Fit         & Fruity

Take good care of your body! 
 

When you practice sports multiple times a week, it's important to take good care of your body! 
Many of us succeed in a perfect pre-workout and workout routine. They fill up the body with the right nutriment as a pre work-out. Warm up and stretch before the work out and hydrate with water during the workout. This is great!!! 

 

But what do we do after the work out? We go home.....and???

 

What so many out there don't realize is that your ''after workout'' is AS important as your pre-workout and workout. How you treat your body in the hours after you excercise has a direct effect on muscle strenght, growth, soreness and hydration. So 4 tips from Fit & Fruity to make sure you take good care of your body! 

 

1. Cool down 
When your done with your workout, you've raised your heart rate to the max. You'll need to lower your heart rate back down to your resting heart rate (about 60 to 80 beats per minute). How?

Just slow down your pace for the last 5 minutes. For example with a cardio excercise like running or cycling. 

 

2. Stretch 
Stretching will prevent post-workout soreness and will increase muscle flexibility, which will reduce injury. After a workout, muscles naturally contract. Stretching prevents them from shrinking. It makes sure your muscles rebuild, grow bigger and stronger. 

 

3. Hydrate 
I can't say it enough, hydration is key! I recommend to drink 2-3 cups of water after your work out to replenish your fluid levels.

 

4. Refuel 

To refuel your body after a workout, consume a mixture of carbohydrates and protein immediately.  During the workout you've burned hundreds of calories and lost carbohydrates and you may also have actually torn your muscles. You need to repair your muscles and refuel your body!
If you're excercising to lose weight, it seems counterproductive to eat after burning calories. However, your body is craving for it. So listen to your body! Your post work out should be around 150 calories and contain protein to rebuild muscle and carbs to offer energy. 

 

Cooldown - Stretch - Hydrate - Refuel - REPEAT ;)