You just finished an awesome and sweaty workout – great job! But working out isn’t the only thing that matters; what you do afterward is the key to a good recovery and muscle growth.
Avoid these eight mistakes after a workout:
1. Forget to hydrate
Most people are walking around chronically dehydrated. It’s essential to make sure that you always drink enough water. How much? Approximately 30-35 ml per kg of body weight per day, plus an extra 500-1000 ml for every hour of exercise. This is especially important if you sweat a lot! Stay hydrated before, during and especially after your workout to increase post-workout recovery.
Check your liquid requirement with our calculator:
2. You don’t eat after your workout
Are you one of those people who can’t eat after they work out? Or are you trying to cut calories to lose weight? No matter the reason, not eating after a workout is a big mistake. Your energy stores have been depleted; your body now needs fuel to build muscles and recover.
Try to have at least a small snack about 30 minutes after your workout. The best option is a combination of protein and carbohydrates. How about trying one of these post-workout recipes or loaded sweet potato skins?
3. YOU EAT TOO MUCH AFTER A WORKOUT
You get home after a workout, and you want to eat everything you see. This failure to properly fuel your workouts can derail a weight-loss strategy.
Getting hungry during workouts often means you are not adequately fueling your training. Finishing workouts without feeling hungry will reduce the chances of overeating after your workout.
Not sure what to eat and when? Check this post on running nutrition timing to find out.
4. Forget to stretch
Your warm-up and your cool-down are part of your workout. Your muscles will respond so much better when you treat them well and take the time for post-workout recovery stretching.
5. Not clean your space or rerack your weights
Clean up your area (whether you’re at home or at the gym). Tripping over a weight at home is not fun, so be sure to tidy up. But, this is especially important if you’re doing some bodyweight training or weight training at the gym. Always disinfect the equipment and make sure that you put your weights back where you found them.
6. Think that fitting in a workout means you can be lazy the rest of the day
Make movement a part of your lifestyle even if you’ve worked out. Take the stairs, get up from your desk every hour to grab a glass of water, take a walking break instead of a sitting one and get up to talk with a coworker instead of just emailing or messaging them. That extra NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) is really important!
7. FORGET TO WASH YOUR SPORTS CLOTHES
It can be tempting to strip off sweaty sports clothes as quickly as possible and get cleaned up. The clothes may sit on the floor or, worse, balled up in the laundry basket.
Wash your clothes as quickly as possible to avoid bacteria growing into the clothes, which causes them to stink. If left too long, the clothing material will always smell dirty and not perform as it should.
Consider the environment and hang clothes to air out until you have enough clothes to justify a load of wash.
8. Forget to track it or share it
Fitness tracking allows you to track your progress along the way! You never know who will get motivated to change their life when they see you’ve shared an activity tracked with your adidas Running app or adidas Training app! Inspire a friend to lace up their sneakers or try a bodyweight training workout.
Remember these no-go’s the next time you head out (or stay in) for a workout. Our bodies are amazing and you can really get incredible results if you treat them well and avoid these mistakes after a workout.
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