Published on April 15th, 2020 | by Sunit Nandi

CBD and 4 Other Post-Workout Suggestions For Your Routine

Post-workout routines are just as crucial to the overall success of your workout as the routine itself. You need to get the proper nutrients into your body to help heal the micro-tears in your muscle fibers and ready you for the next workout.

Here, we’ll cover five suggestions to add to your post-workout routine, including using CBD to alleviate the soreness in your muscles.

If you’ve never used CBD before, it’s a compound that’s found in Cannabis, and extracted from a strain of Cannabis known as hemp. No, it won’t get you “high” like its cousin, THC, but it does provide some awesome benefits for athletes!

1. Use CBD In Your Protein Shake

There are about a half-dozen ways to get CBD into your system, but perhaps the easiest way for an athlete during a post-workout routine is by including CBD oil in a protein shake. You can order CBD oil online from a well-known CBD company or find it at the grocery store/local dispensary, and you’ll find plenty of flavors to choose from. Or, if you don’t want any flavor, you can try the “natural” option.

CBD has anti-inflammatory and pain relief properties, which can help in your post-workout recovery. If you don’t want to ingest your CBD, you can try CBD topicals. Apply the lotion or cream directly to your sore muscles for localized relief.

The CBD interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system, which controls many systems and bodily functions, including pain, appetite, and immune response.

CBD has gained much attention in recent years, mostly because science is slowly catching up to the compound and revealing just how many benefits it has to offer. CBD is safe to use, has few to no side-effects, and doesn’t cause addiction.

It relieves pain, inflammation, manages anxiety and depression, helps with heart health, and even helps prevent or minimize seizures in some patients.

Next time you work out, try using some CBD oil in your protein shake! You’ll feel relief from your soreness, and feel more energized going into your next workout.

2. Stretch Those Muscles!

Stretching is an important part of post-workout. Stretching helps make your muscles more flexible and elastic, and aids in the cool-down process. After you’ve worked your muscles, they’re tired, sore, and tense. Stretching them out can let the body know that your workout is over, and it’s time to enter the recovery phase.

How you stretch is important as well, as you don’t want to strain your freshly-worked muscles or pull anything.

Start slow, and be intentional with the way you stretch. Don’t rush, or try to over-do it. You simply want to get your muscles stretched out enough to where they regain some of their elasticity.

You don’t need to spend a half-hour stretching, either. It can be as quick as 30-seconds per muscle group, or up to one minute. Whichever is more comfortable for you!

3. Eat the Right Foods

Eating the right foods can determine whether or not your workout achieves maximum results. Most experts recommend you eat a snack or small meal that’s high in protein, so you can put it to work rebuilding your muscles.

The last thing you want to do after a workout is down a soda or start smashing on some potato chips. Your body just used a lot of energy, so you’ll want to refuel with clean energy and not empty calories and sugar. Don’t forget to drink lots of water as well. Your body sweats out plenty of fluids during a workout, so you’ll need to replace them as soon as possible.

Eating right helps rebuild muscles in a healthy way, replenishes your energy, restores the body’s glycogen stores, and enhances the recovery process. Protect your body and maximize your workout by reaching for grilled chicken instead of a cheeseburger for your post-workout meal.

Additional Resource: The Best Low Sodium Protein Powder

4. Don’t Forget To Cool Down

A cool down workout can let your body know it’s time to rest, and in combination with a good stretch, can help relieve the tension in your muscles. Obviously, your cool down workout shouldn’t be intense. It can be as simple as a walk or light jog. Its purpose is to bring your heart rate down and cool your body down.

A cool down helps prevent blood from pooling in the veins, as well. If you’ve got your blood pumping intensely to one area, and suddenly stop, you’ll have an excess of blood in that area, which isn’t good. You need to do a lighter version of the same workout to push all that extra blood and out and back through the heart.

Cool down workouts don’t have to be long. Five to ten minutes on a treadmill, walking, or lightly jogging is enough to get the job done. After your cool down, you can go directly into your stretch routine, then rehydrate and eat.

5. Focus on Yourself

After your workout, the importance of reflecting on your progress and setting your next goal is just as important as taking care of your body. Physical health is connected to mental health, and vice versa. The two are intertwined, so when you’re taking care of one, you should also be taking care of the other.

Many people find that exercise boosts their confidence and makes them feel better; even if they’re suffering from mental health conditions. Working out releases dopamine into the brain, which is a feel-good hormone that makes you feel elated.

After your workout, look at the progress you’ve made. You made the commitment to work out! If you’ve lost weight from working out, recognize it and own it. If you’re starting to look like you’re in better shape, commend yourself and be proud of how far you’ve come, and set new goals to be even better than before.

Conclusion

Post-workout is equally as important as the workout itself. Be sure to take care of your body by rehydrating, eating right, using CBD oil for inflammation, and focusing on how far you’ve come.

Tags: CBD, post-workout, routine, suggestions

About the Author

Sunit Nandi I'm the leader of Techno FAQ. Also an engineering college student with immense interest in science and technology. Other interests include literature, coin collecting, gardening and photography. Always wish to live life like there's no tomorrow.