You just finished your workout. You’re tired. You’re sweaty. And you feel energized and focused. What post workout tips can you use to maximize your recovery?
The question is: What should you do next?
Should you eat a recovery meal? Should you stretch? Or is it better to spend some time on the couch?
And in today’s post, I’m going to show you 3 post workout tips that will help maximize your progress.
The Tips
Many rookie exercisers think that making it through their cardio or weightlifting session is enough.
But you know that becoming a battle-hardened fitness virtuoso requires much more attention to detail. Specifically, you need to ensure you maintain well-rounded post-workout habits.
Tip #1 – Stretch:
Stretch all of the major muscle groups that you just finished training. Ideally you would spend at least 30 seconds stretching each muscle on each side of your body.
For example, if you just finished doing cardio on a treadmill, stationary bike, or elliptical, you will want to focus on stretching all of your lower body musculature: glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, and calves. Or if you did an upper body weight lifting workout, you would want to stretch your pecs, lats, shoulders, traps, etc.
Stretching is important because each workout we complete will naturally cause our muscles to become tighter, decreasing our flexibility over time. Plan to allot 5 – 10 minutes for comprehensive stretching at the end of each and every workout. Remember: post-workout is the BEST time to stretch your muscles as they are fully warmed up and at their most flexible, so take advantage!
Read more about the importance of stretching here.
Tip #2 – Eat:
Start planning or preparing your post-workout meal. You don’t need to be in a rush to start eating as soon as you finish your session; however, if you haven’t already decided what you will eat next, now is the time.
It was previously thought that it was best practice to chug your protein shake immediately following your workout session, or else you will miss out on a super short-lived “anabolic window” of opportunity. Fortunately, research has demonstrated that this is not necessary to reap the rewards of our exercise.
It turns out that our metabolisms respond just fine to nutrition consumed several hours after our workouts. Although the sooner you can eat the better, there is no need to stress over missing out on the benefits of your hard work, unless you are a professional bodybuilder trying to maximize your time spent in anabolism.
As for what you should eat after a workout, keep it simple. There is no need to reinvent the wheel here. Any well-rounded meal featuring ample protein, carbohydrate, and fat content will suffice. Fats tend to add up quickly in a diet, so instead focus on ensuring your post-workout meal contains 20-40g of protein, and at least equivalent or greater amount of carbohydrates.
Interested in learning more about post-workout nutrition? Click here.
Tip #3 – Rest:
Now that you’ve finished your workout, stretched, and ate (or planned) your post-workout meal, it’s time for the most important step of them all…rest!
When it comes to making progress in your fitness training, the most neglected piece of the puzzle is rest and recovery. When we exercise, we are causing physical and metabolic damage to our muscles. And in order to repair this damage, we need ample time spent in a rested state.
Many people wrongly believe that it is the workout itself that is causing them to get stronger, faster, or build stamina. But the proper way of conceptualizing it is that our workouts are stimulating our muscular development, which then occurs once we have entered a resting state — specifically during sleep.
Perhaps the most underappreciated component of a sustainable fitness routine is indeed sleep. It is during sleep that our bodies go into repair mode, cleaning up all the damage we may have caused during our wakeful activity.
Research has consistently demonstrated that a decrease in quantity AND quality of sleep results in a dramatic decrease in measurable fitness progress, be it strength or stamina. Aim to get 7 – 9 hours of sleep every night. Bottom line: take your rest as seriously as you do your exercise.
For more details on the importance of sleep for recovery, click here.
Conclusion
We all know that working out consistently is the foundation of any fitness routine. However, your hard work is likely to be worthless unless you take the time to establish a solid post-workout routine.
That’s why the tips from this post — like taking the time to stretch and plan out your next meal — are so powerful.
Now I want to hear from you:
How are you going to change what you do after you finish your next workout? Are you going to stretch or ensure you get adequate sleep?
Let me know which of these 3 post workout tips you’re going to focus on first!
Leave a Reply