Minimum movement: 10 lazy ways to keep active in the winter
In the cold season most people he doesn’t feel very good - the seasonal decline in strength, the dullness outside the window and the pre-Christmas mode “I can’t take it anymore” is to blame. Even if you do not take into account the "winter blues", in the cold our body becomes less mobile - and more "lazy" - due to the decrease in blood flow velocity. But this does not mean that it is necessary to surrender to the influence of winter completely. Studies show that minimal activity helps to improve health indicators, and even when the weather does not dispose to sports, you should not completely abandon the movement. Do not want to move? Especially not have to. We talk about a dozen simple but effective actions that will help you stay active in the cold.
Text: Marina Levicheva
Walk more
The legendary benefits of walking - not at all fiction. For example, Harvard researchers found that walking for an hour or more can slow down the activity of obesity-related genes by an impressive 50%. And scientists from the University of Exeter found that even a short walk can halve the craving for sweet carbohydrates at work. And this is without standard bonuses, including a positive change in immune parameters in just thirty minutes and an improvement in the cardiovascular system in just twenty minutes.
Are you afraid to freeze on a walk? And very vain. New studies show that low temperatures carry many advantages - from improving the quality of sleep to increasing the rate of fat burning in the body. Of course, to bring the situation to the extreme is not worth it - useful underwear, good socks and windproof jacket.
Use fitness tracker
According to the annual survey ACSM Health & Fitness Journal, trackers, smart watches and other technologies that you can carry with you (and on yourself) will become the main fitness trend of 2019. If you bought such a gadget on the previous wave of popularity, and now it is lying somewhere, then winter is the time to look for it there.
You may have heard that trackers and fitness apps do not work - and there really were such studies. But the problem, scientists say, is not that technologies are useless for health, but that we are getting bored. According to research, 30% of people stop using fitness trackers six months after purchase. Hence, all these disappointing conclusions that the use of the tracker does not affect people's health even with financial incentives, and that without trackers, people lose weight faster than with them.
How then to use gadgets to keep winter activity level? Take note of the study, which showed that applications with "support networks" - the presence of a group of like-minded people who can monitor your progress - work even with very low motivation to practice. And download these applications where there is this function.
Dance
Can't force yourself to go to the gym? Then go to a party - it's much easier to decide on this. Meanwhile, studies show that dancing is a worthy alternative to fitness, both in terms of slowing down the aging process, and in terms of improving overall physical and mental performance. Choosing the type of dance, however, keep in mind that Zumba recently turned out to be one of the most traumatic styles.
If the weather or mood does not dispose to entertainment outside the house, dance in your own apartment. In search of inspiration one can become acquainted with the Finnish philosophy of “kalsarikyanni” as an art of drinking at home in pajamas or underwear. Only it is better to minimize the amount of alcohol, because its positive effect on health is still the subject of lively scientific discussions.
Do not forget to rest
You probably know that to obtain impressive results from fitness activity you need to constantly increase the load. Which, however, does not mean that you should train 24/7. Moreover, it is just not necessary to do this - but rest is absolutely necessary.
Exercises of high intensity provoke an inflammatory reaction that helps muscles (and everything else) recover. But if recovery time is not enough, this inflammatory response may work against you, making the body more susceptible to infections. And in the flu season, which lasts until March, this moment cannot be ignored. We recommend not to worry about the missed days; constant concern about skipping workouts itself can do harm.
Do the cleaning
It may seem that cleaning is so-so active, but the results of several studies allow us to confidently say that washing, cooking and ironing can be an alternative to fitness. In any case, if we are talking about the impact of physical exertion on heart health.
However, you should not get carried away - too active household, on the contrary, negatively affects the state of health, including the same cardiovascular system and lung function. That is, here, as in sports, moderation and the ability to stop in time is important.
Stand upright
A little more standing is another variant of conditional activity. One interesting study, published by the European Society of Cardiology, allowed to say that if during a six-hour working day a person did not sit, but stood, he could lose ten kilograms in four years. And let the numbers in terms of days are not too impressive, the way obviously works.
By the way, the scientific reasoning that one of the main things we can do to reduce the risks of sedentary work is to get up as often as possible. And also, preferably, walk. So if you arm yourself with a book and, reading, walk around the room, a winter evening can turn out if not active, then certainly not passive.
Finally, who said that buying a dress for a New Year's party can not be fitness? It may even be, if not measuredly walking through a shopping center (and not ordering on the Internet), but rather moving between rails quite actively. With the hall, we will be fair, do not compare - but how much pleasure.
Take a bath
Incredibly, but a fact: in those days, when you want to train, but you can't, a bath with foam and aromatic oil is possible to help, and possibly a visual accompaniment in the form of candles. The main thing - as hot as possible. Because if we are not talking about strength, but about the general tonic component of physical exercises, the hot water here works in a similar way.
This conclusion was made by American scientists, who found that a rise in body temperature stabilizes markers of inflammation, blood sugar levels and insulin levels within two weeks. The same thing happens after exercise. And despite the fact that the authors of the study recorded an increase in only one important health marker from the two studied, this method can and should be adopted.
Do not forget about sex
Is it possible to replace fitness with sex? Yes, but only if we talk about low or moderate loads. Studies show that about 4 kilocalories are spent per minute of sex, while running lightly burns twice as much. But sex, of course, can act both as a healthy supplement and as a substitute for physical activity. And especially in winter, when - that's lucky - I don't want to get out of bed at all.
Recall that sex also improves sleep, reduces the effects of stress overloads, and indeed is a good aerobic (read: able to reduce any heart risks) load. And this is not to mention the legendary postsexual glow, which can persist up to 48 hours.
Meditate
On average, in winter even the best of us train for 11 minutes less, which is disturbing when trying to analyze. "Why did I always feel fine all 45 minutes, and now I can withstand only 35?" Because winter is the right answer. But such an answer, however, our brain does not suit, and motivation is becoming less and less.
Fortunately, there is an unexpected and very effective solution for the preservation of sports spirit - meditation. Scientists came to this conclusion, finding that if you start a lesson with a ten-minute meditation, then its duration will remain, and anxiety about this will go away. All sorts of positive effects associated with meditation - from increasing attentiveness to reducing sensitivity to pain - will be a nice bonus.
Do not let yourself get bored
Just as we feel bored during our routine activities, so our body “misses” when it is offered the same thing every day. Studies show that it is the adaptation of the body to a particular type of exercise that is the reason why these exercises do not bring the desired result. And in the winter it is more important than in the summer, just because of the lowered motivation.
So the challenge, under which you promise yourself to try as many directions as possible, will be a great idea. No matter how many times a week you practice (even once), let it be something new every week. A bit of fitness optimization? Make sure that in the "menu" were both cardio and power loads. Because in a bundle, this seems to work best.
PHOTO: h & m, Smallabale, legacybathboutique
