If you dream to have a muscular body that tempts everyone, then you cannot rely on exercise alone. Fitness freaks do everything to keep themselves fit, spend hours in the gym, do tough exercises to be the Greek god, but it’s not enough. According to a report, nearly 35% of people overlook post-workout recovery, which is an essential segment of any fitness module.
Whether you do traditional yoga or modern exercise with modern gym equipments, including treadmill or barbells, opting for a cool-down phase and post exercise recovery is as important as exercise itself. Regardless of your focus and plans, post-exercise recovery is a must for everything, whether you aim for the arms, lower body or six-pack.
We often get out of the gym right after finishing our sets, grab the keys and water bottle and head to parking to get back home. Most probably, the working people do this. But in all these doings, we often miss the most essential part of our daily routine. According to recent studies, people who take certain measures like cool down, stretching and nutrition intake after workout see better benefits. Albeit, there are others who disagree on this part.
In addition to helping with your better insights into post-exercise workout, we’ve put together a five-step post-workout list. Some of these entries are from a common book, while others can be added to your current routine for faster results.
Post-workout Exercise and Activities To Complete Your Routine Workout
1) Cool-down Exercise
Right after you drop the dumbbells after your last arm or chest set or running your last mile on the treadmill, you don’t have to just pause or get off completely. Instead, slow down the process in order to cool down your body. Your blood flows faster when you exercise because the heart rate increases and pumps our blood faster than usual. There are plenty of ways to cool down your body and reduce your heart rate from high to normal. You can either speed up with some yoga poses and light exercise, if you wish or even take a hot shower or spa as well. Though swimming is the most effective way to do this — but make sure to take 10-15 minutes to slow the workout process.
2) Stretch
You know cooling down or post-workout exercise is an important part, but a few gems among us manage to stick around the gym equipment for the last 10-15 minutes of daily routine. However, it’s tough to stare at those giant machines after spending more than an hour around them. But you should do because a proper cool down is as important as the workout itself. If you are not concerned about those tearing muscles, you can skip these stretching processes, but remember it will leave a mark that may flush your hard work. “A dynamic stretch could actually help you lengthen your body while your muscles are warm and flexible.” You can do it easily by focusing on your major muscle groups as glutes, hamstrings, hips, core and shoulders,
3) Drink up
Drinking plenty of water is a pretty obvious thing. But when it comes to exercise, drinking water depends on timing. Drinking water in between your exercise is recommended to maintain hydration of your body, but drinking a lot of water is prohibited as it can… Dehydration is necessary to any post workout routine because it will help you to regain the amount of water you have lost during exercise in the form of sweating. So bring a water bottle, fix it into your lips and make sure to not remove it until the level of water goes down. You better add some flavor and try with shakes as per your diet.
4) Fuel Up
Like dehydration is necessary for your body, one of the most necessary things to do after workout is to fuel up yourself. One of the most important post workout ingredients tends to be protein shake. Experts suggested that getting a solid dose like proper just after workout may kick off your muscle rebuilding process. This is one of the solid reasons to take protein shakes, oats or other nutrients filled ingredients. Experts recommend taking fast-digesting carbs and protein sources 30-60 minutes after your workout. And because liquid form is typically the most convenient and easy for your body, you can try protein shapes. And here are some fiber-rich foods that you can actually add to your diet for better results.
5) Relax
Are you familiar with foam rolling or massage guns? But once you use this to relax your body & muscles after workout, you will stick with it. And if you’re always doing this post-workout massage then you’re expert. Scientists say massage after heavy workout sessions not only speeds up your recovery time but also improves your muscle strength. Working out the lactic acid and building up your muscles can be extremely painful, but it’s better to tolerate the pain to experience sweet relief. You can either massage yourself or use a massage gun with fast relief.
It is simply hygiene and effective. After you’ve cooled down and get a normal heart rate, just drink some water to hydrate your body or intake some nutrients to fuel up your body. You can indulge into self care that is the key to a healthy lifestyle because it’s obvious to have cramps and cracked muscles after heavy exercise and indulging into these self care activities can prevent you from committing some common mistakes during exercise.
