The colder it is, the more you need to move! What are the precautions for exercising in cold weather? Read now!

The winter solstice has passed. The weather has been too cold recently. I really want to stay in my warm bed! Learn the turtle health method! Haha

Stop making excuses for staying in bed! Winter sports have many benefits!

Benefits of Winter Sports

Winter exercise can speed up the body's metabolism and improve the body's immunity. Therefore, people who insist on exercising in winter will have a much lower chance of catching colds, bronchitis, pneumonia and other diseases.

For working people:

Winter exercise can speed up blood circulation, increase the oxygen supply to the brain, enhance blood vessel elasticity, eliminate brain fatigue caused by long-term work, and improve work efficiency.

For older people:

Doing outdoor sports in winter can fully enjoy the sunshine, promote the body's absorption of calcium, and effectively prevent osteoporosis. It can promote the generation of positive emotions, reduce anxiety and depression, and help maintain mental health.

For children:

Exercising regularly in winter can also help develop good exercise habits, promote the secretion of growth hormone, and help bone growth and development.

For fitness people:

When a warm body comes into contact with cold air or inhales cold air, the calories burned during exercise increase slightly, so winter exercise is more effective for weight loss.

Wow, it turns out that exercising in winter has so many benefits! But what kind of exercise is suitable for me?

Here are some recommended winter sports for you!

Suitable sports for winter

jogging

Jogging can enhance the body's ability to resist cold and improve immunity, accelerate the body's metabolism, promote blood circulation, and prevent and treat various symptoms such as high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, and muscle atrophy. When the weather is good, running in the warm winter sun can promote the synthesis of vitamin D and help calcium absorption.

Cycling

Cycling can prevent brain aging, improve cardiopulmonary function, exercise lower limb muscle strength and enhance overall endurance. Its endurance training effect on internal organs is the same as swimming and running.

This exercise not only benefits the three joints and 26 pairs of muscles of the lower limbs, namely the hip, knee and ankle, but also exercises the muscles of the neck, back, arms, abdomen, waist, groin and buttocks. Continuous exercise can also achieve significant weight loss effects.

jump rope

Rope skipping is a very effective aerobic exercise. It takes less time and consumes more energy. You can burn 400 calories by skipping for 30 minutes.

There are many types of rope skipping, some simple and some complex, which can improve the control and coordination of the limbs. When swinging the rope, the shoulder and wrist joints can also be exercised. It is especially suitable for low-temperature seasons such as winter and is a popular fitness sport.

Aerobics, Tai Chi, Ba Duan Jin

When the weather is bad, indoor aerobics can be a good substitute for outdoor sports. In addition, Tai Chi and Ba Duan Jin, as traditional Chinese health-preserving sports, do not require equipment to practice, are not limited by venues, are simple and easy to learn, save time, and have significant effects. They are suitable for men, women, young and old, and can make thin people strong and fat people lose weight.

Yoga, Pilates

When the weather is bad outdoors, doing some simple and comfortable exercises indoors, such as yoga and Pilates, is also a good choice.

Yoga, a mysterious fitness method from ancient India, balances the nervous system and relieves psychological stress through exercises such as postures, breathing, and meditation.

Its movements are very slow and will not cause profuse sweating all over the body. Long-term practice of yoga can regulate the internal organs, eliminate toxins in the body, and make the body flexible.

Pilates is a static fitness exercise. The movements are gentle, simple and easy to learn, with a short entry time and quick results, especially for partial recovery from injuries, fatigue injuries, and lack of core strength.

There are so many sports to choose from in winter! I'm ready to go!

Don’t be in a hurry, read the precautions for winter sports before you start! It’s better to be safe than sorry!

There are so many sports to choose from in winter! I'm ready to go!

Don’t be in a hurry, read the precautions for winter sports before you start! It’s better to be safe than sorry!

Precautions for winter sports

1. Avoid crowding

Influenza is prevalent in winter, so be careful not to exercise in crowded or poorly ventilated environments.

2. Prevent strains and sprains

When the temperature is low, human muscles and ligaments reflexively contract and tense, the range of motion of the joints decreases, and nerve control and reaction abilities decrease. If you don't warm up thoroughly before exercising, it is easy to cause joint ligament strain and muscle strain.

3. Exercise warm-up should be sufficient

Warming up is not enough, you need to warm up fully, otherwise it will still cause sports injuries. Warming up can increase nerve excitability, coordinate the functions of internal organs, promote metabolism, increase body temperature, and allow the muscles and internal organs of the human body to enter the state of exercise better. Common abdominal pain and side stitches during exercise are generally caused by insufficient warm-up, which leads to the lack of coordination between internal organ function and exercise.

Generally, warm-up before exercise takes about 5 minutes, but in winter you can spend twice as much time warming up, up to 10 to 15 minutes, until you start to sweat slightly.

4. Don’t do morning exercises too early in winter

Exercising too early will cause the temperature to be too low, the oxygen content in the air to be low, and the number of pollutants to be high, which will have adverse effects on the body. Generally, you should wait until the sun comes out before exercising.

5. Develop the habit of breathing through your nose

When exercising, you should mainly breathe through your nose, and don't open your mouth wide. The nasal mucosa warms and moistens the inhaled cold air, preventing the cold air from directly irritating the throat and causing respiratory infections, sore throats, and coughs.

If you exercise a lot and your oxygen supply is insufficient, you can breathe through your mouth with your teeth bared, lick the upper palate slightly with your tongue, allowing cold air to enter through the gaps between your teeth and then be inhaled into your mouth around your tongue.

6. Drink water when exercising in winter

The weather is dry in winter, so you should drink a small amount of water several times 1-2 hours before exercise. Don't drink a lot of water right before exercise, as it may cause gastrointestinal discomfort.

7. Pay attention to winter sports wear

1. Wear and remove clothes in layers. Although you need to wear multiple layers of warm clothes during winter exercise, you can gradually remove them one by one to avoid getting cold all at once. The key is to keep your clothes warm and light so as not to restrict your range of motion.
2. Keep the distal parts of your hands and feet warm. In winter, the blood in the body flows preferentially to the trunk and internal organs, making the hands and feet susceptible to frostbite. Therefore, when exercising outdoors in winter, you should prevent frostbite on your hands, feet, and ears, and wear gloves and hats when appropriate.

3. The body loses heat quickly in winter. After relaxing, wipe off the sweat as soon as possible, change into dry clothes, and put on a coat to keep warm to prevent your body temperature from dropping quickly and catching a cold.

8. Special groups should pay attention

1. Patients with a history of heart disease should follow their doctor's advice when engaging in activities.

2. Don’t do strenuous exercise when you have a cold, as it may cause myocarditis, serious arrhythmia or even sudden death.

3. For those with high blood pressure or arrhythmia, unscientific exercise in winter can easily lead to a sudden rise in blood pressure or arrhythmia.

4. Diabetic patients are more likely to suffer from hypoglycemia in winter.

5. For those with high uric acid or high blood lipids, due to the low temperature in winter, fat or uric acid crystals are deposited in the tendon joints, making exercise more likely to cause discomfort.

6. Special groups should proceed step by step and choose the intensity that they can adapt to normally. The intensity should not be reached to the highest level all at once. For example, when brisk walking, the speed should be increased slowly.

9. The amount of exercise should be based on your actual situation

1. Excessive fatigue and easy to catch a cold Winter exercise consumes a lot of heat energy of the human body, making it easier to get tired. The time and intensity of exercise should be based on the self-perception of fatigue. Excessive fatigue will reduce the resistance of the human body and make it easy to catch a cold.

2. Continue to move for 10 minutes after exercise. Don't rush to sit down and rest after exercise. You can walk, run and jump on the spot, kick your legs to relax, or pat your thighs and calves to relax your muscles. Relaxation time is generally 10 to 15 minutes. It can relieve muscle soreness and prevent muscle discomfort in the next exercise. It is as important as warm-up.

3. The exact amount of exercise should be judged based on your own feelings. If after exercise, you feel relaxed, happy, energetic and have a good sleep, it means that the amount of exercise is appropriate. If you still feel tired and uncomfortable after a night's rest after exercise, it means that the amount of exercise is too much.

10. Notes on indoor sports

1. Note on machine exercise

If you don't master the correct skills of using sports equipment, it is easy to cause sports injuries. For example, when running on a treadmill, you should coordinate your limbs and run a little faster than the running belt. It would be better if you can have a professional to guide your running posture.

2. Indoor exercise also requires adequate warm-up and cool-down

3. Make the movements standard, quality is more important than quantity

Take squats as an example. If the movements are not professional enough, the knee cartilage will be under excessive pressure, causing patellar softening and soft tissue damage. Many people will feel uncomfortable when doing some movements for many reasons. It is not recommended for people who lack strength to perform squat training frequently, not to mention those who do not perform the movements in standard way.