You’ve conquered a fierce workout and are feeling amazing. You can feel those happiness-inducing endorphins pumping through your body, but what now? We share our five tips for what you should do after your workout to make the most out of your hard work.
Stretch it out
We all know about the importance of doing a warm up before our workout, but it’s also very important we stretch after our session. Warming up prepares your body to sweat and be active by getting those muscles active and relaxing your body. But stretching helps avoid injuries such as sprains and strains. Stretching after your workout will also decrease the risk of future injuries and stiffness, so make sure you take time to stretch all the active parts of your body.
Keep hydrated
Hydrating your body with at least eight glasses of water throughout the day is crucial, and it’s equally important to drink water before, during and after your workout. Loading up on H20 helps relax your muscles and assists with quicker recover, so you’ll feel less sore the next day. Most importantly, drinking water is crucial to replace the fluids you lost while you were sweating it out during your workout.
Have a shower
Having a shower post-workout is not only important for hygiene, but it will also make you feel better. Washing sweat from your body will stop bacteria from multiplying on your skin, which will halt skin infections or breakouts from occurring. Like many athletes do, having an ice-cold shower can also help with DOMS (delayed onset muscles soreness).
Rest
It is necessary to wind down after your workout because your body will need time to cool down, rebuild and repair your muscles. Without resting, you increase your risk of injury and you could slow your progress, meaning you won’t see those results you’re working so hard towards.
Eat healthy food
You might find it hard to resist unhealthy post-workout food temptations. It’s important to eat after your workout, but be selective with what you eat. It’s recommended you eat slow-burning carbohydrates and vitamins such as bread, cereals and fruits instead of greasy or salty dishes that will undo all of your hard work.