The advantages and disadvantages of swimming in winter

In the north, many people like to swim in winter. Winter swimming is very beneficial. It has a good effect in resisting and preventing diseases. It is good in improving the body's immunity and promoting bone health. The stimulation of cold water can promote the continuous contraction and expansion of human blood vessels, thereby increasing the elasticity of blood vessels. It is also very effective in preventing cardiovascular diseases. Of course, winter swimming is not an exercise that everyone can do. If winter swimming is not done properly, it will cause greater harm to the body.

What are the benefits of winter swimming?

When swimming in winter, the stimulation of cold water can cause the human 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 is effective in preventing and alleviating hyperviscosity syndrome in middle-aged and elderly people. The cold stimulation of winter swimming can also adjust the balance of excitation and inhibition in the central nervous system, which is beneficial to improving the function of the human autonomic nervous system.

Can enhance cardiovascular function. When the human body is stimulated by cold water, the blood circulation and metabolism of the whole body are greatly enhanced. When human skin is stimulated by cold water, the skin blood vessels contract sharply, and a large amount of blood is sucked into the internal organs and deep tissues, causing the blood vessels of important internal organs to dilate. In order to resist the cold, the body's skin blood vessels expand rapidly, and a large amount of blood flows from the internal organs to the body surface. This characteristic expansion and contraction exercises the blood vessels and enhances their elasticity. Therefore, winter swimming is beneficial for preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases. Among those who insist on winter swimming exercises all year round, it is extremely rare for people to suffer from arteriosclerosis, hypertension and the like.

The stimulation of cold water causes the human body's peripheral blood vessels to close, ensuring more blood supply to important organs like the heart, brain, liver, and spleen, allowing more oxygen to be delivered to brain cells in a timely manner, which helps eliminate fatigue of the nervous system. 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 kind of breathing can greatly improve the elasticity of lung tissue, inhale more oxygen, exhale more carbon dioxide, and strengthen the function of the respiratory system. Cold water can improve the function of the human digestive system. As breathing deepens, the diaphragm can rise and fall more, thereby speeding up blood circulation in the abdominal cavity, strengthening gastrointestinal motility, and massaging adjacent organs.

People who insist on winter swimming have rosy, shiny and elastic skin. The reason is that after the stimulation of cold water, the skin blood vessels contract strongly, the subcutaneous fat thickens, the blood circulation is vigorous, and the nutrition is sufficient.

What are the disadvantages of winter swimming?

Susceptible to cold. People always think that people who participate in winter swimming are not afraid of the cold and will not catch a cold. This is a misunderstanding. Hiding in winter has been the experience of the Chinese people for thousands of years to prolong their life, while winter swimming is just the opposite. The whole winter, the whole body is exposed to the cold wind and cold water, and if you are not careful, you will catch a cold. Many young people, relying on their strong bodies, swim a lot like it's summer and don't even feel cold after swimming.

In fact, the cold air has already forced into the body. This kind of cold penetrates into the human body imperceptibly. Moreover, once you catch a cold from winter swimming, the whole body will be cold, which is much more serious than the surface cold of a common cold. In the winter swimming team, there are often more middle-aged and elderly people than young people. This is because middle-aged and elderly people are more cautious, swim less, and are less likely to catch cold, so they can persist for a long time.

Prone to stroke. There are still quite a few hypertensive patients in the winter swimming team. Why are there so many hypertensive patients participating in winter swimming? Mainly, there is a term called "cardiovascular gymnastics" that is popular in winter swimming activities. That is to say, when the human body's blood vessels are stimulated by cold water, they will suddenly contract, thereby increasing the speed of blood flow, accelerating blood circulation, and making blood flow throughout the body smoother. At the same time, blood vessels frequently contract, just like doing gymnastics, and the contraction and relaxation make the blood vessels more elastic.

Not safe. Winter swimming is different from summer swimming, there are no life-saving measures. There are relatively few participants, so there are often only a few people in the entire swimming pool. If you suffer from cramps, a stroke, or physical exhaustion, no one will be able to help you.

Therefore, you must have the ability to save yourself from cramps, choking on water, bruises, etc. You must also learn to control yourself and be aware of your own body every day. When you feel dizzy, have high blood pressure, bradycardia, or numbness in your hands and feet, do not swim for too long, especially do not let cold air enter your body, which may cause colds, strokes, etc.