Tag: carbs

Post Workout Mistakes You May Be Making

No matter how much effort you put into your workout, if your post workout habits are inappropriate, you’ll be losing out on your desired results. Pretty soon, you may find yourself de-motivated to work out and give up on your health goals. Therefore, it is necessary to maximise your workouts by paying attention to healthy post workout habits. Here we take a look at a few unhealthy post workout habits that you have.

(Also read – How to burn fat without losing muscle)

Cooling down

Post workout aerobics can help you cool down

Letting your heart rate and blood pressure return to normal levels cuts your risk of injury, according to experts. We hardly ever pay attention to this and return to our regular chores after a rigorous workout. The best solution is to end your workout with a light aerobic exercise to bring back your body to the normal resting levels gradually.

(Try reading – Benefits of push-ups)

Stretching

You must stretch to prevent muscle soreness

Stretching can prevent muscle soreness on the following day. Less soreness will mean you can hit the gym the sooner than ever and get back to working those muscles to attain your dream body!

Nutrition

Yogurt is a great post-workout snack

Nutrition helps your muscles repair after a break-down workout. A combination of carbs and protein, like yogurt or a handful of nuts, is a great post workout snack to revitalize your body!

(You can also read – You can dance to lose weight!)

Hygiene

Make sure you take a shower and change your clothes after a workout

This may or may not apply to you; however, there are some people out there who don’t change their clothes or wash their bodies after a workout. Gross as it sounds, it obviously has more to it than just plain dirtiness. It can lead to yeast infections!

Sleep

Sleep is essential if you work out

Most people do not find the time to rest their bodies adequately due to hectic schedules. But what is important to note is that a good 7-8 hours of sleep is imperative for a person who works out.

(Also read – Get fit in 15 minutes!)

So the next time you think that skipping any of these things is fine, think again. Workouts can be good for you, but don’t let it affect your health!

How to burn fat without losing muscle

People usually want to lose the fat but are concerned about losing the pretty lean muscle tissue along with it while dieting. Here we give you tips on how to keep the lean muscle tissue and burn away fat.

Eat 5-6 smaller meals per day

To burn fat and keep muscle, you must not reduce your calories too much. Divide the number of daily calories your body needs into small meals spread throughout the day, rather than eating two or three large meals. This way your body receives a steady amount of the fuel it needs to maintain lean muscle mass.

Stack on protein

Stack on protein to maintain muscle

Your muscles need fuel to sustain itself. By having a protein rich diet, you are fuelling your muscles and telling your brain to stay away from muscle instead of stealing muscle for the energy deficit during a diet. If this happens, then your body is only going to use stored up fat to fuel your bodily functions and stay away from muscle. Good sources of protein include nuts, chicken, pulses and egg whites.

Maintain strength

Weight training must be adjusted appropriately

During a calorie deficit diet, you must not reduce the weight you carry. Your muscles need to be worked to sustain itself during this period of draught. By working your muscles, you are telling your body, once again, to use only fat to make up for the calorie deficit and stay away from muscle.

Reduce weight training volume

You need to maintain strength, but a caloric deficit is really an energy deficit, and while this is fantastic for losing any amount of body fat, it is not good for anything that is workout related like recovery and performance. Hence, even though you are maintaining strength, it is important to reduce volume/frequency of your workouts to facilitate proper recovery.

If you manage to do this, then you can reduce fat and maintain muscle. However, if you are lost on how to begin with this module straight away, check out how you can kickstart your weight loss plan.