Monday 9 July 2018

3 Reasons You Should Always Eat After Your Workout

Low blood sugar and lightheadedness


If you exercise in the morning or early evening without eating and replenishing within a few hours, “your body will take stored energy,” Besser says. First, it will dip into your glycogen stores, which your body uses to keep blood sugar levels stable, she says. Glycogen will get replaced as you replenish your energy stores, but it takes time, so your body may be short-changed for a while

Muscle loss and cramping

Eventually, your body runs out of glycogen. “Then it has to move on to a less readily available sources of energy, like fat or, if there isn't fat on board, muscle,” she explains

Obviously, if your body is degrading muscle to use for energy, you could potentially lose muscle mass and get weaker. If you’ve just sweat a lot, you also probably lost a ton of electrolytes, which can lead to muscle cramping. That’s pretty much the opposite of what you are trying to do with all that exercise, right?

Dehydration

If you don’t eat or drink, you’ll remain dehydrated after your workout. Just exercising alone, even under optimal conditions (not extreme heat, for instance) causes an increase in sweat and dehydration, she says.

If you don’t replace the fluid, it will cause electrolyte imbalances, which can cause heart arrhythmias or palpitations in severe cases, as the body needs electrolytes for proper heart and muscle function. “But this isn’t going to happen unless you are chronically undernourished and then stressing the body with exercise,” Besser explains, “or if you take a diuretic, which can cause electrolyte imbalance.”

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