There are tons of article available online telling you what to eat and what not eat after a workout, but rarely anyone of them will guide you through other MUST DO things after a workout. Well, here’s one. With this article, I will take you through 6 things you must do after every workout in order to keep yourself a step ahead in this never ending race of getting fit. Take a look!
1. A few Minutes Cool Down and Stretching.
It’s a harsh fact that most of the newbies today love spending half an hour doing nothing but sets of selfies right after the workout. And when done they head straight back their home without few minutes of cooling and stretching.
Here’s why you need to perform stretching after every workout – During a training session, our heart beat gets way too high which we need to bring slowly back to normal. Stopping it abruptly may cause blood to pool in veins and cause a feeling if dizziness.
You can cool yourself down with some dynamic stretching exercises right after your workout.
2. Rehydrate yourself with plenty of H20.
Importance of water in post workout nutrition is often overlooked by the beginners who then grab a soda can replenish their fluid levels. That’s something utterly senseless.
Knowing that a human body consists of 70% of water, nothing works as better as H20 in refilling the fluid lost as sweat during the workout.
Related article: Drinking water helps weight loss
3. Refuel yourself with Protein and fast carbs.
A post-workout meal is an essential meal of the day for any bodybuilder.
Refuel yourself with high-quality protein along with fast acting carbs which will ensure that you have enough insulin spike to rush all the nutrients to the cells to promote recovery and growth.
An ideal post workout meal should also consist of veggies and handful of nuts in order to get in some good fats.
Related article: Truth behind high protein low carbohydrate diet weight loss
4. Change your sweaty gym clothes.
There’s no denying that gym garments are the most comfortable clothes at any time of the day. However, after a hardcore workout when you are dripping sweat, the first thing you should be doing is changing your gym clothes. Not only it will save you from rashes but also from possible skin infections and breakouts.
You can think of wearing compression clothes, which according to some studies (1), helps in post workout recovery from soreness.
5. Track your progress.
Maintaining a pen and a journal for jotting down your progress may sound too old and boring. What if you could do all the similar stuff with a fitness tracker application for your smartphone. Cool right?
Note down your workout routine, what you had in pre and post workout meal and many other things and thereby making it bit easier for you to achieve your goals.
6. Get some sleep.
After you have refueled yourself with a top class muscle building meal, all you need is an hour or two of sleep. Although it might not be possible for everyone to spare an hour for sleep after a workout but for those who can, a post workout sleep helps nervous system to recover from all the hard beating in the gym.
