What are the benefits of winter swimming?

Winter is also a season for exercise, including skiing, skating, winter swimming, etc. Because winter swimming requires people to resist the stimulation of cold and cold water, many people do not have the courage to do this exercise. In fact, winter swimming has many benefits. It is because through this cold stimulation, the body's ability to regulate cold and hot stimuli can be increased, resistance and immunity can be improved, and diseases can be prevented. At the same time, winter swimming can promote rapid blood flow in the body and can prevent lipid substances from precipitating in blood vessels. Therefore, it can prevent hyperlipidemia and vascular embolism, and effectively improve cardiopulmonary function. There are many other benefits, which are introduced in detail below.

1. It 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 the 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 expand; in order to resist the cold, the skin blood vessels expand again quickly, 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.

2. The stimulation of cold water causes the human body's peripheral blood vessels to close, ensuring more blood supply to important organs such as the heart, brain, liver, and spleen, so that more oxygen is delivered to brain cells in a timely manner, which helps to 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.

3. 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.

Although winter swimming has many benefits for people, it is a special sport after all. Like regular exercise, you must first get your body moving before you can do it. In addition, people with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, allergies or infectious diseases should not swim in winter. At the same time, women during menstruation and people with weak constitutions should not swim in winter as it will harm their bodies.