Weather in Boston has warm up slightly recently and I see more and more people jogging on the street over the past few weeks. Needless to say, jogging in this comfortable weather is refreshing and it’s something I recommend many of my patients to do to boost their energy. However, there are a few things that we need to pay attentions to as the weather is still changing day to day.
Spring is when the weather is getting warm but the ground and air are still cold. Of course there would be a few days that are extra warm or even hot, but those are still rare. Spring is the season of happenings. It means that spring is the transformation between the cold and resting winter and hot and acting summer. During this season, the earth is opening up to receive the heat and warmth from the sun. When this happens, cold and dampness that store in the soil over the winter is released from the earth.
Our body is just like the environment around us. Although we still need to carry on our daily activities during the winter, we do less active work and rest more. This is the season that is best to rest to recover from the busy previous year and to get ready for the coming year. Spring is when we need to hug the sun to get all the warmness to restart our body. However, New England weather does not permit us to have enough sun all the time for the Spring, so it is always a good idea to stretch and warm up the body before heading out to exercise.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, Cold and damp are the two most popular elements that cause arthritis. Our knees are the bigger joints in our body that we tend to expose to the air. The bigger the joint is, the easier for the exterior factors to enter the joint and stay there. When we are jogging, our knees are open to the cold and damp that are released from the soil. Covering our knees provides an additional layer of protection against the exterior environment. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are 719,000 knee replacement surgeries in 2010, and this number is expected to excess more than 3 million in 2030. We can change this outlook by taking care of our knees in our everyday life.
Drinking something warm, keeping the body dry and covering up the body are the things that I always do all year long after exercise. After jogging, our body is still fill with the yang energy that flows faster than normal and the pores on the surface are still open. It is easier to for the exterior evils such as cold, damp, wind to get into our system as the body cools down. We want to keep the good energy in our body while not letting those bad energy enter from the pores. The easiest way is to just cover the body up. Especially the neck, shoulders, low back, and abdomen. Keeping the body dry and drinking warm drinks also help to prevent sudden changes in the body.
These three are the most important things that I always remind my patients when they start to jog outdoor once the weather starts to get better. However, if you start to feel some discomfort after jogging or any exercise and that discomfort does not go away after a few days of resting, it is always a good idea to check with your local health professional before the problem gets worse. And if you are in Boston area, click here to schedule an appointment with me!
True, Helpful article.
While you are exercising, you should not get too enthused, you should not ignore the pain, don’t look sideways and don’t full whole grains. Ten mistakes which fixing will make your life easy while exercising and even prevent injury.
I enjoyed reading your posts, Thanks for sharing