Activate longevity genes! What you need to know about the relationship between exercise and water

●Exercise only until you sweat a little

Everyone has a "longevity gene" in their body cells, but unfortunately, this gene is usually in a dormant state and refuses to work. Saying that "the real person never reveals his true face" seems to have a different meaning, but no matter what, it is a pity to let such excellent and precious genes remain dormant.

Although the longevity gene is dormant, it is actually not difficult to awaken it. Just turn some switches to "ON" and the longevity genes will wake up and start working. It is not a born lazy bone. The easiest way to wake it up is to press the exercise switch. By relaxing and contracting muscles through exercise, you can activate longevity genes.

Exercise is an important habit that is indispensable for preventing modern civilization diseases and achieving longevity, and it also has the effect of relaxing the body and mind. However, many people are troubled by their inability to exercise consistently. Even if you make up your mind and buy jogging clothes or shoes, or join a gym, in many cases it ends up being a waste of money.

It is often said that "persistence is strength", but on the other hand, it is precisely because it is difficult to persevere in anything that such a motto exists. But the good news is that to turn on the longevity gene, you don’t need formal or intense exercise. Instead, exercise that causes a little sweating can more easily activate the switch. Don't think of exercise as something that's too difficult. Instead, think of it as just consciously moving your body more in your daily life, and it should be much easier.

●Benefits of intermittent walking

As for specific exercise methods, I recommend "intermittent walking". This is a method of adding intensity to the walking process. For example, walk slowly for five minutes first, and then walk at about 1.5 times the speed for the next five minutes.

Walk like this for about twenty to thirty minutes, and the interval time and speed can be adjusted according to your age and physical strength. If you are overweight or don't have the energy to lift, you can shorten the total time. If you differentiate between strong and weak people when walking, it will be easier to activate the longevity gene.

This type of exercise puts more strain on the body than brisk walking, but it's not as intense as jogging, so there's no need to push yourself by saying, "I'm going to exercise!" Some people get off the bus one stop earlier and walk during their commute or when going home. If they adopt this "intermittent walking" method, they can activate their longevity genes. I think there's nothing more cost-effective than this. If you can develop the habit of "intermittent walking" when you go out shopping, it will not only relax your body and mind, but also increase the "deposit amount of longevity genes."

●Key points for hydration during exercise

Not just during interval walking, but whenever you exercise, it is more important to replenish water than usual. Exercise increases metabolism and produces sweat, which is very beneficial to health. However, if the water excreted is not replenished properly, it may cause dehydration symptoms. To prevent dehydration, water intake is absolutely essential.

The key to replenishing water during exercise is to first drink a glass of alkaline mineral water before exercise. When you exercise, water is excreted with sweat, so your blood may become viscous. To prevent this phenomenon, you must drink water beforehand. When exercising, the cells in the body will begin to burn due to the increase in body temperature and easily turn into acidity, so alkaline water can play a preventive role.

Water intake during exercise is also important, but the type and amount of water intake varies depending on the content of the exercise. When doing "intermittent walking" for twenty to thirty minutes, drink alkaline mineral water little by little before you feel thirsty. So you must bring a plastic bottle or water bottle filled with water.

Sometimes, if you jog for an hour to really sweat, I recommend drinking sports drinks rather than mineral water. When you sweat profusely, you lose more than just water. Minerals such as sodium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium are also lost along with sweat. If these ingredients are not replenished, you may experience dehydration symptoms, and when the temperature is too high, you may even be at risk of heat stroke.

The symptoms of dehydration may make people mistakenly believe that it is just the loss of water, but in fact, a large amount of minerals are also excreted along with the water. Generally, dehydration can cause headaches and nausea, and your body temperature may rise. Even though you sweat a lot, your body temperature cannot go down. If your body temperature reaches around 40 degrees, you are already in the danger zone of heat stroke.

In this case, simply replenishing water will not help. Not only that, water will dilute the salt concentration in the body, which will aggravate the dehydration in the cells. So to prevent symptoms of dehydration and heat stroke, it's important to drink sports drinks containing minerals before you lose a lot of sweat.

●Key points for hydration after exercise

Although not as diverse as mineral water, there are many types of sports drinks. It is important to check the ingredient list before use and choose the type that suits your physical condition and purpose. Recently, perhaps because of the popularity of weight loss, more and more zero-calorie sports drinks have appeared, but these drinks have less mineral content, so when doing more intense exercise, it is best to choose sports drinks that contain sufficient minerals.

Be careful about drinking water during exercise, especially when you are sweating a lot. You will want to drink water in big gulps. However, if you take in a lot of water at once, your stomach will become like a bucket, and sometimes it will cause abdominal pain. When exercising, you must drink small amounts of water frequently before you feel thirsty.

Don't forget to replenish water after exercise. Sometimes I choose to drink carbonated water. Carbonated water can break down the lactic acid that causes fatigue, so I often drink carbonated water when playing golf. Speaking of golf, it is common to see many people having lunch with beer at the golf club after playing half a round. However, beer has a diuretic effect, so it may cause dehydration symptoms. Although drinking cold beer after sweating tastes great, drinking beer during golf in the hot summer will increase the risk of heat stroke, so it is still necessary to avoid it. Make it a habit to drink sports drinks or carbonated water to replenish your water after sweating during exercise, and then enjoy your drink afterwards to prevent dehydration.