Hardening of the body with water. How to start hardening an adult at home. How long do hardening results last?

Hardening of the body is a complex system of preventive measures that increase the body's resistance to the effects of the external environment. Hardening the body with cold water helps to improve blood circulation, normalize metabolic processes, increase the tone of the central nervous and immune systems. How to harden properly to get the most out of this process?

Hardening can be carried out in different ways, each of which has its own benefits, advantages and disadvantages. There are the following ways of hardening the body:

1. Aerotherapy - air baths, long walks, stay in the fresh air. They are held at any time of the year, regardless of weather conditions and temperature conditions. Aerotherapy is one of the simplest ways to strengthen the body by normalizing the processes of thermoregulation. Air hardening strengthens the immune system, normalizes the functioning of internal organs, and stabilizes the psycho-emotional state. It is with aerotherapy that experts recommend starting the hardening of the human body.
2. Heliotherapy - sunbathing, strengthening the body through solar exposure. This technique normalizes metabolic processes, increases the overall resistance of the body, has a beneficial effect on the state of the muscular and nervous systems, and has a general tonic effect. It is important to follow certain recommendations in order to avoid adverse effects such as sunstroke.
3. Water procedures with cold water are considered one of the most effective, efficient methods. Exposure to different temperature regimes activates microcirculation, blood circulation, strengthens and tones the body.

The main types of water hardening of the body:

1. Rubbing is the first step in hardening the body, it has an extremely soft and delicate effect. Rubbing is done with soft sponges dipped in cold water, rubbing the skin of the body with vigorous massaging movements.
2. Pouring with cold water is a very effective tonic procedure that can be both local (pousing the legs) and general. After the procedure, it is necessary to thoroughly rub the skin with a dry towel.
3. Contrast shower - alternation of temperature regimes, has a pronounced strengthening effect on blood vessels.
4. Winter swimming or winter swimming is one of the most effective ways of hardening and strengthening the body, which has a beneficial effect on the state of almost all organs and systems, normalizes thermoregulatory processes, and the functioning of the cardiovascular system.

It is important to understand that it is recommended to start the process of hardening with cold water with the most gentle procedures - rubdowns and douches, gradually preparing the body for winter swimming. It is for this reason that bathing for baptism in an ice hole without prior preparation, and failure to comply with certain rules, can become very dangerous for an unhardened person and plunge the body into a state of extreme stress.

Benefit and harm

What is the benefit of pouring cold water or is it harmful to humans? This procedure has a lot of advantages and has a positive effect on the body. The improvement of the thermoregulation system, resulting from a change in temperature regimes during douching, accelerates metabolism, metabolism, activates an intense blood flow to the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe internal organs.

For weight loss, dousing with water is very effective, especially cold.

The skin restores its tone, cellulite and subcutaneous fat deposits are eliminated as a result of improved metabolism. The procedure strengthens the immune system and the central nervous system, improves sleep, eliminates anxiety and irritability,

Experts say that pouring cold water regularly in the morning contributes to the achievement of the following positive results:

• improving the condition of hair and skin;
• prevention of varicose veins;
• normalization of hormonal levels;
• mood improvement.

Dousing with water, especially cold, is not recommended for osteochondrosis. Patients suffering from this disease, it is better to give preference to a softer method of contrast rubdowns. This procedure relieves pain and reduces joint sensitivity to temperature changes.

You can get an even more pronounced effect by using infusions of medicinal herbs for wiping, which have a positive effect on the state of the articular-ligamentous apparatus. Traditional medicine for these purposes recommends the use of decoctions of tansy, yarrow, thyme.

With severe hypertension, dousing with cold water is contraindicated.

A negative reaction to cold can be if a person has the following contraindications to this method of hardening:

• traumatic damage to the skin;
• elevated or excessively low blood pressure;
• influenza, viral, respiratory diseases;
• the period of exacerbation of ailments occurring in a chronic form;
• elevated intraocular pressure;
• heart failure;
• ischemic disease, arrhythmias, tachycardia.

If you have serious health problems, before starting hardening procedures, you should consult with your doctor. The doctor will help to identify possible contraindications and choose the most optimal, safe methods of hardening the body.

How to temper correctly?

Hardening gives a positive, prolonged result and improves health only if the procedures are carried out in accordance with all the basic rules. Otherwise, you can not only not wait for the expected effect, but also seriously harm the body.

The basic principles of hardening the body:

1. It is necessary to increase the intensity of the hardening effect moderately and smoothly. For example, the water temperature for douching should be reduced gradually, by 1-2 degrees. It is categorically contraindicated for beginners to swim in the ice hole in winter, such overloads are fraught with serious consequences.
2. Hardening procedures are required regularly and systematically. Even short breaks (3-4 weeks) will lead to the loss of the results obtained, and everything will have to start over.
3. You should take into account your own individual characteristics - age category, body weight, general health.
4. It is recommended to lead a mobile, active lifestyle. Motor activity, physical activity and hardening of the body - should take place in a complex.
5. In the process of carrying out the procedures, it is necessary to carefully monitor the reactions of your body, control the indicators of the pulse, blood pressure.

You need to carry out the procedures with pleasure, without violence against yourself. In addition, it is important to remember that hardening is one of the elements of a healthy lifestyle, which includes a proper balanced diet, giving up bad habits, and playing sports.

Pouring cold water

Dousing with cold water is an effective procedure. In this case, it is better to refuse a shower, since prolonged exposure to a cold jet can adversely affect health.

You need to fill the bucket with water. Moreover, 1 hardening should be carried out with water at a temperature not lower than 30 degrees. Gradually, the temperature regimes can be lowered.

The correct douche scheme is presented in the following table:

It is best to start the procedure with rubdowns. The ideal time for water procedures is the morning hours.

First you need to rub with a towel dipped in cold water, hands, feet, chest, face and stomach, throat. An excellent continuation can be partial dousing - washing, dousing hands and feet with cold water.

At the next stage, standing in the bathroom, you can go to full douche by pouring a bucket of cold water on yourself. Full dousing with the head is not necessary at all. Such sessions can be recommended for patients suffering from migraine attacks, severe headaches, dizziness.

In such procedures, it is important to observe the scheme of alternating temperature regimes. Experts advise watering the head and face with warm water for 7 minutes and only 1 minute with cold water. After the session, the head must be thoroughly wiped with a towel in order to prevent hypothermia.

It is important to ensure that there are no drafts in the room. At first, the skin can be lost with a dry towel, vigorous massage movements. In the future, as you adapt, it is better to refuse to wipe, allowing the water droplets to dry on their own, naturally.

Cold shower

A cold shower is the next step in hardening the body. It is best to start with a contrast shower. Within a minute, it is necessary to douse with warm water, gradually increase the temperature regime and dive for 0.5-2 minutes under a stream of hot water, then turn on cold water sharply (for approximately the same time). The recommended number of alternations of temperature regimes is from 3 to 5 times.

After 1.5-2 weeks, you can switch from a contrast shower to a cold one. The procedure is very effective, increases vitality, activates the body's natural defense mechanisms. The water temperature should be lowered gradually, the minimum indicators are from 15 to 12 degrees.

To increase efficiency and reduce the risk of possible hypothermia, it is recommended to do morning exercises before the procedure to warm up the body. The duration of the procedure is about 2 minutes, after which the same amount of time must be spent vigorously rubbing the body with a terry towel.

Hardening in the hole

Swimming in an ice hole is one of the most effective and efficient hardening methods, gaining immense popularity. Such hardening of the body activates almost all physiological processes, has a rejuvenating effect, gives a charge of vivacity and energy.

But this technique requires caution and compliance with certain rules. Also, swimming in the hole has certain contraindications:

• cystitis;
• bronchial asthma;
• epileptic syndrome;
• neuritis;
• traumatic injuries of the skull;
• enterocolitis;
• pathologies of the cardiovascular system;
• inflammatory processes localized in the prostate region;
• diabetes;
• glaucoma;
• gynecological diseases of an inflammatory nature;
• tuberculosis;
• inflammatory processes in the nasopharynx, nasal cavity;
• sclerosis of cerebral vessels;
• pneumonia;
• conjunctivitis;
• sexually transmitted infectious diseases;
• severe form of renal pathologies.

It is strictly forbidden to bathe babies, children in the age category under 16 years old in the hole. Such extreme procedures are not recommended for elderly people over 70. Severe hypothermia when immersed in an ice hole is stressful for the body, which can be dangerous for older people who have serious health problems.

Traditional winter bathing at Epiphany in the hole is a good solution only for experienced and trained people, otherwise extremely undesirable consequences are possible, up to heart attacks and strokes.

Bathing after visiting the bath in the hole as a result of a sharp change in temperature conditions activates regeneration processes, strengthens blood vessels and the heart, saturates the cells and tissues of the body with oxygen, and improves the general condition. But it is necessary to remember about the contraindications listed above.

Preparing to dive into the hole should begin in the summer, swimming in lakes and rivers, preparing your body. There are the following rules for hardening the body by immersing an ice hole:

1. Start diving in small holes made near the shore, under the supervision of specialists.
2. Warm up the body before diving. For these purposes, a standard warm-up is suitable - squats, rubbing, jumping.
3. Plunge into the water gradually and refrain from diving with your head, since such actions are fraught with dangerous consequences, up to sharp spasms of the cerebral vessels.
4. The optimal dive time is one minute. For beginners, 10–20 seconds will be enough to avoid hypothermia.
5. Coming out of the hole, it is necessary to thoroughly rub the body with a towel with energetic active movements and put on dry warm clothes and underwear.

Swimming in the hole is strictly forbidden to combine with the use of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol contributes to the expansion of blood vessels, and a person loses heat faster. You should also give up smoking, which disrupts the processes of blood circulation.

Warm herbal tea will help to warm up after immersion in ice water, which is recommended to take with you in a thermos when going to water-healing procedures.

How to temper children?

The greatest care must be taken when carrying out hardening procedures for children. Firstly, the child's body is more sensitive to cold, has less resistance. Secondly, the allowable indicators of the minimum temperature regimes for children and adults differ significantly.

It is also important to consider the age of the child. For example, dousing with cold water is not suitable for infants, infants.

It is possible to harden such babies only by contrast rubdowns. It is necessary to start the process of strengthening the baby's body with sun and air baths. During water procedures, monitor the microclimate in the room; it is best to start such activities in the summer.

Hardening can be carried out after bathing the child, using for this purpose a shower with a temperature regime of water a couple of degrees lower than in the bathroom. If there are no negative reactions to the cold in the baby, the temperature can be further lowered, but the change must be carried out smoothly and gradually.

Experts recommend making water during hardening procedures colder by 1 degree for 3-5 days. This rule will allow the child's body to adapt, to avoid hypothermia and the accompanying adverse consequences.

Tempering children over the age of 2 years, you need to follow the standard scheme recommended for adults. You need to start water procedures with dousing the arms and legs of the baby, gradually moving to the whole body. Pediatricians do not recommend pouring water over the head and face of a child, at least in the initial stages, as this can be very stressful for the baby.

To improve the effectiveness and safety of procedures, parents should pay attention to the following recommendations of specialists:

1. Systematic and regular, a healthy lifestyle should become a habit for the baby.
2. Multifactorial. For the full hardening of the child's body, it is important to alternate the impact of various external factors, such as air, water, and the sun.
3. Periodic change in temperature regimes and duration of sessions.
4. Physical activity - exercise and active outdoor games - significantly increase the efficiency of the hardening process and reduce the likelihood of hypothermia.

A positive psycho-emotional mood of the child is very important. We must try to turn hardening into an interesting game, which will gradually become an integral part of the life of a little man.

If the child reacts inadequately to the cold, cries, is naughty - you need to listen to these signals. It may be worth changing the temperature regimes, the scheme of procedures, or taking the baby for a consultation with the doctor.

Hardening the body with cold water is a holistic complex aimed at healing and strengthening the body. Pouring, wiping, diving - increase the overall tone, activate the internal reserves of the body and its natural defense mechanisms, have a rejuvenating effect. But in order to obtain a positive effect, without risk to health, it is necessary to exercise consistency and caution, especially when it comes to small children, the elderly, people suffering from serious diseases.

Hardening is an increase in the body's resistance to the effects of natural factors within the boundaries of physiological stress. Hardening strengthens the body, improves blood circulation, increases the tone of the central nervous system, and most importantly - strengthens the immune system and reduces the frequency of colds. Hardening is a training of the whole organism and, above all, of the thermoregulatory apparatus.

You can start hardening at almost any age. It is best to consult with your doctor beforehand. He will check the state of health and exclude possible contraindications. If we are talking about hardening a child, then you can start it only when the child is completely healthy.

Basic principles of hardening:

systematic,
gradualism
taking into account individual characteristics,
self-control.

The principle of systematicity requires the obligatory daily implementation of procedures. Long breaks in hardening lead to a weakening or loss of acquired protective reactions.

Another prerequisite for proper hardening is a gradual increase in the dosage of procedures.

When hardening, as in carrying out any other procedures, one should take into account the individual characteristics of the organism. Your own feelings will tell you which hardening methods are best for you.

The effectiveness of hardening increases significantly if it is combined with physical exercises, especially in the fresh air, incl. with swimming, skiing and skating, athletics.

Indicators of proper hardening and its positive results are: sound sleep, good appetite, improved well-being, increased efficiency, cheerful mood, absence of flus and colds, etc. Accordingly, the appearance of insomnia, irritability, decreased appetite, decreased performance and cold symptoms indicate improper hardening . In these cases, it is necessary to change the form and dosage of the procedures (perhaps temporarily interrupt them) and consult a doctor for advice.

Air and water

Air hardening - air baths - the most gentle and safe hardening procedure. It is with air baths that it is recommended to start systematic hardening.

The hardening effect of air depends mainly on its temperature. Air baths are divided into lukewarm (air temperature +30…+20°С), cool (+20…+14°С) and cold (+14°С and below) according to the evoked heat sensation.

It is better to start taking air baths in a well-ventilated area. Exercise in a room with an open window. Then, as you harden, move the classes to the open air. It is best to take air baths on the move: light jogging, exercising or playing. In case of rain, fog and strong wind, hardening can be done at home in a room with an open window. You should start taking air baths from 20 minutes at an air temperature of +16 ... + 20 ° C. Gradually, as the body adapts, increase the time spent in the air and lower the temperature.

Water procedures are a more intensive hardening procedure. The main factor in hardening is the temperature of the water. The systematic use of water procedures is a reliable prevention of colds and ailments.

The most favorable time to start hardening with water is summer and autumn. It is best to carry out procedures in the morning, immediately after sleep or at the end of morning exercises.

Starting to harden with water, first they take light water procedures with a water temperature of + 33 ... + 34 ° C. Then, every 3-4 days, the water temperature is reduced by 1 °, and gradually, in 1.5-2 months, it is adjusted well-being and health to +10 ... + 15 ° C. In the summer heat, the temperature can be even lower. The colder the water, the shorter the treatment time should be.

Rubbing is the initial stage of hardening with water. Within a few days, wipe with a towel or sponge moistened with water. At first, this procedure is done only to the waist, and then they proceed to wiping the whole body. Rubbing is carried out sequentially, starting from the upper half of the body: after wiping the neck, chest, arms and back with water, wipe them dry and rub with a towel until redness in the direction of blood flow to the heart. After that, they also wipe the hips and legs. The entire procedure, including rubbing, should not exceed 5 minutes.

Pouring is the next stage of hardening with water. With this procedure, a small pressure of the water jet is added to the effect on the body of the low temperature of the water. When dousing, water pours out of a bucket, basin or hose. For the first douche, it is better to take water with a temperature of about + 30 °, in the future the temperature drops to + 10 ° C, and in extreme heat outside it can be even lower. After dousing, vigorous rubbing of the body with a towel is performed. The duration of the entire procedure is no more than 3-4 minutes.

The shower is another effective water treatment. At the beginning of hardening, the water in the shower should be + 30 ... + 35 ° С, and the duration of the procedure should not exceed one minute. Then the water temperature is gradually reduced, and the shower time is increased to 2 minutes. The procedure ends with vigorous rubbing of the body with a towel.

Hardening is a way of "training" the body to properly respond to cold or another environmental factor. Having received new information about the external environment, gradually learning it, the body learns to respond to it correctly.

♦ Basic hardening rules:

✓ decrease in temperature and increase in procedure time should be consistent and gradual;

✓ procedures must be carried out systematically, without long breaks;

✓ A combination of various hardening factors is desirable.

Summer hardening with water is carried out by bathing in open or closed reservoirs at a water temperature of at least 20 ° C. The air temperature should not be below 18–20 °C. Bathing can be repeated 2-3 times in 1.5-2 hours. Bathing starts from 5 minutes, gradually increasing the time spent in water by 1-2 minutes, and bring the procedure time to 10 minutes, without increasing it further.

autumn recommended daily morning wiping the body with a damp towel, dousing with water, contrast showers. The air temperature in the room where the procedures are performed should be about 20 ° C. Water procedures are started using warm (about 30 ° C) water, gradually lowering its temperature by 1-2 ° C every 5-6 days and bringing it to 22-20 ° C. The duration of dousing is about 1.5 minutes. When visiting the pool, the duration of bathing should first be 1.5-2 minutes and in the future it can be increased to 10-15 minutes.

Contrast water procedures at home begin with a water temperature of at least 30 ° C. Gradually during the week, the temperature is reduced to 20 ° C.

contrast bath- an excellent hardening agent.

The procedure is carried out as follows. Water is poured into the bath (pleasant temperature). The patient lies down in it. After 5 minutes, when he warms up, he quickly sits down on the crossbar. He takes his feet out of the water, leaning them on the inner edge of the bath, quickly douses (or pours him) from the shower with cold water (starting from the feet). After that, he immediately lies down in a warm bath (a little hot water is added to it) and after 5 minutes is poured over again.

Every time warm up in the bath so that there is no feeling of chills. And each cold dousing must begin with the feet. Then very quickly pour over the whole body.

After 5-6 alternations, a feeling of lightness in the chest appears, familiar to everyone who goes to take a steam bath. It is necessary to complete the procedure with a cool douche, thorough rubbing of the whole body, rest and diaphoretic drink.

Cold and hot shower can replace a bath.

First, they pour themselves with a hot shower of an acceptable temperature; having warmed up, switching the tap, they quickly douse (starting from the feet) with colder water so that the temperature difference is sensitive. Then again a warm shower, a slightly hot first, and again a cooler douche. Repeat this 5-6 times until a feeling of cheerfulness appears. It is necessary to finish without fail with a cool douche, after which you carefully rub yourself, go to bed and drink diaphoretic tea with honey and lemon juice.

Contrast baths and showers - and this should be emphasized - are most indicated for those patients who previously used them for hardening. In unseasoned, unprepared children and adults, the use of contrast procedures during acute respiratory illness can exacerbate a chronic, sluggish current process. For children who are usually heavily wrapped, it is better to recommend different wraps. The use of cold water at high body temperature is possible for strong people.

in winter water procedures are carried out at an air temperature in the room not lower than 20 ° C. Morning shower or wiping the body with a damp towel begins at a water temperature of 35 ° C. Every 5-7 days, it is gradually reduced and brought to 24 ° C. At the same time, the duration of the water procedure does not change and remains within 1–1.5 minutes.

Dousing feet with water is a good hardening procedure, which is recommended to be carried out 2 hours before bedtime. Begin dousing with water heated to body temperature, gradually lowering it to 20 ° C.

Swimming in indoor pools in winter starts from 2 minutes and is adjusted in 2-3 weeks to 15-20 minutes. Bathing should not cause feelings of chills and overexertion.

spring for the purpose of hardening, morning wiping of the limbs, neck, torso is carried out. Then they begin pouring water on parts of the body or the entire torso, starting with an initial water temperature of 35 ° C. By lowering the temperature of the water gradually (in 1–3 days) by 1 °C over 2–3 weeks, it is brought to room temperature. Douching for 2-3 minutes is best done in the morning, after exercise or no later than 1.5-2 hours before bedtime. After the water procedure, they are wiped dry with a terry towel.

The swimming time in the pools is gradually increased, starting from 2 minutes, and brought up to 15 minutes in 3-4 weeks. After leaving the water, take a warm shower and rub the body with a towel until you feel a slight warmth.

Contrast showers are taken for 5–7 minutes, using alternately heating with water at a temperature of 30–35 ° C and gradually lowering it first to 28 ° C (4–6 cycles), and then bring it to 20 ° C.

Walking barefoot on dew, snow, wet rocks, and swimming in cold water are effective ways to harden.

Using the high thermal conductivity of water, it can be used to burn excess fat. A 15-minute swim in 20-degree water causes the body to release an additional 100 kilocalories of heat, which is generated by the utilization of body fat. Cool water procedures can increase appetite, calm the central nervous system.

Excellent vascular training, improvement of the protective functions of the skin and increased activity of other organs are achieved by alternating cold and thermal water effects on the body.

Walking barefoot on freshly fallen snow is a great way to harden.

water hardening - one of the most effective methods of promoting health and longevity. Water, as the source of everything that exists in the universe, has a significant healing effect on the human body only if it adheres to all the principles of hardening.

In this article at the House of Knowledge, I will tell you how to properly temper with water and what to do so as not to get sick after the procedures.

Preparing for hardening and choosing a water hardening method.

The most worrying are those who, without special training and training, are going to surprise their acquaintances by swimming in an ice hole or dousing with ice water. I want to say with all categoricalness that in adolescence and youth, "winter swimming" is not recommended at all. During this period of life, other types of hardening are much more effective for a person: solar and air. In addition, even in adulthood, they do not become walruses immediately, but after long sessions and always under the supervision of experienced trainers and doctors. And even with such conditions, not everyone is lucky to swim in the hole.

Therefore, I advise you to resort to not so exotic, but reliable and effective tempering procedures: shower, dousing, wiping, wrapping, taking baths, etc.

How to start quenching with water?

One of the important conditions for hardening the body with water is the correct choice of its temperature. There are cold baths (water temperature does not exceed 16 0 C), cool (16-28 0 C), so-called indifferent (29-36 0 C), warm (36-39 0 C) and hot (above 40 0 ​​C).

Water hardening is much stronger than air hardening. Therefore, do not linger for a long time in a pool, river or sea. It is best to invigorate and harden the body short, but energetic procedures.

Hardening with water should be started in spring or summer, but then do not interrupt it throughout the year. The optimal air temperature for such a "start" is within 17-20 0 С and it can be reduced after a certain adaptation of the body.

Tempering water procedures are best taken in the morning, immediately after sleep or morning hygienic exercises. Upon completion, vigorously rub the skin with a soft towel until it turns pink.

The last hardening factor is very indicative, and it should be learned to control. The first 1-2 minutes of contact with water, the skin turns pale, as the blood vessels narrow, then turns pink, due to their expansion. Such a reaction is especially important, as it increases the body's endurance, its resistance to colds and other diseases. But further hypothermia should not be allowed, which is expressed by blanching, and even blueness of the skin.

Unfortunately, quite often one has to see children and teenagers in the water who are already shivering, turning purple from the cold, and they don’t want to go ashore. In addition to harm to health, such "hardening" does nothing.

The water temperature for the initial hardening procedures should be indifferent, "indifferent", better than 34-35 0 C. You can "start" in pleasantly cool water at a temperature of 29-33 0 C. Such water does not excite or irritate. Over the next 1-2 weeks, the cold threshold is lowered to 12-14 0 C, or even lower. The rate of decrease in the hardening temperature and its lower limit depend on the adaptability of your body to cold. The water temperature should be lowered gradually by one degree every day. The control is carried out according to the reaction of the skin. Only the first and second phases (blanching of the skin for 1-2 minutes, and then the acquisition of a pink color by it) give a healing effect.

If, when quenching with water, repeated chills, tremors, blue skin occur, then the quenching mode is selected incorrectly. The water temperature must be immediately increased or the procedure shortened. You can also act with cold or heat on individual parts of the body, combine varieties of procedures.

The pressure of the jets on the skin should also be taken into account. The stronger the water jet, the colder the treatment will be.

Blue skin when hardening with water at a young age is most often observed when swimming in open natural reservoirs. In this case, you should immediately go ashore and warm up.

Methods for hardening the body with water.

If you are not well tolerated shower(skin receptors are strongly irritated) or pouring, rubbing, baths, try to resort to short local procedures - wipe down to the waist, do foot baths etc.

All hygiene procedures using water - washing, bathing, showering, gargling and others - can also be successfully used for hardening. But it must be done skillfully. Once I came across such a case when a guy was regularly tempered with a cold rubdown above the waist, and washed his legs with warm water. As a result, all his efforts came to naught.

First of all, make sure that there are no drafts in the room in which you are engaged in water procedures. Otherwise, acting on wet skin, they will cause additional hypothermia, and there it is not far from the disease. For the same reasons, in the summer for water procedures in the air, choose a cozy place.

Walking on water is a great way to harden the body.

For hardening with water, it is not necessary to swim in the sea or in a special pool. You can become healthy and hardy in an ordinary apartment, in your yard or on the street.

It’s good, for example, to harden yourself to walk barefoot in dewy or rain-wet grass in spring and summer, and in winter - around the room. The first such procedures last 3-5 minutes, and subsequently their duration is increased to 15-20 minutes. After each such hardening, do not forget to wash your feet with water, the temperature of which is 18-22 0 C. After that, dry them thoroughly with a dry towel and put on your socks.

After 15-20 days of such hardening, you can already begin to "ferment on the water." Do not worry if there is no river or sea nearby. It is enough to stand in a bowl of water (18-22 0 C) and walk around on the spot. In the first days, the duration of such procedures is 30 seconds, then their duration is gradually increased to 3 minutes. At the same time, every 3 days the water temperature is reduced by 1 0 C, bringing it to 12-14 0 C. The effect of this procedure can be enhanced by raising the water level in the bath to the knees. After "hardening walks" the legs, especially the feet, are also well poured with water (18-22 0 C) until you feel warm.

Washing and rinsing the mouth are also types of hardening with water.

In addition to the previously listed types of hardening with water, many use washing or washing hands and feet. To prevent diseases of the teeth and oral mucosa, rinse them with water at room temperature. And if you do this regularly (in the afternoon and in the evening) with your throat, then you will soon forget about tonsillitis, tonsillitis and other diseases of the nasopharynx.

For each such rinse, half a glass of boiled water is enough. Moreover, the very gurgling of liquid in the throat should last as long as possible, for which you need to take as deep a breath as possible. This type of hardening is also useful in that it relates to breathing exercises, and, therefore, develops the lungs.

The correctness of the hardening process by wiping.

The procedure of hardening by wiping, as a rule, begins with the hands, from the wrist to the shoulder (with a sponge, napkin or towel dipped in 18-22 0 C water) with uniform, fairly quick movements. After that, wet areas should be rubbed with a dry towel until the skin acquires a pink color. After 3-5 days, they wipe the entire upper body: arms, chest, back. It is very convenient to do this with a mitten, specially made of cotton fabric. After 2 weeks, you can already wipe the whole body: chest, back, stomach, arms and legs. The whole procedure takes 2-3 minutes.

A week after the complete wiping, the water temperature is reduced by 1 0 C every 3-5 days, bringing it to 12-14 0 C.

Hardening by rubbing is best done after morning exercises. It invigorates, activates forces. You can do this before going to bed, but then use water at a moderate temperature and do not rub with a dry towel.

Dousing with water is the best method of hardening.

After two months of rubbing with 12-14-degree water, you can go to douches.

Tempering by dousing begins with a temperature of 20 0 C. For the first 7 days, they pour over the shoulders, hands and forearms, and from the 2nd week - and legs. After each procedure, it is useful to do self-massage and be sure to rub yourself with a dry towel.

After half a month of such exercises, they are already completely doused: first, arms with legs, then the pressure of water is directed to the body (lower part) in front and behind, after which they pour over the back and head. Another week of full dousing, and every 3 procedures, the water temperature begins to be reduced by 1 0 C, bringing it to 12-14 0 C.

Cool and cold showers are an excellent hardening method.

The strongest form of hardening- cool and cold showers, because they also mechanically irritate the skin receptors. First, the water temperature should be 30-35 0 C, and the duration of the procedure - 1 minute. Then, according to the method described above, the jet of water is made colder, and the duration of its action on the body is increased to 2 minutes. In the future, it is useful to take showers with a variable water temperature, for which 2-3 times alternate a 30-35-degree jet with a 15-20-degree one, the duration of each of which is 3 minutes.

If you follow the recommendations, water procedures will give you cheerfulness and increase your efficiency. But if you feel that one of them excites you excessively, slightly irritates you, or you began to fall asleep badly, then you should immediately abandon it.

Combination of water hardening procedures.

Hardening with water procedures, which were discussed, can be combined. Let's say, in the morning "walk on water", and in the evening pour water over it. All these procedures must be performed daily.

Swimming in ponds is a great way to harden the body.

Bathing in rivers, lakes and ponds.
Bathing in reservoirs is also an effective means of hardening. At the same time, the body is influenced not only by meteorological, temperature, mechanical factors, but also by various movements that a person makes during swimming, exercises and games.

It is best to start swimming when the water, say, in a pond, heats up to 18-20 0 C and the air temperature will be the same. And the swimming season ends at a water temperature of 10-12 0 C and 14-16 0 C of air.

If the body is not hardened enough, then the "starting" swim should take place in water, the temperature of which is not colder than 20 0 C, and the air temperature is 24-25 0 C. First, they bathe for 3-5 minutes, bringing the stay in the water to fifteen minutes, and later - up to half an hour. In the first 4-5 days, they enter the water once a day, then twice, with an interval of at least 3-4 hours.

Swimming is best to temper in the morning or evening. But do not forget that you should not enter the water in a hot, sweaty and tired state. After eating, you can swim only after 1.5-2 hours, and on an empty stomach - it is not recommended at all.

Sea bathing.
When hardening, sea bathing is also very useful. The body is additionally affected by chemical and mechanical stimuli.

Wave impacts increase the heat transfer of the body, activate the muscles, tone up the cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous systems.

Microscopic crystals of sodium chloride, which are rich in sea water, significantly improve a person's well-being.

Rubbing with snow is a common winter form of hardening.

Among the potent hardening agents, rubbing with snow occupies a special place. But before this procedure, you can proceed only when the doctor allows.

They start wiping with snow indoors, and after the adaptation of the body, this can also be done on the street. First, rub the upper body for 2 minutes, then the legs.

Bath and steam room - a great hardening.

Strengthens human health and a bath with a steam room. Whipping yourself with a broom, you stimulate the release of sweat, blood flow to the skin, muscles and internal organs. It is useful, as it was done in ancient times, after a bath, to douse with cold water or rub with snow.

Thermal hardening procedures.

Thermal procedures for hardening the body also give a significant charge of health and vigor. In contrast to the action of cold, which first constricts blood vessels, they expand in heat. The general warming of the body relaxes the muscles of the internal organs, improves the functioning of the kidneys, increases the secretion of bile, increases the secretion of the stomach and pancreas. The combination of warming and cooling procedures soothes the body and relieves pain.

Since thermal hardening procedures increase body temperature, the body's resistance to disease also increases. Doctors widely use therapeutic and prophylactic hydroprocedures: compresses, wraps, baths.

General thermal baths, for example, calm the central nervous system, well relieve fatigue, insomnia and irritability. They should be taken at bedtime, not earlier than an hour after dinner. In this case, the water temperature should be about 37-38 0 C. The duration of the procedure is 15-20 minutes. The temperature of the water must be constant all the time, since a deviation in any direction will not give the desired results.

At the end of the procedure, they douse with warm water (26-27 0 C), dry (but do not rub) the body with a towel and immediately go to bed.

Hardening with salt and coniferous-salt baths.

To relieve fatigue and stress, you can take at home and salt baths. To do this, 0.5-1 kg of salt is dissolved in a bath filled to the top with water, and for coniferous-salt procedures, 2 more tablets of coniferous extract are added. The water temperature should not exceed 35 0 C. Take a bath every other day 2 hours before bedtime, no more than 10-15 minutes. After that, you need to lie down quietly for half an hour.

General hygienic baths should be taken at home 1-2 times a week, or even more often. If your skin dries out from water, then use baby or lanolin soap.

Hi all! The article “Hardening with cold water for beginners” is about the most important thing for the health of each of us - the development of immunity.

1. Hardening of the body is a strengthening of the immune system

Today we will talk about how to start hardening with cold water. As soon as autumn comes and we start sneezing and coughing, many immediately rush to the pharmacy for antiviral drugs and vitamins. After all, everyone knows that the immune system of our body is responsible for resistance to colds and it must be strengthened.

It's no secret that the human immune system can be trained in the same way as muscles. It is only necessary to choose a working technique, which includes hardening with cold water. Many have heard about dousing and wiping, that the "walruses", swimming in the winter in the hole, almost do not get sick.

And a couple of years ago, a story about a Belarusian kindergarten was broadcast on television, where barefoot preschoolers were engaged in exercises in the snow. It seems that such stories should have reassured those who are afraid of catching a cold from such procedures, but there are no more people who want to become tempered.

In this article I want to talk about my own experience, which helped to improve health, as well as some basic techniques.

Hardening is the effect on our body alternately of cold and heat. The correct start of hardening is the same alternations, but with a slight difference in temperatures.

2. The benefits and harms of hardening

I remember how a friend recommended to her relative for the prevention of colds, to run every day in the snow or dew around the house. She was already afraid of catching a cold, but the authority of the person was so strong that she tried it and almost forgot about the sore throat.

Another friend told how, on the advice of a doctor, she began to harden her throat, eating a portion of ice cream every day - and cured chronic tonsillitis. Such examples suggested that it is worth gathering together information about how hardening is useful and how it can harm a person. But first I want to remind you what are the indications and contraindications for this.

Rule number 1 Most important:

To determine if you can be tempered with water, consult a doctor.

• - purulent chronic otitis, acute inflammation of the upper respiratory tract;
• - severe diseases of the cardiovascular system with symptoms of decompensation;
• - inflammation of the central and peripheral nervous system;
• - severe diseases of the endocrine system (diabetes mellitus, thyrotoxicosis);
• - active tuberculosis, pneumonia, bronchial asthma;
• - venereal diseases;
• - severe post-burn scars on the skin;
• - exacerbation of inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract (cholecystitis, peptic ulcer).

But even a completely healthy person should not start water procedures if he has a coronary vascular spasm, there are violations of thermoregulation with vegetative manifestations, cramps in the muscles of the lower leg, cold allergies.

There are no direct indications for hardening of the body, it is carried out only at the request of a person. But in the event that you want to start pouring water on a child, you need to monitor the following indicators:

• - mood (from cheerful to depressed);
• - well-being (from vigorous to general weakness);
• - Fatigue (from normal to constant fatigue);
• - appetite (from good to complete absence);

- sleep (from calm to constant arousal and sleep disturbances). If the baby does not respond well to procedures for these indicators, you need to reduce their duration or stop completely. Hardening of children can be started almost from birth and the first baths, but this must be done systematically, very slowly increase the duration of exposure to cold and it is better to turn the procedure into a game.

3. A bit of history

For a long time, people have been thinking about how to make their body stronger and more resistant to the harsh conditions of the outside world. Even in ancient Rome and Greece there was a cult of a beautiful body - the whole Lifestyle in these cultures was aimed at educating strong and healthy members of society.

In Sparta, newborns with defects were thrown off a cliff, and boys were forced to always walk barefoot and almost without clothes to make them more resilient.

In ancient India, the hardening of Brahmins was part of their religious upbringing, along with the ability to completely control their bodies, and water was considered a cure for almost all diseases.

Hardening was no less popular among the Jews, Chinese and Egyptians - in any culture you can find descriptions of water procedures to improve health.

And in Russia for a long time they practiced rubbing with snow or swimming in the river in summer or winter. But another equally well-known method has survived to this day - a bathhouse, where hot steam is combined with bathing in cool water. The bath helps to cleanse the body, helping to remove toxins from it through sweat, stimulates the work of internal organs.

At the end of the 20th century, the Ivanov system became popular, which offered to swim twice a day in the nearest river or walk barefoot in the snow. He also told how useful for men and women is not only swimming in the cold, but also giving up bad habits and fasting one day a week. His technique found many followers at that time, but over time it was gradually forgotten.

Although it is believed that dousing according to the Ivanov system is suitable for everyone from any age, no one can swim in cold water twice a day, including in an ice hole in winter, without preparation.

4. Hardening the body with cold water for beginners

4.1 Basic rules for beginners

Beginners need to understand , how to start the procedures correctly, because you can’t just decide that tomorrow you start swimming in the hole every day - and the body will easily accept it. The best time of the year for beginners when you can try to get used to the cold is summer, and start dousing better with simple washing in the morning with cold water. Before you start cold dousing, you need to remember a few simple rules:

- in order to benefit from the procedures, they can only be done by healthy people, after a flu or a cold it is better to wait 2-3 months;

• - you need to repeat them every day, because the whole positive effect can disappear from breaks;
• - the body must be accustomed to cold gradually;
• - a person should be in good health, if weakness or malaise appears - everything must be stopped;
• - consult your doctor in advance about your health and check if the cold will harm him;
• - It is better to engage in some kind of sport to enhance the strengthening effect.

It is better to start with a contrast shower or pouring over certain parts of the body, such as legs. And some experts believe that the correct start of water hardening is rubbing with a wet towel, followed by rubbing the skin dry. I will dwell in more detail on the main methods.

4.2 Dousing with cool water

4.2.1 Basic rules for pouring

The most popular method is dousing with cool water.

But dousing with cold water is not suitable for beginners, it is better to start with wiping.

It is both general and local. For the first, not only the temperature of the water, but also the air in the room is important: it should not be lower than 23-25 ​​° C. water on the first day is heated to 36 ° C, and reduced slowly - by 1 ° C per week, bringing it to cool (18 ° C). Douches can be replaced with the same cool shower, which can be taken 2-3 minutes a day.

Before starting dousing, it is worth remembering a number of important rules:

• - do not pour water on your head because of the risk of a sharp vasoconstriction;
• - do not start with a sharp dousing with cold water, you need to get used to the coolness gradually;
• - kids and old people should not lift weights with water above themselves, so they must resort to the help of outsiders;
• - any drafts in the douche room should be avoided;
• - at any temperature of the water, a person should not experience discomfort.

If there are contraindications for general douche, you can do local hardening of the legs.

It has a reflex effect on the whole body. Contrasting douches with a change of warm water (36 C) to cool water (20-25 ° C) are especially useful. You need to finish this effect by rubbing your feet with a dry towel or a good massage.

4.2.2 Pouring children

In this way, it is good to harden children, once a month increasing the temperature gap by one degree, until it is 15-20 ° C. The main thing is to do the procedure regularly and do not forget - if the pause in hardening is very long, you will have to start over.

In children, it is better to turn such hardening into an interesting game in order to cause a positive attitude and an overall good reaction. For the first time, this can be done in the bathroom with warm water from a ladle for half a minute.

Its temperature for the first time should not be lower than 36-37 ° C, and it must be reduced very slowly - by 1 degree in 1-2 weeks, gradually bringing it to 28 ° C.

You can’t start with a liquid even at room temperature, it’s easier to make a contrast shower, in which the difference between warm and cool water will be no more than 4 degrees. For example, if you have a shower comfort zone of 36-38 degrees, and make a contrast zone of 34-32 ° C.

Cold and hot shower

4.3 Wiping with a damp towel

4.3.1 How to wipe yourself

Another method is wiping with a damp towel. First you need to wet a large terry towel in water at a temperature of 35-36 ° C, and then wipe your whole body with it. After that, the skin is rubbed with a dry towel until the capillaries dilate and slightly redden. The temperature is reduced by one degree per day and brought to 10 ° C.

For wiping, in addition to a towel, a damp sponge or a soft flannelette glove, which is soaked in fairly warm water (on the first day - 32 ° C), is suitable. It is better to start by rubbing your hands, then go to your back and stomach and finish with your feet. The body is rubbed for 2 minutes, and then wiped dry to a slight reddening of the skin and a feeling of warmth to it. Subsequently, the temperature is reduced every day by 1°C, bringing to 18°C.

4.3.2 Snow wiping

If you decide to wipe yourself with snow, then you need to bring it into the room in a bucket or basin, and then wipe your body with it for 15 seconds. At the same time, the face is wiped with the first handful, the chest and stomach with the second, the shoulders with the third, and the arms with the fourth. Gradually, the time can be brought up to 30 seconds. And in a couple of weeks it will be possible to rub even on the street, if the body's reaction to the procedure is good.

4.3.3 Wiping children

It is recommended to rub small children first with a dry towel so that the baby does not have further fear of the procedure. It is better to start with the legs and arms, and then rub the torso. After a couple of days, you can take a wet towel, the water temperature for which for the first time should be 36 ° C.

Then it is gradually reduced (by 1°C in 5 days), bringing to 28°C. The duration of the procedure cannot exceed 2 minutes, it is recommended to do it for babies, starting from 2-4 months. If a child has rashes, chills, diarrhea, exacerbation of colds, it is better to stop wiping.

4.3.4 Local rubdowns

4.3.4.1 Foot rubdowns

Local rubdowns are usually hardening of the legs, it is recommended for frequent sore throats for a reflex effect. To do this, the legs to the knees are rubbed with a cool, damp towel for 3 minutes, and then wiped dry.

Start with a temperature of 37 ° C, then lower by a degree per week, bring to 28 ° C. This technique is used to prepare for foot baths, in which the first temperature is also 37 ° C, it is done for 6-8 minutes, and then, lowering it by a degree per week, it is brought to 14 ° C.

Rubdown

4.3.4.2 Rubbing feet

You can also start by hardening your feet, which is useful for those who often have a sore throat. I would like to explain what this method gives: cooling the legs causes a reflex narrowing of the vessels of the tonsils of the pharynx, causing a violation of local immunity, and can contribute to its inflammation.

And warming the feet gives blood flow not only to them, but also to the throat, improving the functioning of the lymphatic system in it. By making our feet more resistant to stress such as cold with contrast douches, we will automatically protect ourselves from colds.

You can start pouring feet with warm water (25-28°C), lowering the temperature by 1°C per month, bringing it to 13-15°C. After each douche, rub the skin on the legs with a towel until it turns red and feels warm.

Stop hardening - pleasant with useful

4.4 What does a cool bath do?

This is a longer, and much more powerful technique, which means that it can only be started by those who have no contraindications. If you do not dare to start with a general bath, you can do a local one, for example for legs , which is useful and no less effective.

To do this, take a bucket or a basin so that you can immerse not only your feet in water, but also your shins to the knees. They start with water at 28-30 ° C, lowering it by a degree per week, for babies under 3 years old it should not be lowered below 20 ° C, for children under 5 years old - 18 ° C. The procedure in children is carried out for 15-30 seconds, adults can be in cool water for 2-4 minutes.

General baths at 38 ° C are recommended even for newborns, if warm water is added, it can be taken up to 12 minutes. With this procedure, not only the temperature is reduced by a degree in 5 days, bringing it to 30 ° C, but also the duration of stay in it is reduced to 6 minutes.

Bathing in a river or lake in the warm season can be equated to a bath. Babies under 3 should not do this, but after reaching this age they are often taken to the beach.

It is worth remembering that letting the child into the water is allowed only when the air temperature is above 25 ° C, and the water is 23 ° C. But even then, children should not be allowed to sit in the water for more than 15-20 minutes, as then they risk catching a cold.

4.5 Gargling

Not quite a traditional local douche is a gargle, which helps to make the body more resistant to many infections. First rinse with warm water - 40 ° C, gradually lowering it by 1 degree every 3 days. For children, it is brought to 15 ° C, and for adults it can be lowered to 10 ° C.

Such rinsing helps to significantly reduce the number of exacerbations of chronic tonsillitis and pharyngitis. To enhance its effect, medicinal herbs with an anti-inflammatory effect (chamomile, nettle, calendula or St. John's wort), as well as sea salt or a few drops of iodine, are added to the water.

Over time, rinsing can be replaced by dissolving ice cubes in the mouth of such a size that one cube is enough for about half a minute. For taste and greater benefits, frozen juice is used instead of ice. I already wrote about the recommendations of some doctors about ice cream, but not every mother risks paying for it regularly.

But after all, you can try with one teaspoon per day, gradually increasing its amount by half a teaspoon per day, until you get one serving. Even adults are ready to eat ice cream and frozen fruit juice all year round, however compotes and yoghurts from the refrigerator are also an option. However, it is necessary to get used to such a cold gradually and not to consume cold foods and drinks after severe overheating.

The body is strengthened not by constant cold, but by contrasts, and therefore the throat must be accustomed to changing temperature regimes so as not to get a sore throat by drinking ice water in the heat. For this, contrast rinses are well suited, in which warm and cold water are used at the same time. First, the throat is rinsed with warm, then cold, and always ends with warm, and the contrast difference is also increased gradually.

Contraindications to gargling are, first of all, the age of up to 3 years, when the child does not know how to properly exhale air through water and can choke.

If he does not want to gargle, it is better not to force him, because hardening should not cause him discomfort. You can not start procedures when a person is sick with colds or has

5. Extreme techniques

5.1 Hardening according to Grebenkin

In addition to Ivanov, many authors have proposed their own methods of hardening, which can not be recommended to everyone. For example, Grebenkin advised everyone over 3 years old to be immersed in cold water for 10-15 seconds, and then left without clothes in the open air for another 5 minutes without rubbing and warming, so that the body itself copes with the cold. After all, adrenaline is released at the same time and after a couple of minutes a person feels a surge of heat and cheerfulness.

And recently, in the speeches of the famous doctor Komarovsky, words were heard that the hardening of the effect will not bring if the whole lifestyle, from nutrition to walking in the fresh air, does not correspond to generally accepted recommendations.

5.2 Hardening after sauna and bath

To not quite traditional, but quite effective is the use of a sauna or a Russian bath with a strengthening purpose. The sauna uses the contrast effect of hot steam (70-90°C) and cold water in the pool (3-20°C), or even rubbing with snow in winter.

A child can start going to the sauna with their parents from the age of 3. For the first time, you can enter the sauna with a temperature not exceeding 80 ° C for only 5 minutes, and then you should cool down, in the future there can be up to 3 such visits, and you can visit the sauna once a week.

In the bath, too, everything is based on contrasts: first, the body warms up, then cools down at approximately the same time intervals, and then rest follows, which should last as long as the first two stages.

For the first time, you should not bask in the bath for more than 3-5 minutes, and it is advisable to cool down in the form of a cold douche, and only eventually move on to a cold shower or bathing in an ice hole. After regular visits, the number of visits to the steam room is increased to 5, and the time spent in it is up to 5-10 minutes.

To get hot steam, in a Russian bath, water is poured onto hot stones, but for a healing effect, decoctions of medicinal herbs (linden, chamomile, oak, mint, birch, sage or eucalyptus) are often used instead.

Small children under 3-5 years old are rarely taken to public baths because of the risk of contracting infectious or fungal diseases, but if it is a private steam room, then they can be taken there after the first year of life.

5.3 Snow hardening

Perhaps the most unconventional method is snow hardening. This includes not only wiping with snow, but also walking barefoot on it.

The main thing is that it should be clean and cover not asphalt, but the ground. If an ice crust has appeared on the snow, or it has become colder than 10 degrees below zero, you should not start walking.

But from my own experience I know that you can try without any preparation. True, for the first time I recommend running in the snow for no more than a minute, and rather quickly, and after that you need to return to a warm room, put on woolen socks and actively walk around the room in them until a feeling of heat appears in your legs.

5.4 Winter swimming

This type of winter bathing has always stood out and remained a method for the elite. A lot has been written on it - both about the benefits and the harm, the debate has not subsided so far. But for those who have weighed everything and decided to try winter swimming, it is worth learning something about him.

When swimming in cold water, the body loses a lot of energy, but releases adrenaline, which increases blood circulation, and also improves thermoregulation and immunity. However, you should not think that walruses never get sick - they just catch cold less often.

It is not at all necessary to dive with your head, although experienced "walruses" do it with ease. This technique improves the general condition of the body, but does not strengthen the muscles, unlike regular swimming, so for those who want to build muscle, it is advisable to take up some other sport.

There is a myth that “walruses” necessarily drink alcohol to keep warm, but they can cause hypothermia of the respiratory tract and a cold.

Before you plunge into the icy water, it is recommended to do intensive gymnastics to warm up, but other preparations, especially a cold shower, are not needed. In severe frosts, it is necessary that there is a warm room next to the bathing area where you can warm yourself.

You can swim in cold water from late autumn to early spring, because even in winter it is not lower than + 4 ° C in the hole, but you should not plunge into the sea - it is -2 ° C below zero. There are many contraindications to winter swimming, which should not be neglected at all - this can only worsen your well-being.

Winter swimming contraindications: severe diseases of the cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine and genitourinary systems with symptoms of decompensation.

You can climb into cold water only after a cold douche, which will accustom the body to it. It is allowed to dive into the hole no more than 3 times a week, and if symptoms of any disease appear, you should immediately consult a doctor.

I hope my advice will be useful to those who often get colds and want to improve their health, and in the following blog articles I will talk about other hardening methods.

And now "Informative film about winter swimming and hardening":

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