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Top 10 post-run bad habits

Impulsive behaviours correlate with food addiction and BMI.

Everyone has a bad habit. When it comes to running though, there are some bad habits that many of us are guilty of, that actually inhibit recovery and training benefits. Here are the top 10 bad post-run habits.

1) Skipping your cool down because you’re pressed for time

If you have somewhere that you have to be, shorten your workout rather than cut off your cool down. Cooling down after a workout helps to prevent venous pooling after exercise, which is a build-up of blood in the veins.

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2) Skipping a snack because you’re trying to lose weight

If you’re trying to shed a few pounds, forgoing on the snack after the gym may seem logical, but it isn’t. Providing your body with fuel to aid in the recovery process is crucial to maintaining energy levels and preventing injury. You’ll lose more weight if you up your metabolism rather than letting your body go into starvation mode.

3) Thinking “well, I ran today, so I can spend the rest of my day on my butt”

While the phrase “sitting is the new smoking” is a bit overdone, runners often think they’re off the hook because they hit the roads each day. Science has shown, however, being active all throughout the day – walking around, getting up and down several times an hour – may be even more important than fitting in a daily run.

Our take on it? Don’t be a lazy person for the rest of the day just because you went for a run. Still take the stairs, go for a walk with the dog after work, or hit up a yoga class.

4) Not having enough to drink

Not rehydrating properly impairs recovery and may leave you feeling nauseous after a run.

Draft Beer Machine

5) Having too much to drink

While many runners enjoy a cold beer, or head to the bar with some of their buddies after a group run, overdoing it on the alcohol is one of the biggest threats to training gains.

6) Popping anti-inflammatories

When you run you actually create small micro-tears in your muscles. Your body senses these micro-tears and sends an inflammatory response to heal them. This is how training adaptation occurs. Taking regular doses on anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen inhibit this healing process and hinder training gains.

This isn’t to say NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) can’t play a role in injury treatment. Anti-inflammatories can help with healing an acute running injury in the immediate aftermath of its occurrence. Don’t make a habit of popping some pills because you’re sore after a hard workout.

Impulsive behaviours correlate with food addiction and BMI.

7) Reaching for the treats

If you’re one of those people who always seem to get famished after a workout, regardless of how much you had to eat before, try scheduling your runs right before a meal so you can refuel with a portion of food that you would have been eating anyways.

People have a tendency to overestimate the number of calories they’ve burned working out.

8) Stepping right onto the scale

If running is part of a quest to lose some weight, it may be tempting to hop on the scale right after a run to see what sort of progress you’re making, but right after a run or a workout discrepancies in weight may be due to water loss from sweat.

9) Hanging out in sweaty clothes

Firstly, you likely smell. More relevant to your health (though maybe not to your relationships) is that staying in damp workout gear long after a session is done can lead to getting sick.

10) Bragging about your run to friends

Wait for them to ask you how your run was before delving too far into the story of your athletic feats. Obviously this rule does not apply if something fantastic happens, like a wildlife sighting or encounter with a friend.

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