THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER DO AFTER A WORKOUT.

Before we begin, I would like to say congrats. You’ve paid your dues and finally finished your workout session for the day. That’s awesome!

Now, You may be tempted to head home, relax and watch some Netflix. However, make sure not to do that. What you do after your workout can significantly impact your recovery.

Most people do not even think about what they have to do after a gym session. This is why many people make a lot of mistakes when it comes to post-workout activities.

Below, we will list six activities that you shouldn’t partake in, whether you workout at home or the gym. There are chances you are making one of these mistakes.

NOT EATING AFTERWARDS.

Some people don’t have an appetite after a workout. They just don’t feel like it.

There are others who are trying to lose weight fast, so they may choose to fast and work out. We all understand the logic behind that, but not eating after a workout is a BIG MISTAKE.

After a workout, you’ve exhausted all your energy. Energy your body needs food to help rebuild your muscles and recover. It is generally recommended that you should eat 30 minutes after a workout.

Here are some of the best things you can eat after a workout. Fruits (apples, bananas, berries), sweet potatoes, whole grain bread, crackers, eggs, and avocado. Etc

*** This does not mean you should eat big meals either, avoid fatty food especially.

DON’T DRINK ALCOHOL :

Repeat after me: Thou shall not drink alcohol😁. Alcohol worsens the recovery process of the body post-exercise. It inhibits the hormones in the body that aids your recovery, like testosterone. Alcohol dehydrates the body, which is a bad idea after a workout.

You should be hydrated afterward and not the other way around. Alcohol consumption reduces the bodily fluid from body organs like kidneys, bladder, and uterus.

Now, if after your exercise, you’ve had a meal, drank enough water, and then you decide to have a glass of wine or two. You’ll be fine and won’t cause your body any considerable harm.

In my opinion, it’s best to avoid alcohol for a good amount of time after exercising. Just to be on the safe side.

DON’T STAY IN YOUR GYM CLOTHES.

For no reason at all should you stay in your gym clothes after working out. Even if your gym clothes dry from all the sweat. When sweat dries on you, your pores close up, and your body begins to stink. The smell of all that activity at the gym is going to follow you around all day.

Jock itch also becomes an issue the more you do this. In case you don’t know what a jock itch is. It’s a fungal infection that appears in warm, sweaty environments such as the butt, groin area, and inner thigh.

To avoid all this, make sure to shower after your workout and change your gym clothes.

According to some studies, staying in your gym clothes also increases your chances of yeast infection. So there’s that too.

SKIPPING QUALITY SLEEP.

Without sleep, your aching muscles cannot recover from the stress of your workout routine. Exercising brings a ton of benefits to the body; no one denies that.

However, working out without getting enough quality sleep is pointless. Your sleep is way more important than your fitness. Without enough sleep, your health deteriorates very quickly.

Every now and then, you might feel ok if you do not sleep enough. But continue to do so, and you will find your muscles not recovering from the toll of the gym.

Research shows that sleep depravity affects athlete’s performance. In contrast, enough sleep leads to greater performance in an individual. In case you want to find out more on this topic, read this.

TOUCHING YOUR FACE.

This is very hard to do. After all, Study shows that people tend to touch their faces an average of 16 times an hour.

Gym equipment are filled with germs from other people’s bacteria. You should be very careful when using equipment with various apparatus.

The moment you’re done with your exercise. The first thing you should do is head back to the locker and wipe your face with whatever face wipe you have. Wipe your hands while you’re at it too.

DON’T TAKE PAINKILLERS.

After working out, your muscles are sore. It might be the good kind of sore or the ‘ Oh God save me from this’ kinda sore. Either way, you might be tempted to take the paracetamol by the counter. Make sure not to do so, please.

When you exercise, you tear your muscles, and the body repairs itself. This makes your body stronger and more capable of handling that tension in the future. This is why your body is sore with pain.

Painkillers like ibuprofen have been proven to damage cellular tissue (read more here). This hinders the benefit of exercising.

The only exception here is if you have an actual injury. If it’s just muscle soreness best advice is to weather the storm.

NEGLECTING TO RECORD YOUR PROGRESS.

Your workout session, even fifteen minutes a day, counts. No matter how long your daily session is, it should be recorded on some app on your phone or some fitness watch. This keeps you motivated when you can see how far you’ve gone.

When you first start being consistent with exercising. The changes to your body are invisible to your eyes. This can be discouraging to the point that some give up altogether.

Using a great tracker, however, will keep you enthused about working out. Here is a blog I found on the best fitness trackers. Am sure one of them here will do the trick.

In conclusion, I am glad you’re taking your exercise seriously. Hopefully, this blog helps you correct an error or two that you may have been making in your self-development journey. I wish you all the best, keep at it!