成為一個信條，並已經成為日常生活中的规定。

I remember well a Pediatric Grand Rounds in our children’s hospital. The orthopedic surgeon merrily described all the great and interesting fractures, sprains, and ruptured tendons that occur in children and youth directly resulting from various kinds of sports. I can be forgiven for thinking that he seemed delighted to see all these injuries, because he had an opportunity to exercise his great skills! Surely I’m exaggerating, but maybe not so much. We all know that the best place to have an orthopedic clinic is at the bottom of a ski slope, for obvious reasons, and especially for great business reasons?

我記得很清楚在我們兒童醫院的一次兒科病理研討會上，骨科醫生神采飛揚的描述各種有趣的骨折，扭傷，肌腱撕裂，這些發生在兒童及青少年身上由各種運動所引起的損傷。请原谅我认为他好像看到這些受傷的孩子很高興，因為他有機會來練習他的醫學技能！ 當然我有些誇張，但也并没有太夸张. 我們都知道開一間骨科診所的最好地方就是在滑雪陡坡的下面，原因很明顯,也許是為了很好的商業原因？

I once trained for a surgery career, so I can understand it’s really fun to fix bones and torn ligaments. Plus, it pays well (no kidding). I ventured a question to the lecturing orthopedic surgeon: “how often are orthopedic surgeons involved in teaching preventive techniques to prevent people (especially children) from injuring themselves while exercising:” for example, teens often do not know how to land on their feet when they are playing highly competitive basketball, and therefore may sharply twist their knee joints, so that 20 years later they have to reconstruct them.

我曾經受過外科訓練，所以我明白矯正關節和肌腱確實很有趣。另外，收入也很好（沒有開玩笑吧）。我壯著膽子問講課的骨科醫生：“骨科醫生通常多久參與一次教人們（尤其是孩子）避免鍛鍊的時候受傷的技巧”：例如，青少年經常不知道當他們打競爭激烈的籃球賽的時候如何安全落地，因而可能會把膝關節猛烈扭傷， 不得不20年後再重建。

In fact, former great athletes, years later, often have diverse kinds of joint and bone problems. I know personally of many friends were once very fine athletes, especially in basketball, or soccer, but 20-30 years later, begin to find out that their great strenuous sports accomplishments have left long term problems that need expert skilled surgical attention. And worst yet, as adults, it’s difficult to resist the sudden temptation to go back onto the court, and then either collapse on the court or tear a ligament. We think that we were once invincible, and that we can still be.

實際上，以前偉大的運動員在數年後經常有各種各樣的關節和骨的問題。 我自己就知道很多朋友已經是很棒的運動員，尤其在籃球，足球方面。 但二三十年後，開始發現他們以前艱苦的鍛鍊，偉大的運動成就留下的是長期的問題，需要專業的手術照顧。最糟的是，作為成年人難以抵抗重回鍛鍊場的突然誘惑， 然後在鍛鍊場上摔倒或者撕裂肌腱。我們認為我們曾經是無敵的，現在也可以。

All the sports that are being pushed so hard in secondary schools in the USA are literally straining the limits, and many coaches and parents try to push the kids harder and even harder. The general public has only recently become aware of all the concussion problems from football, but that is only the tip of the iceberg, since there are many other less advertised sports that also give rise to injuries that have long-lasting sequences many years later.

美國中學的所有運動都被嚴格要求甚至挑戰極限，很多教練和父母試圖把孩子逼得越來越緊。大眾最近剛剛開始意識到踢橄榄球引起的腦震盪，但這只是冰山一角，因為還有很多其他宣傳較少的運動也會在多年後引起一系列的病症。

However, I am reminded of my great friend and mentor Paul Brand’s comment about his childhood. Paul became a foremost surgeon in leprosy. He was the son of missionaries in India but while he and his siblings were children, they were sent back to England to be “properly educated.” Having grown up in India, and climbed many trees in early childhood, he and his sister could not resist the temptation to climb trees, roofs and anything that could be climbable in merry England, to the horror of his aunts who had proper British manners. When Paul grew up and became a father, he would often say, “What’s a few broken bones for a child; it’s just normal for kids to break a bone.” Of course he’s an orthopedic surgeon, and he would say that, but there may be some truth in that: climbing trees in childhood might be a necessary hazard, with long-term character and courage building benefits (probably). It might be a particularly good training to be a missionary overseas.

然而，我的好朋友及導師Paul Brand對他孩童時期的言語也啓發了我。Paul後來成為痲瘋病領域最重要的外科醫生。他是在印度的傳教士的兒子，但當他和他的兄弟姐妹還是孩子的時候，他們被送回英國以接受“適當教育”。長在印度，小時候爬了很多樹，他和妹妹忍受不住誘惑在美麗的英格蘭爬樹、房頂和一切可以爬的東西，嚇壞了擁有英國禮儀的阿姨。當Paul長大并成為一位父親的時候，他經常說，“幾根骨頭對孩子意味著什麼， 孩子骨折是很正常的。“ 當然他是一位骨科醫生，他才會那樣說，但也有一些道理： 孩童時期爬樹可能是一個必須的冒險，可能對長期的性格及勇氣塑造有益。成為海外傳教士可能是一個更好的訓練。

From the most famous book, it is often said that life is a race, which has exercise implications; that we are running for some kind of prize; and we should look to the ant as a model of constant motion. O well, exercise all you want, it might indeed help your health or character, or you might break a bone, or you might have long-term negative consequences. Life is just full of different choices that we make. It’s just too complex. I give up, so that’s why I’m sitting at a computer simply exercising my brain, my dictation system, and my fingers. O yes exercising fingers is also bad for my health, as my computeritis reminds me, ugh.

最有名的書（聖經）裏經常提到人生是一場賽跑, 當中有訓練的意涵; 其次, 我們奔跑是為了得某種獎賞; 再者, 我們應該向螞蟻看齊，因它是永不停止運動的榜樣。嗯，好吧，運動可能就是你想要的，它可能確實對你的健康或性格有益,或者你可能骨折，或者有長期的負面作用。生活處處充滿不同的選擇，我們需要決定。真是太複雜了。 我放棄，這也是我就坐在電腦前只鍛鍊我的大腦，我的聽寫，和我的手指的原因。嗯，是的，鍛鍊手指也對我的健康不好，正像我的“電腦炎”提醒我，啊啊.