Top 4 things to NEVER do before you workout.

@fasshionlover

By: Elena Stoycheva

It is universally accepted that a healthy body requires a healthy life and a constant work out. BUT!! Be careful people!! Despite the exercising itself there are several habits that are equally important. It goes without saying that these pre-workout habits are obligatory for your best possible health condition.

Your pre-workout routine can define whether your practice will evolve flawlessly or awfully. Yeah, I know it sounds a little bit excessive and you might have second thoughts about what you just read but trust me. I had exactly the same reaction when I first heard of this informal rule. “How is it possible that the things I do just before my workout directly affect my body? I have to focus only on my exercises, why should I care what happens before,” were my precise words. Until I was finally convinced and tried to follow the correct process every time BEFORE I do my practice.

Here are 4 habits that you should definitely adopt for your next workout.

1. Too much food and too soon will leave you back a foot

You may assume that when you eat a lot and right before when you start working out you will consequently gain more power and you will feel stronger. No guys, you are wrong! It is exactly the opposite. The moment your stomach is full and heavy is the moment that it will drag you down during your exercise program and will cause you a bunch of other difficulties such as cramps, indigestion, nausea, acid reflux and thereafter your performance will not be that efficient. It is more preferable to consume a light meal one hour before the workout. In order to be more precise about the term “light meal” here is an example: Combine protein, carbs and fats with cottage cheese. Try it and I can assure you that you will not leave back a foot, but you will be launched to the moon.

2. Be active not static

Everything is better when you are an active person! Why not to be right now again? Your muscles need to be heated up in order to function correctly during the workout. Therefore, a relaxing yet a productive warm up is 100% needed. Buuut, be careful to realize the difference!!! It is one thing to talk about a warm up and a completely another thing to talk about static stretching. By performing static stretching right before your exercising you increase the risk to experience some unpleasant injuries such as sprains or fracture. It has been also considered that when you statically stretch your cold muscles before a workout you strain them, which immediately results in the decrease of your strength. Stay active you guys, warm up your body and when the workout is done then be static and proceed your stretching for recovery.

3. Entrance for energy - exit for alcohol

You are probably laughing right now because who isn't aware of common sense and general knowledge? Unfortunately, not everyone of us follows this atypical rule yet kind of an obvious one. Even the slightest amount of alcohol has the power to dehydrate your body and weaken it until you diminish your productivity and are probably unable to cope with the exercises. Another risky factor of drinking alcohol before your workout is that it could affect your reflexes and balance and consequently injure you.

4. Wake up from the nap sleeping beauties

Of course you should take a nap before exercising but you have to remember one thing. A fifteen minute nap is an excellent choice for recharging your batteries. On the contrary a nap that exceeds 30 minutes is good for unloading your batteries. Why I say that? When you wake up from a long nap you feel sleepy and tired more than ever as if coming from the outer space and your body is still in lethargy. So, if you make an abrupt transition from a long nap to an intense workout it will most likely result in dizziness and muscles’ weariness.

Everything in life follows its own course of events. You don’t just do things blindfold. And that is the exact way you should handle not only your workout process but also the process before the actual workout. It is not always about the sweat…sometimes it is about the pure mindset.