Swimming: Health Secrets and Precautions for Working Men

Chen Yong, chairman of Beijing Zhongmei Group, owns eight comprehensive chain hospitals, several research institutes and pharmaceutical factories across the country. He also founded 863 Health Network. Clearly, Chen Yong is a successful entrepreneur, but he is also a doctor with professional expertise.

Chen Yong cherishes his health, believing that it is cultivated through consistent care. Besides nutrition and health maintenance, regular exercise is essential, not only for strengthening the body and boosting immunity, but also for relieving stress. He once said that he enjoys swimming, and when he feels tired, stressed, or upset, he swims a few laps, which relaxes his mind and body, gradually improving his mood. He also finds his thinking becomes much clearer when considering problems.

Coincidentally, Chen Miaolin, chairman of Kaiyuan Group, is also a swimming enthusiast. Swimming is his sport all year round, and he has never stopped even in the cold winter. Chen Miaolin said that winter swimming is even more meaningful. Once you get used to it, you won't be afraid of the cold. It not only greatly helps your health, but also strengthens your willpower.

From the two chairmen above, we can see that swimming is indeed a way to strengthen the body, relax the mind and body, and temper the will. It can truly be called a boon to the health of working men.

However, while swimming is beneficial, certain bad swimming habits must be avoided, otherwise, not only will the desired effects not be achieved, but it may also harm one's health. Therefore, the following points should be paid special attention to when swimming to achieve twice the result with half the effort in terms of fitness.

First, you should do a thorough warm-up before swimming, making sure to loosen up the muscles and joints in your back, limbs, etc., to avoid cramps or muscle strains in your back.

Secondly, swimming time should not be too long, 20 to 45 minutes is appropriate, and appropriate rest should be taken in between to avoid excessive fatigue of the back muscles.

Third, after swimming, rinse your body with clean water, dry it with a soft towel, and put on warm clothes promptly.

Fourth, it is not advisable to swim immediately after a meal, otherwise it will affect the body's digestion and absorption of food, and may even cause gastrointestinal dysfunction and lead to digestive system diseases.

Fifth, swimming is not advisable when hungry. As we all know, swimming is a high-energy-consuming sport. If you swim on an empty stomach or stay in the water for too long, your body is prone to fatigue, which can lead to symptoms such as dizziness, and in severe cases, drowning.

Sixth, swimming is not advisable after strenuous exercise. After strenuous exercise, body temperature rises and metabolism increases. If you go into the water at this time, it will cause fatigue to accumulate, which can easily lead to cramps or drowning accidents.

Seventh, swimming after drinking alcohol is also not advisable. Drinking alcohol disrupts the excitability and coherence of the cerebral cortex, leading to neurasthenia, dizziness, headaches, and lethargy. Swimming under these conditions makes it difficult for the body to react quickly to sudden situations in the water, increasing the risk of danger. Furthermore, alcohol dilates blood vessels on the body's surface; swimming after drinking significantly accelerates the dissipation of body heat, resulting in insufficient internal energy.

Eighth, it is not advisable to smoke before swimming. Many people mistakenly believe that smoking before swimming can refresh them, but this is not the case. Cigarettes can cause adverse reactions such as headaches, dizziness, lethargy, and fatigue. They can also reduce the body's oxygen-carrying capacity, leading to oxygen deficiency during swimming and increasing the likelihood of drowning accidents.

Numerous scientific experiments have confirmed that exercise can enhance physical fitness and improve overall health. For men who toil away in the workplace all day, having a strong physique is arguably their greatest asset, ensuring they have ample energy to dedicate to their work. Therefore, working men must be active; movement is essential for health. However, exercise requires technique. Only through scientific exercise can one achieve the benefits of fitness, health improvement, and disease prevention; conversely, blindly exercising can be harmful rather than beneficial.

Mr. Zhao is a sports enthusiast. He usually goes to the gym after get off work for a workout, takes a hot shower, and falls asleep quickly and easily, sleeping soundly through the night, feeling energetic all day. Later, due to overtime work, Mr. Zhao changed his afternoon workout from 5:30-6:30 pm to 8:30-9:30 pm, and increased the intensity of his workout, getting home close to 10 pm. After getting into bed, Mr. Zhao felt completely exhausted and just wanted to sleep. However, once he lay down, his mind raced: the gym instructors, the stationary bikes, and the image of himself exercising intensely... all swirling in his mind, impossible to shake off. He went to work with dark circles under his eyes, yawning constantly, and his work efficiency was extremely low.