Pre and Post Workout

Whatever kind of workout you do there are a few things you should always do before and after your work out.

Pre-Workout:

Don't work out right after you eat. Your body is pumping blood to your stomach to help digest your food. When you try to work out while you are digesting your food, your blood has to go to other parts of your body messing with your digestion and causing stomach cramps. It's also hard to work out your stomach muscles when you feel full.

Always do a warm up. It doesn't even have to be very long, a few minutes even. Just to get your heart going and body temperature up to start burning those calories.

Post-Workout:

One thing I have learned that has helped me recover faster from my workout is stretching! Stretch for at least 10 minutes, holding each stretch any where between 10-20 seconds. You muscles won't be as tight when you wake up the next morning will make you not as sore. Which will make your next workout more bearable! It is so hard to work out when your muscles feel tight and sore from previous workouts. Trust me, take the extra time to stretch!

After your workout always replenish your body and muscles with a protein shake. This is something I have just learned how important it is to do! Protein shakes will help your muscles rebuild. It will help you feel energized after your workout and not tired. It will help give you energy through the rest of the day. If you do your work out at night after work, still drink a protein shake. It will help keep you from snacking on unhealthy things late at night. Protein shakes help you recover from your workout so you are not near as sore the next day! I have been pushing myself really hard on my workouts and the next day I would feel so sore I had to force myself to workout. After I started doing protein shakes I can push myself harder every day and I barely feel it the next day.

Your protein shake needs to have: Whey Protein and BCAAs. Whey protein and BCAAs will help rebuild the muscles you are breaking down while working out. It will help you build lean toned muscles!
I use 100% Whey Protein powder from Costco. Another good brand is Muscle Milk. I would highly recommend either of these! You can also look on Amazon for these products.

I usually will workout about 1 1/2 to 2 hours after I eat. I work out for about 1/2 hr then stretch for 10 minutes. Afterwards I will have my protein shake which will keep me full for about another hour and a half until I eat my next meal.

Protein shakes can have anything in them! Make a fruit smoothie and put a scoop of powder in it. You can also just mix ice, milk/water, and a scoop of powder in a blender. Put it in water/milk and shake it up. My favorite is to freeze bananas and take one frozen banana, 1/2 cup water, and 1 scoop of powder and blend it together. The bananas will whip up to the consistency of a milkshake. It is SO good!

Any questions feel free to ask!