Don't Do These 8 Things After Working Out!

Pitfall #1: Not Stretching Targeted Muscles

Once the workout is done, you should stretch the targeted muscles used. Stretching not only helps your muscles recover more quickly and keeps you more limber but also enhances the muscle growth process. When you build up your muscles, you create tiny tears in those muscles worked on. Stretching after workouts helps circulate the blood in the body, giving your muscles the essential nutrients it needs to recover and grow. Stretching also helps remove the lactic acid you built up during the workout, saving you from extended soreness and allowing you to get back to the gym quicker.

Ready to stretch? Check out the stretch routines below! Repair your muscles and watch them grow!

Upper Body Stretch

Lower Body Stretch

Back Strengthening Stretches

Pitfall #2: Performing Excessive Cardio

There is nothing wrong with doing some cardio (20-30 minutes maximum) after weight training. Still, it should not be excessive, or you will severely hamper the physiological/hormonal mechanisms that lead to muscular hypertrophy, aka muscle gains. Your best bet is to separate cardio and weight training by about five hours for optimal progress.

Another thing to remember? Too much of anything is a bad thing... Too much cardio not only burns your muscles but also impacts metabolism, halting weight loss progress as your body struggles to keep up with its increased energy.

Pitfall #3: Waiting too Long Before Eating

After an intense gym workout, your body is in severe need of nutrients, especially amino acids and carbohydrates, to replenish, restore damaged muscle cells, and feed the exhausted nervous system. Try to feed your body a high-quality meal of carbs and proteins no more than one hour after completing your final set. Give your body what it needs, and don't wait too long, as post-workout eating stimulates muscle protein synthesis, allowing you to improve recovery and enhance your performance during the next workout.

Here are some healthy and delicious post-workout snack options: 

• Cottage cheese and fruits
• Pita bread with hummus
• Oatmeal with whey protein and banana
• Salmon with sweet potato
• Quinoa bowl with cheese and beans
• Greek yogurt with berries and low-fat granola
• Protein shake and a banana
• Rice cakes
• Cheese and crackers

Find more information on pre-workout and post-workout meals through the blog below:

Pre-Workout vs. Post-Workout Meals

Pitfall #4: Excluding Fast-Acting Carbs

As mentioned before, it's important to quickly consume the proper nutrients needed after working out, and carbs play a significant role in this equation. Many of us fear carbohydrates, thinking they'll cause weight gain and keep us from reaching our goals, but that's just not the case. Carbs are essential in reaching fitness success, but picking the right ones to consume is key.

Since the body is primed to absorb carbohydrates to refill muscle glycogen after lifting weights, it is best to take in the “fast-acting” or “high GI” variety. What are your best options when it comes to fast-acting carbs? We suggest you...

Eat This! Bananas, raisins and dates, bagels, rice cakes, white and sweet potatoes, or yams, to name a few healthful fast-acting carbs.

Not That! Biscuits, cakes, cookies, ice creams, and candy - all fast-acting carbs, yes, but carbs that lack fiber and other essential nutrients leading to more weight than muscle gain.

Fast-acting carbohydrates will get into the bloodstream rapidly, which will elevate insulin levels and allow you to push nutrients into cells at a rapid rate. In other words, serious muscle gains await if you choose the right carbohydrates to refuel your body with after a tough workout.

Pitfall #5: Not Using Whey Protein

By now, you've probably heard of whey protein, but do you know all the benefits?

Whey protein can help with muscle building, toning, weight loss, osteoporosis, bone density, lowering blood sugar, and boosting metabolism. Many studies have shown that whey protein can help increase strength and help you lose significant amounts of body fat. 

Proteins are the building blocks of the fibers in the muscles and are assembled from amino acids. Some amino acids are produced by the body’s cells, while others are received through food intake. The amino acids we get through foods are termed “essential” amino acids, and the proteins that supply all the essential amino acids are considered “complete.” Whey protein is a complete protein full of essential amino acids.

Because whey protein is digested rapidly, it will supply your muscle cells with much-needed amino acids faster than all other protein sources. This is extremely important right after an intense workout. So, failing to utilize the power of whey would most certainly be an error when the goal is more muscle!

Pitfall #6: Including too Many Fats

The goal of the post-workout meal is to make sure that both carbohydrates and amino acids reach the bloodstream for distribution to muscle cells as rapidly as possible. Since fats tend to slow digestion, it would be a big mistake to include a significant amount during the post-workout feeding. Mind you, healthy fats are ESSENTIAL for a healthy diet, but when it comes to the post-workout meal, we suggest you keep it small and don't overdo it. Leaning more on carbs and amino acids after workouts will get you closer to where you want to be.

Pitfall #7: Failing to Take Valuable Supplements

While there is nothing more important than proper diet and training when making progress, smart supplementation certainly can hasten the process. So, if gaining muscle and losing fat are high on your priority list, then take advantage of such proven supplements like creatine, glutamine, BCAA’s, and leucine by getting an efficacious dose of each or either as soon as you are done training or with the post-workout meal.

Learn more about vital supplements through the following blog:

Supplement Savvy

Pitfall #8: Not Getting Adequate Rest

In a perfect world, all of us would be able to grab about an hour’s nap right after training to help our muscles and nervous system recover. But for most of us, this is just not possible. We live in a busy world, where naps are a gift and hard to come by. That being said, you can still get adequate rest. We highly recommend that you avoid physically strenuous activity once done in the gym and that you at least take a little time just to sit, relax, and comfortably consume your post-workout meal. Weight training is only effective if the body gets quality rest to allow the rebuilding process to occur.

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