Winter Sports and Medicinal Health Preservation
In winter, due to the cold climate, many people are unwilling to engage in sports. But as the saying goes: "A little movement in winter keeps illness away; a little laziness in winter means a bowl of more medicine." "Train in the dog days of summer, and in the coldest days of winter." All of these sayings indicate that persisting in physical exercise during winter is extremely beneficial to health.
[Cold-Endurance Training]
Cold-endurance training is beneficial to people, helping the body's cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, motor, and endocrine systems, thereby reducing the occurrence of coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular accidents, colds, coughs, arthritis, obesity, etc. At the same time, cold endurance can lead to a longer life. For young people, it can also cultivate a strong will and tenacious spirit, and should be especially advocated.
Although a person's cold tolerance has its limits, and people with different constitutions react differently to cold stimulation, it is certain that exercise can improve the body's tolerance to cold. How to take the first step in cold-endurance training? It is too late to consider this after the cold weather arrives. Because the change in temperature is gradual, from high to low, people's exercise must also adopt a method of gradually adapting the body to the cold. If a person can persist in walking outdoors every morning without interruption from hot days to cold days, and take deep breaths of fresh outdoor air, their cold tolerance will gradually improve. If, as the temperature drops, other forms of physical exercise with gradually increasing intensity, such as running, ball games, mountain climbing, etc., are added, people will no longer feel cold in the cold. The "autumn coolness" method summarized by the ancients is essentially an exercise to adapt the body's cold tolerance.
[Winter Swimming]
Winter swimming is a sport that integrates disease prevention, treatment, fitness, and anti-aging. It can significantly enhance physical fitness and improve the body's resistance and immunity. During winter swimming, the stimulation of cold water can cause the body's blood vessels to continuously contract and expand, thereby exercising the elasticity of the blood vessels, playing a role in preventing and delaying the occurrence and development of arteriosclerosis, and has a significant effect on preventing and alleviating high-viscosity syndrome in middle-aged and elderly people. The cold stimulation of winter swimming can also adjust the balance of excitement and inhibition of the central nervous system, which is beneficial to the improvement of the function of the human body's autonomic nervous system.
Of course, those who participate in winter swimming must have a foundation of cold-water training and a certain adaptability to cold stimulation before they can start. Sufficient warm-up activities must be done before winter swimming, and you can only enter the water after the body is warm. When starting out, the time in the water should not be too long, 10 meters per swim is enough, and gradually increase from this basis. The duration of winter swimming should be determined by the weather and individual conditions, and should not be forced to be consistent.
After being stimulated by cold water, the color of the human skin constantly changes: pale, light red, purplish red. Purplish red is a dangerous signal for winter swimming. At this time, winter swimming must be stopped immediately. After getting out of the water, wipe dry with a dry towel until the skin turns red. Dress properly, then do finishing activities, and end when the body feels warm and comfortable.
Winter swimming should also note that it should be at most once a day or every other day, otherwise the physical consumption is too large and it is harmful instead; it must be persevered. If the interval is too long, the adaptability produced by the body in previous training will decrease; it is not advisable to do winter swimming after a full meal, when hungry, or when fatigued; after winter swimming, do not drink alcohol to warm up.
[Jump Rope]
In winter, when you don't want to exercise outdoors, you might as well jump rope at home. This activity is simple and easy to do, but the fitness effect is excellent. Jumping rope can significantly improve the control and coordination ability of the feet. When turning the rope with both hands, it can also exercise the shoulder and wrist joints. With the rhythm of jumping, the cardiovascular and respiratory systems are exercised. In addition, jumping rope is also an effective weight-loss exercise. For children, jumping rope in the snow has even more fun.
[Exercise Taboos]
Engaging in physical exercise in winter is very beneficial to health. However, if you don't pay attention to sports hygiene, it can cause harm to the body. Therefore, winter exercise must pay attention to sports hygiene. It is easy to catch a cold in winter. When you have a cold or a fever, never engage in strenuous exercise. Otherwise, it will aggravate the condition and even induce myocardial infarction or myocarditis.
Don't forget to do warm-up exercises before exercising. Because in cold conditions, the body's muscles are stiff and the joints' flexibility is poor, which can easily lead to muscle strains or joint contusions.
The intensity of exercise should be arranged properly. The speed of running should be gradually increased from slow to fast. The amount of exercise should vary from person to person, be progressive, especially for the elderly, weak, and sick, and children, the exercise intensity must not be too great.
During exercise, it is best not to breathe with the mouth, but with the nose. Because the cold air filtered by the nose is clean, moist, and not too cold, it can play a good protective role for the respiratory system.
Medicinal Health Preservation
As the saying goes, "If you don't store essence in winter, you will suffer from warm diseases in spring." In winter, the body's yang energy is stored internally, and yin essence is conserved. It is a stage of energy accumulation for the body, making it a good season for people with weak health to tonify.
[Tonification Should Be Based on Differentiation]
Winter is a good season for people with weak constitutions to tonify, but the causes of "deficiency" are different. Therefore, tonification should be tailored to the individual and their constitution.
[Tonification Needs to Be Different for Men, Women, Old, and Young]
A person's life goes through different stages of development and physiological changes. In each stage, the qi, blood, yin, and yang of the internal organs change to varying degrees, and the living habits, learning, and work situations of people in different age groups are also different. Therefore, the body should be supplemented according to these changes.
Children's internal organs are delicate and easily deficient or excessive, and their diet is often uncontrolled, which can damage the spleen and stomach. Their winter supplementation should focus on strengthening the spleen and stomach. They can eat Poria, hawthorn, jujube, Job's tears, etc. Young students study day and night and often lack rest and sleep, leading to deficiency of the heart-spleen or heart-kidney. For winter supplementation, they can choose lotus seeds, fleeceflower root, etc. Many middle-aged people bear heavy responsibilities and do not pay attention to rest, leading to the consumption of qi and blood. Therefore, winter supplementation for them should focus on nourishing qi and blood. They can eat longan meat, astragalus, angelica, etc. The elderly are physically weak and often suffer from multiple diseases, so they must supplement in winter. When the elderly are healthy, they can choose eucommia, fleeceflower root, etc. If they are ill, they must supplement based on differentiation.
[Don't Overdo Winter Supplementation]
Tonification is to regulate the body's various functions to make it healthier, but if tonification is excessive, it becomes harmful and causes the body to be damaged again. For example, if it is yin deficiency, but one blindly uses large doses of nourishing yin without paying attention to moderation, excessive yin supplementation can instead suppress yang energy, leading to a heavy yin-cold condensation in the body and a state of yin excess and yang deficiency. Therefore, tonification should be moderate and stopped at the right time.