In My Third Year of Cycling, I Am No Longer Afraid of Heat or Cold

Since the pandemic began, I have had much more time for exercise. Over the past two-plus years my weight has gradually dropped; I am now about ten kilograms (twenty jin) lighter than before the pandemic, back to my 60-kilogram (120-jin) days. I used to fear the heat in summer and the cold in winter; now I fear neither. I can exercise shirtless on snowy days and go without air conditioning in the height of summer—I tolerate both cold and heat better than most people.

Exercise has also improved my skin; my sleep quality is much better than before, and my mood is more stable. To use a biological term, my level of homeostasis is higher than it used to be. As multicellular organisms, when our homeostasis is high, our ability to resist disease is also much stronger.

I feel exercise has brought me many benefits. Before the pandemic, perhaps because work was too busy, or perhaps because I had not built up the habit, I could not stick to exercise as I do now. Nowadays I do at least half an hour of aerobic exercise on at least four days each week. Every time I exercise I break into a sweat, and after sweating I feel relaxed all over and in high spirits.

The small belly that had thickened in earlier years has become flat, and I have more confidence in my body. At my age I certainly no longer care about my physique or what the opposite sex thinks the way one does during the courtship years of one's twenties. But compared with a bloated figure, this healthy, moderate build still gives me more confidence.

I really like the sense of control over one's own body that fast movement brings. When cycling so fast that one feels like a flying swallow, one's complaints about life dwindle and there is almost no fear of the future. Most people are unhappy, first of all, because they feel their health, well-being and fate are out of their own control. Once a person feels in control of their own health and fate, worries and anxieties diminish greatly. If, on top of that, there are enjoyable things to do and one has enough food and clothing, that is practically perfect.

In the past many people asked me what kind of exercise is healthiest, and I answered them, but looking back, those answers were all armchair talk—preaching better than I practiced. These past two or three years have been firsthand practice. I feel that everyone has an exercise method suited to them, and there is no need to copy others. The key is to find the exercise that suits oneself, not to practice some mystical fitness regimen. A good form of exercise should have two features: first, it should build the body; second, it should make one feel joyful.

If someone loves the buoyant, almost transcendental feeling of doing tai chi, then tai chi has both features for that person. Personally I prefer cycling, especially outdoor cycling. I usually ride at the foot of the Western Hills, Fragrant Hills and Yuquan Hills in Beijing; the pastoral scenery at the foot of the hills is my favorite. Riding a bicycle quickly through such places both keeps me fit and lets me enjoy the scenery along the way—truly the best of both worlds.

I will keep exercising until my body is too aged to exercise. After the latest outbreak in Beijing, I exercised indoors for two months, but these last few days I have started outdoor cycling again. No matter how good indoor exercise is, it cannot replace outdoor exercise.

Some gerontologists believe that exercising the body in middle age and keeping up with the scientific literature can greatly improve quality of life in old age. The former trains the body and improves coordination; the latter trains the brain and accumulates scientific knowledge, so that in old age the brain does not deteriorate too severely. Preparedness ensures success; unpreparedness spells failure. Health also needs to be "invested" in ahead of time. If you want to be self-reliant in old age and add little burden to your family, exercise and reading in middle age are crucial.

As people age, many lose their health, and this is without reason. People who lack exercise and reading in youth and young adulthood, and who have a host of bad habits, easily become a burden on their families in old age. Our ancestors recognized this rule long ago; as the Caigentan (Vegetable Root Discourse) aptly says: "The illnesses of old age are all invited in youth; the wrongdoing of decline is all committed in prosperity."