夏季运动 需注意保护身体

夏天来临了，很多爱美的女性都认为这是个运动流汗、燃烧脂肪的绝佳机会。只是适度运动的前提，一定要保护自己的身体不受伤害。

Summer workouts are usually considered the best way to burn off those extra pounds that have built up over the colder months. And many people, especially white collar workers, turn to various exercise routines like jogging and ball games.

However Doctor Xu Yan from the Peking University Third Hospital says they usually receive more patients who get sports injury in summer.

"If you want to improve your physique and increase your health, you should stick to working out all year long rather than choosing a particular season to take action. However, summer can be a good season to start your fitness routine."

But for many young people who are busy working during the weekdays, it is not easy to stick to a fitness program all year round. All too often our initial enthusiasm and energy wanes, we get distracted by other things going on in our lives or we don't think we're seeing results quickly enough, and we throw in the towel.

Doctor Xu Yan suggests fixing a time to play sports will make it easier to stick to a fitness routine. And what's more important is to find a sport that you like as well as something that you are capable of with your physical strength.

But how should we amateurs control the intensity and volume of exercise? Doctor Xu explains:

"Feel the reaction of your body. After intensive exercise you will feel tired and have sore muscles, but at the same time you feel happy and energetic, and have good appetite and sound sleep, that indicate proper amount of exercise. Moreover, you have the desire to carry on with your workouts. On the other hand, with too much exercise, people sweat heavily, feel dizzy and short of breath; the desire to workout soon evaporates."

Doctor Xu Yan says that there is another way to measure if the intensity of exercise is right for you.

"By looking at heart rates, we can gauge whether the intensity of the exercise is proper. Start with 180 and deduct your age, the number you get should be the appropriate heart rate for you after exercise. For example, if you are 20 years old, your appropriate heart rate after exercise should be 160."

Based on this full intensity, Doctor Xu suggests that workouts be done every other day. And you should never skip warming up! Last but not least, never force yourself to do any movement that is too hard for you or causes you pain.

In case of any sprain, strain or pulling of muscles during workout, immediate first aid treatment can prevent complications and help injury heal faster.

"One of the most popular acronyms to remember if you get a sports injury is RICE, which stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Rest is vital to protect the injured muscle, tendon, ligament or other tissue from further injury. When icing an injury, choose a cold pack, crushed ice mixed with water wrapped in a thin towel to provide cold to the injured area; Compression helps limit and reduce swelling. Elevating an injury helps control swelling."

It's not easy for an amateur to estimate the damage incurred when a sports injury happens.　Doctor Xu stresses that the injured should be sent to see a doctor immediately after first aid treatment.

For CRI, I am Zhang Wan.