The health benefits of winter swimming and precautions for morning exercise

Every year in the depths of winter, some brave souls brave the biting wind, wearing swimsuits, and break through the frozen water to go winter swimming, a sight that attracts many envious onlookers.

People admire their will and courage, and even more so their robust physique and excellent physical abilities.

Indeed, as one winter swimming enthusiast put it, "We swim in winter with strong bodies, and these strong bodies are a gift from the sport of winter swimming."

Scientific research shows that winter swimming does indeed have unimaginable benefits for human health.

Winter swimming is also known as "vascular gymnastics," meaning that it can enhance cardiovascular function.

When the human body is stimulated by cold water, the blood circulation and metabolism throughout the body are greatly enhanced.

When human skin is stimulated by cold water, the blood vessels in the skin constrict sharply, and a large amount of blood is drawn into the internal organs and deep tissues, causing the blood vessels of vital internal organs to dilate.

In order to resist the cold, the blood vessels in the skin quickly dilate, and a large amount of blood flows from the internal organs to the surface of the body.

This distinctive contraction and expansion exercises the blood vessels, enhancing their elasticity, which is why winter swimming is known as "vascular gymnastics."

Therefore, winter swimming is beneficial for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Among those who insist on winter swimming all year round, people with arteriosclerosis, hypertension and the like are extremely rare.

The stimulation of cold water causes the peripheral blood vessels in the human body to close, which ensures a greater blood supply to vital organs such as the heart, brain, liver, and spleen. This allows more oxygen to be delivered to brain cells in a timely manner, which helps to eliminate fatigue in the nervous system. This explains why most winter swimming enthusiasts are mental workers.

When the human body comes into contact with cold water, it will inhale rapidly, pause for a moment, then exhale deeply, and then resume even, deep, and powerful breathing. This breathing can greatly improve the elasticity of lung tissue, allowing more oxygen to be inhaled and more carbon dioxide to be exhaled, thus strengthening the function of the respiratory system. Therefore, people who enjoy winter swimming tend to have stronger lung function and larger lung capacity.

People usually feel hungry after swimming, and this feeling is even more pronounced among winter swimming enthusiasts.

Cold water can improve the function of the human digestive system.

As breathing deepens, the diaphragm rises and falls more, thus accelerating blood circulation in the abdominal cavity, strengthening gastrointestinal motility, and massaging nearby organs. This is why winter swimming enthusiasts can always eat well and have smooth bowel movements.

Cold water also has a good exercise effect on the skin, joints, and muscles.

After being stimulated by cold water, the skin's blood vessels contract strongly, subcutaneous fat thickens, blood circulation is vigorous, and nutrition is sufficient.

We often find that people who regularly swim in winter have rosy, shiny, and elastic skin, and are healthy and energetic, and this is the reason why.

1. Morning exercise should not be done too early.

It is generally recommended to exercise early in the morning. Some people believe that the earlier the better, because the air is fresh, there are fewer people and cars, and it is quiet, which is the most suitable time to practice.

Actually, this is not the case. According to relevant experts, air pollution is most severe in winter, and even more severe in the morning. This is because a large amount of coal is burned for heating in winter, producing the most carbon dioxide and other waste gases. Green plants rely on sunlight for photosynthesis, and there is no sunlight at night. In addition, there are fewer green plants in winter, resulting in poor air quality in the early morning of winter.

Therefore, morning exercise should not be done too early, especially in winter.

2. Avoid eating excessively hot food after morning exercise in winter.

When exercising in the morning during winter, the cold weather and the fact that muscles have not yet fully recovered from the low body temperature and low basal metabolic state brought about by sleep can cause muscles to undergo "cold adaptation" if the warm-up is not sufficient. In such cases, the cold air will have a temporary cooling effect on the nasal cavity, trachea, and adjacent pharynx and esophagus.

If you eat excessively hot food immediately after exercising without resting for a while, you are more likely to experience symptoms such as vomiting blood or bloody stools.

From a physiological perspective, this is because the capillaries and slightly larger blood vessels in the esophageal mucosa and surrounding tissues, which are in a state of "cold adaptation," cannot withstand the sudden heat stimulation of excessively hot food, resulting in a temporary disorder of regulatory function. This causes some blood to penetrate the blood vessel walls and capillary walls and enter the esophagus and stomach.

This condition mostly occurs in people with increased vascular fragility, especially the frail and the elderly.

Therefore, after returning from morning exercise in the cold winter, do not immediately eat food that is too hot; instead, drink a few sips of warm water first.

If the food is too hot or too hard, chew it slowly for the first few bites to allow your esophagus to adjust.

If you feel cold after returning from morning exercise, add clothes promptly and avoid eating excessively hot food to ward off the cold and keep warm.

Some obese people are unwilling to participate in physical exercise for various reasons, but they are not worried about it. "I have a lot of housework to do every day, washing clothes, cooking, and running around. Isn't that enough exercise?"

Clearly, their reasoning is that "doing housework instead of exercise can achieve the same goal of weight loss."

Is that really the case?

The answer is clear: this statement is incorrect.

Household chores are indeed tedious and tiring, but in reality, some surveys have found that the energy consumed by housework is far less than people imagine. It is only within the range of energy consumed by light activities and can hardly achieve the effect of weight loss.

In other words, housework is mentally tiring rather than physically exhausting; it mainly causes mental fatigue and does not achieve the purpose of exercise.

Therefore, exercise is exercise and housework is housework; they are not the same thing, and neither can replace the other.

If possible, set aside a certain amount of time each day specifically for physical exercise.

It is certain that if you exercise for 30 to 45 minutes every day, you will not only lose weight, but also do housework better and more effectively.

For women who are worried about gaining weight and affecting their figure, developing a good habit of being diligent and doing as much housework as possible will be very beneficial.

Overweight individuals who are busy with housework can incorporate exercise into their household chores.

For example, walking to places that are far away but have good quality and inexpensive vegetables to buy them; pushing a stroller for a long brisk walk; exercising with preschool children, etc.

This way, you can achieve the goal of exercise without neglecting your family affairs, killing two birds with one stone.