Proper fitness requires much more than just regular workouts. Your post-workout routine is just as important as what you do during your workout sessions. One of the most common reasons why people stop going to the gym is a perceived lack of progress. After all, who would want to stick to a routine that yields negligible results? Before you give up on your fitness journey completely, you may want to analyze these post-workout habits that could be preventing you from achieving the results you’re after.
Forgetting to Stretch or Cool Down
Many people forget to stretch and perform a cooldown routine after exercising. A cooldown routine allows your muscles to relax after strenuous activity, while stretching facilitates better muscle flexibility, range of motion, and mitigates muscle soreness. The more flexibility and range of motion your body has, the better it will be able to circulate the necessary nutrients to the areas that need it. The faster your muscles recover, the sooner you can get back to working out.
Adding Peanut Butter to Your Post-Workout Shake
It’s difficult to forego adding a spoon of peanut butter to improve the taste of a post-workout protein shake. The problem here is that peanut butter interferes with the absorption and digestion of nutrients that are essential in the growth of your muscles, and adds to your body’s fat stores. Peanut butter is better used with your casein shakes, since casein is a slow-absorbing protein, and by adding peanut butter, the digestion of casein is further slowed, which is better for your body.
Failing to Replenish Carbs After Working Out
Carbohydrates are important in the repair and strengthening of muscles. One of the most common misconceptions in fitness is that carbs should be avoided. The truth is that we need to eat the right amount of carbs before and after a workout. The former supplies our body with the energy needed to power through a routine, and the latter facilitates the repair process. Carbs are good for you as long as you take them at the right time and in the right amounts.
Excessive Eating After an Exercise Session
Nutrition is just as important as regular exercise, as this determines the quality of the repair and enlargement that your muscles go through. It’s also for this reason that many people take their diets seriously, especially considering that you need to find the diet that best suits your needs in order to avoid side effects like the ones described in this article by Uforia. Even when you train like a Spartan, it’s important to still stick to your diet. Your cheat meals do not scale with the difficulty of the routine you’ve just performed. You don’t want to negate the hard work you’ve done in favor of momentary gratification.
What happens outside the gym is just as important as what happens in the gym. There are many factors that could influence your rate of progress. While there are many other bad habits that you could be making, these are the ones that have the most impact. Correcting these bad habits will yield the best results.
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