'Growing is done outside of the gym' is a well-known fact that supports the principles of fitness. The hard work you do in the gym whether for muscle gain or fat loss only comes into full effect when your diet, sleep and recovery techniques are fully utilised at home. Furthermore, post training you experience muscle soreness which demonstrates your body's changing and evident need for rest and recovery, without it you will not experience as good of results and will have sustained soreness.
Firstly, in any lifestyle stretching is a comprehensive and essential way of fitness. Here are some of the benefits of stretching:
- Improved range of motion
- Increased flexibility
- Injury prevention
- Increased blood flow
- Stress relief
- Postural improvement
Without stretching you will have longer periods of muscle soreness, tighter muscles and therefore higher risk of hurting yourself. The best stretching to actively do would be static stretching along with dynamic stretching before exercise.
It is imperative to recover to experience the best results and feel the best. There are many ways to speed up the process and here's how: pool/beach swim and ice baths do an amazing job in recovering as they increase blood flow and remove lactic acid from the muscles, compression tights such as skins work wonders (especially for legs when elevated) and most importantly the 7-9hrs sleep every night which ties it all together.
In conclusion, for the best results and physical and mental wellbeing in your active lifestyle use stretching and recovery techniques daily.
*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
