Winter Olympics 2022
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Winter Olympics is a multi-international competitive sports event between nations around the world. Athletes representing each country compete for the gold, silver, and bronze medal in extreme winter sports. The very first winter Olympic was held in Chamonix, France in 1924, at the time it was called the International Winter Sports week with a total of only 16 countries participating. These games were inspired by the ancient Greece as many as 3, 000 years ago! At the time of 8th Century B.C. to the 4th century A.D., the games took place in Olympia every 4 years as part of a religious festival.
Winter Olympics 2022 will run from February 4, 2022 – February 20. 2022 in Beijing, China. The winter Olympics are held once every 4 years in different cities across the world, as of 2022 this will be the 23rd winter Olympic. There are 84 countries currently participating in a total of 15 sports this Olympic. The motto of the Winter Olympics 2022 is “Together for a Shared Future” as it reflects the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and encourages the necessity to work together towards a better tomorrow.
The sports include
- Alpine Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Ski Jumping & Cross-Country Skiing
- Figure Skating, Short track speed skating, & Speed Skating
- Biathlon
- Bobsleigh
- Curling
- Ice Hockey
- Luge
- Nordic Combined
- Skeleton
- Snowboarding
As entertaining it is to watch these games, the Olympics games are also an inspiration to many of us. These games teach us resiliency, hard-work, and perseverance, principles that can easily be applied in our day-to-day routine and help us navigate through the ups and downs of life.
We can also be inspired to play these sports or any sports to better our physical health. Playing sports is an excellent way to incorporate physical activity in our lifestyle while still having fun. Winter sports also allows us relieve stress and clear our minds by breathing in fresh air and getting some vitamin D! Below you will find a list of winter sports that you can try and all the benefits associated with them.
Ice Skating
- Ice skating uses many of our muscles in our body including the hamstrings, calves, quadriceps, back muscles, pelvic floor muscles, and gluteus maximum. These muscles work together to help us move on ice and also maintain our balance when motionless on the blades. Ice skating is also an excellent cardio as the faster you skate on the ice the more your heart rate increases. This sport has the same effects of running on our body, depending on individual’s body weight it burns approximately 400 calories in an hour.
Cross-Country Skiing
- This aerobic sport is essentially a full body work out while enjoying the scenery through the forests. Cross country skiing has all sorts of benefits including improving cardiovascular endurance, strengthening all muscles in the body, and improving coordination and agility. A combination of both the upper body and lower body muscles are used when maneuvering through the trails which also effectively works out your heart as it pumps blood to keep you moving. Furthermore, cross country skiing is easy on the joints because the smooth gliding motion minimizes the pressure on the joints. This sport can burn approximately 400-600 calories in an hour depending on the terrain and your speed!
Snowboarding
- Besides being extremely enjoyable due to the adrenaline rush going down hill at a speed, this sport also has a positive impact on the body. Snowboarding significantly improves flexibility because of the changing direction and body position to keep your balance. This flexibility overtime can also allow you to learn tricks such as backflips while snowboarding. In an hour-long session, snowboarding burns about 400-500 calories.
Exercising by playing your favourite sport will keep you free of boredom and also keep you motivated in staying active. These sports can also be played in variation depending on the type of climate you live in such as substituting roller blades for ice skates! If you dislike working out alone, these sports are the perfect way to get some physical activity with family and friends.
