Today, many of us take such vast assortments for granted, until we pause to consider how inconceivable it was 20 years a

Businesses can consider PSMs as a factor in modeling advanced analytics, such as forecast modeling. But the behavioral differences people are exhibiting while social distancing means that a model may not be work as effectively as it would have given a standard retail year. It may be better to see if advanced modeling can be used for the next season.,Finding the right activity is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure success. It needs to be something that feels enjoyable, or you’ll eventually quit. “You’ve got to frame whatever you’re doing as an everyday activity, not as something that seems like a chore,” says exercise physiologist Steve Magness, head cross-country coach at University of Houston and co-host of the Growth Equation podcast. A 2012 study found that peoples’ “affective response” (a measure that captures mood and overall psychological state) during exercise tracked with their physical activity levels. People who experienced positive affect during their exercise activity were more physically active, implying that finding something that feels enjoyable while you’re doing it will improve your chances of continuing.,The bottom line: There is no one magical cardio workout. The best, most effective cardio activity is the one you actually do, says exercise physiologist Louise de Lannoy, PhD, at Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute.,And, indeed, the Long Tail proved a boon to aggregators, as we can see from the success of most of the businesses Anderson was writing about and the many platforms that launched and thrived since he first published his ideas — from YouTube and Spotify to Shopify and BigCommerce.,Previous guidelines had called for each bout of exercise to last at least 10 minutes, but that’s no longer the case, de Lannoy says. It turns out that even short bouts of exercise can add up to measurable health and fitness improvements, and even taking a single flight of stairs can count toward your weekly total.,I asked some experts to identify the key features of an ideal cardio program and answer questions like: How much cardio training do you need to do? Can short bursts of exercise really make you fit? How hard do you have to push yourself to get benefits? Are intervals really necessary?,To improve health measures like blood pressure, insulin response to regulate blood sugar, and heart health, even a single bout of exercise is far better than nothing. The biggest health payoffs from cardio exercise come from going from the couch to the first bout of physical activity, says Jenna Gillen, an exercise physiologist at the University of Toronto. From there, the benefits to your heart and metabolic system continue to accrue. Don’t be discouraged if you can only do one workout per week; that one workout will provide the greatest relative benefit, Gillen says.,Walking is one of the easiest and most accessible cardio workouts you can choose; running, biking, swimming, and hiking are other old standbys (along with that timeless classic, Prancercise). If you’re looking for something to do at home, there are countless options, ranging from jumping rope to Zumba to cardio/dance/kickboxing, and you can find lots of workout videos on YouTube, Instagram, and the web if you need ideas or instruction. Arrange to sync a video with an off-site partner to make virtual workouts a fun way to connect with family and friends during the pandemic, de Lannoy says.,If you’re feeling perplexed, take heart. Finding your optimal cardio workout might seem like a complicated project, but it turns out that you can achieve your best cardio self by mastering a few fundamentals.,The Stock Market Isn’t So Irrational After All The stock market swings after Pfizer’s vaccine announcement prove that the market isn’t as wildly exuberant as many…marker.medium.com,If you’re exercising to get faster or to reach your athletic potential, on the other hand, “more will be better,” Gillen says. Three sessions per week is a good starting point, she says. From there, try to work up to five or six sessions, at least some of which include some intensity (see below).,Research shows that cardio fitness is the single best predictor of your risk of dying early. Both the U.S. and Canadian guidelines recommend that adults get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week. That 150 number is not arbitrary; it’s based on large datasets showing that this is an amount that can meaningfully improve your fitness and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality, de Lannoy says. She and her colleagues are just one of multiple research teams who have shown that this amount of activity can cut the risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality by 10% to 20%. That’s a huge reduction, she says, and “this is not a whole lot of exercise.” You can meet it with just 30 minutes, five days per week.,Anderson also saw benefits to consumers, who could enjoy within the Long Tail what he dubbed “the paradise of choice,” a delightful contrast to both the tyranny of common-denominator fare and the “paradox of choice” (when having many options is less a blessing than a curse). When Anderson was writing, Pandora was already introducing listeners to a panoply of indie music, and eBay was already auctioning off all manner of used goods and collectibles. He also reported that KitchenAid had recently gone from offering its mixer at Target in just three colors to selling the same mixer online in a choice of more than 50. No physical retailer carried the product in Tangerine, for example, because they didn’t think they could sell enough units of that unusual shade — but low sales weren’t a concern for online merchants, who enjoyed the efficiency of a centralized warehouse.,The optimal frequency and duration of your workouts depend on your goals, says Michael Joyner, a physiologist at the Mayo Clinic who studies human performance. If your main objective is improving your health, it doesn’t take much. “Once you get to 30 to 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity most days a week, you’ve gotten 80% of the benefits for reducing heart disease risk,” he says.,It’s important to set reasonable expectations and goals to avoid becoming overwhelmed or frustrated. “Don’t try to run 10 miles when you’re at two miles,” Magness says. “Bite-size goals and expectations allow you to get a taste of the benefits to keep you coming back for more.” Small wins can add up and motivate you to continue, while biting off more than you can chew could just make you feel like you’re failing—and might drive you to injury. Start where you’re at and gradually increase, adding either time or intensity to your routine.