Shen Linlong: Continuous exercise adds to your health

Text by Zhang Huixin and Yang Yuhao

Shen Linlong has perseverance and persistence that are rare among ordinary people. At the age of 50, he retired from public office and resolutely went to the University of Paris, France to pursue a doctorate in economics, because he wanted to continue to fulfill his dream of studying in France when he was 37 years old. He is a man who finishes what he starts and still maintains some good habits he developed when he was young, such as writing a diary since high school and doing army exercises every morning since he joined the army. As a person who has exercise habits, he believes that athletic ability is not necessarily innate, but through hard work and persistence, one can find reasons to love exercise and make himself healthier...

Shen Linlong, chairman of the Cooperative Bank Financial Holding Company and Commercial Bank, who has loved sports since childhood, does not deny that he has gained great benefits from sports. He is very grateful to his father for leaving him the best gift since he was a young son. That is, his father took him to practice Tai Chi under a tree every day since he was 4 or 5 years old, laying a good foundation for his future health, self-discipline and willpower.

It has been nearly 40 years since Shen Linlong retired from the army, but he still spends 30 minutes every morning doing a set of sports exercises based on army boxing and supplemented by other types of body exercises. Even if he has to participate in the company's road running activity that day and is required to gather at 5:30, Shen Linlong will not skip the boxing, but will get up half an hour earlier and do the aerobics before going out without any worries. "Everyone should treat 'exercise' as 'work'!" Shen Linlong often tells colleagues who are feeling stressed: "If you can't finish your work, you can still do it tomorrow or next month. Once you lose your health, you can never get it back!"

The sports atmosphere of Heku is flourishing and it has cultivated excellent national players for the country

Compared to other financial companies, the Taiwan Cooperative Bank, which has the largest number of branches in Taiwan, has always been active in sports. In fact, CoBank has the earliest corporate baseball team, table tennis team, and badminton team in the country, and they were developed spontaneously from the bottom up by employees from the very beginning. Therefore, compared with other banks, CoBank employees generally love sports, and branches in various places also have different sports teams.

"For decades, no matter how the bank has transformed or how its employees have evolved, this sports culture has never changed." Shen Linlong is very proud of the local character of his employees. He believes that although most bank employees do not look as smart and likable as employees in other industries, and even appear to be honest and "rough and brave", the overall health, optimism and friendliness they display are unmatched by other banks.

In fact, Cooperative Bank has always protected the lives of its players. As long as the players are willing, they can be transferred to become bank employees in the future. Most of these players play a leading role when they go to branches in various places. Therefore, the sports atmosphere in branches has been maintained very well. It is often seen that everyone moves the dining tables and chairs to become the best venue for table tennis battles.

"Because the players are protected, they can concentrate on playing and often achieve good results." Over the years, the Bank has trained many outstanding national players for the country, such as Olympic table tennis player Chuang Chih-Yuan, who recently teamed up with another player from the Bank, Chen Jianan, to win the World Table Tennis Men's Doubles Championship.

Treat exercise as work and never retire easily

Whenever he visited various branches and saw that some colleagues were emotional due to excessive performance pressure, he would encourage everyone to pay more attention to leisure and exercise. "First take care of your health and then work hard for your career. Only then will your efforts in life be meaningful." Shen Linlong said that the number of branches of the Cooperative Bank is the highest in the country, and the financial holding company is the second largest public financial holding company (the fourth largest in the country). Colleagues all have the idea of ​​"not being able to afford to lose", but they must think about the "open" side of things. Don't rush to carry the burden on your shoulders, carry it back home, or carry it in your dreams, so that you won't be both hard-working (bitter) and unable to find a way out.

Shen Linlong said that there will be setbacks in life at any time, it all depends on how you face them. Perhaps years of exercise have developed his flexible and strong will. He admits that he is not afraid of pressure. On the contrary, he feels that facing pressure and achieving goals is a very fulfilling thing in life. So, sometimes I will deliberately challenge myself to solve problems of high difficulty.

"Exercise can not only relieve stress, but also help people calm down and think more clearly." Shen Linlong found that when he was swimming, his mind was particularly calm and focused in the water, and he could often think of ways to solve problems. So when he was not so busy in the past, he used to swim three times a week on average, but now he swims once a week, that is, he plays basketball on Saturday morning and goes to a fitness center near his home to swim in the afternoon. He takes the opportunity to relax his tight muscles and knees from playing basketball, and at the same time think calmly about various problems.

The regular and extensive exercise made Shen Linlong's partner laugh at him: "You treat exercise as work!" Shen Linlong not only didn't take it seriously, but added: "Not only should you treat exercise as work, but it's best not to retire forever!"

Take a walk with my wife every night, talk and relax

Shen Linlong said that more than 20 years ago, he heard a Chinese medicine practitioner say: Older people are more likely to have fatty liver, and it is best to walk immediately after a meal to burn fat. Since then, he and his wife have followed this practice. Every night after dinner, the two would put down their bowls and chopsticks and immediately go out for a walk, following a fixed flat route, walking slowly without any pressure, chatting as they walked, and it always took more than an hour.

"Unless there is a typhoon and it is risky to walk, even if it is windy and rainy outside, if it is just drizzling, we will still go out with an umbrella!" The two once joked, "It's like an addiction. We feel like we can't do it without it." Even if they get home late after socializing, they still go out for a walk in the middle of the night. When they meet a familiar patrol police officer on the way, they both express their admiration.

Shen Linlong admitted, "Another benefit of taking a walk with my wife is that through a casual chat, the stress and emotions of the day can be relieved and we can share a happy time." Mrs. Shen, a working woman, is originally introverted and doesn't talk much on weekdays. However, during walks with her husband, Shen Linlong often plays the role of a listener, and his wife can talk to her heart's content, and the interaction is pleasant.

"As time went by, I got to know many neighbors and dogs at different times, and made a lot of friends invisibly." Sometimes when Shen Linlong was away on business, his wife would go out for a walk alone. When acquaintances saw them, they would ask, "Where is your husband?" The wife would naturally interact and talk, and her personality changed a lot because of this. "When I'm on a business trip abroad, I'll still take a walk in the evening if I have the chance, as long as the environment is safe." If you're worried about safety, you can invite your colleagues to join you. "Unfortunately, some young colleagues want to go back to the hotel after walking for 20 minutes, which shows the importance of developing exercise habits."... The Facebook fan page of Everyone's Health Magazine has healthy and practical information every day. It cares about your physical and mental health. Search it online!

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