Are You Still Making These Post-Workout Mistakes?
Click Here learn more about the importance of stretching and here for some essential stretches.
- Eating high caloric food afterwards as a reward
When you’re in weight loss mode, you don’t have the luxury of rewarding yourself with a milkshake after burning calories. The 300 to 500 calories you burned in boot camp class will be replaced with the 300 to 400 calories from that milkshake. There’s no net calorie loss, which leads us to the next mistake. - Not refueling your body after a workout
So although we don’t want to consume high caloric food after a workout, not refueling can cause your metabolism to slow down as the body stores nutrients as fat for future energy needs. A bran muffin, nuts, a protein shake or hard-boiled egg, are good post workout snacks that will provide protein and the proper carbs to restore your body to equilibrium and keep your metabolism operating at peak form. Make sure these consumed calories fit into your daily calorie plan, so keep them low to provide ample room for your other meals.Stick with water to replace loss fluids from sweat and energy needs. Don’t replace fluids with high calorie sports drinks unless your engaging in peak energy activities like sports training, multi-mile runs or bicycle treks, because the high calories will negate your hard effort to burn them.
- Not stretching
Not stretching after a workout will make your body prone to injury, which will keep you from exercising. Carve out an extra five to ten minutes per workout to stretch out those muscles. You’ll feel better the next day because of it, and you’ll be at less risk for injury. - You don’t schedule the next workout
You should pat yourself on the back for finishing this workout, but don’t let your self-congratulations get in the way of scheduling your next workout. You’ll only see progress if you make exercise a consistent part of your week so pull out your planner or better yet, plan out for the whole week and stick to your schedule. - Lack of sleep
The process of building muscle mass involves tearing the muscle fiber during a workout and then allowing it to repair an3d rebuild itself stronger through a rest cycle. If muscles don’t repair they can’t improve, which means your metabolism won’t improve. In addition without repair, muscles are more likely to be exposed to injury from pulls and tears, through overuse. - Staying in your sweaty clothes after working out
Not only will you feel disgusting if you remain in your sweaty, smelly clothes after a workout, but the moisture underneath your clothes could lead to body acne and yeast infections. Shower and change into dry clothes immediately after your workout, if you can.
These tips are fairly easy to incorporate, with good planning and common sense, you should be able to avoid these mistakes and get the most bang out of your exercise time.
