Winter Running Tips: Manage Your Exercise Intensity. Winter Running Tips: Manage Your Exercise Intensity. In winter, the weather is cold, and many people prefer to stay at home rather than go out to exercise, but colds often strike. What should you do? There is a famous saying from ancient Greece: “If you want to be strong, run. If you want to be fit, run. If you want to be smart, run.”
Regular running in winter can effectively enhance physical fitness and prevent illness, but you should also pay attention to the following points during your runs to avoid injuring your body.
1. Prevent Sports Injuries
In low temperatures, muscles and ligaments become more viscous, their elasticity and flexibility decrease, and joint mobility and range of motion are also reduced. Therefore, it's essential to warm up properly before every run to prevent injuries.
2. Reduce the Burden on the Gastrointestinal Tract
Avoid drinking or eating large amounts before or after a run, as this may increase the burden on your gastrointestinal system. Additionally, after sweating heavily from running, drinking too much water may lead to water intoxication; running vigorously on a full stomach could cause intestinal torsion.
3. Manage Your Exercise Intensity
In winter, you should arrange your exercise intensity reasonably based on weather conditions and your personal health status. Middle-aged runners should especially control the intensity of their workouts.
Health TIP: Try to Breathe Through Your Nose While Running in Winter
Normally, people breathe through their nose, but when running, due to intense muscle activity, oxygen demand increases significantly, and you may need to use your mouth to help breathe. In winter, the air is cold and sometimes windy or sandy. Breathing with your mouth open allows cold air to directly and excessively stimulate the mucous membranes of the mouth, throat, and trachea, causing them to dry out and feel uncomfortable, which can lead to coughing.
Therefore, when running in winter, try to breathe through your nose or use a combination of nasal and oral breathing. In this case, keep your mouth slightly open, lift your tongue, and inhale cold air through the gaps between your teeth, allowing the air to be warmed in your mouth. Note that you should start your run by breathing through your nose, and once you’ve adjusted a bit, you can begin using your mouth as well. This helps avoid direct cold stimulation to the mouth and reduces coughing.