7 Common Workout Mistakes You Should Never Make After Training

Nutrients/compounds needed to not only facilitate muscular/systemic recovery, but also to provide the necessary “material” or “building blocks” to grow new lean tissue (muscle). As well, several other specific mistakes are often made after a workout that must be avoided if one is interested in efficiently building a leaner and more muscular physique. Let’s take a look at the things you should not do after training and how to go about correcting these costly errors.

Even the most dedicated athletes can fall into common pitfalls that undermine their progress. Avoiding these common mistakes after your workout is crucial for maximizing results, speeding up recovery, and preventing injury. In this section, we’ll break down the seven most frequent errors people make post-exercise—and how you can easily steer clear of them to get the most out of every session.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing a moderate amount of cardio after you finish lifting, since it will help to cool you down, burn off a little extra body fat, and allow you to catch up on your text messages. However, it should not be excessive, as this can significantly impair the physiological and hormonal processes that drive muscle growth. If your program includes large amounts of cardio, separate it from strength training by at least five to six hours to prevent it from interfering with your anabolic progress.

Coach’s suggestion: If the main goal is muscle growth, then limit post-workout cardio to no longer than 20-30 minutes and make sure it is “steady state.” If the goal is to maintain muscle while significantly reducing body fat, choose fasted cardio first thing in the morning, either 60 minutes of steady-state or 30 minutes of HIIT.

Something 95% of trainees neglect after training is intensely stretching the muscle groups they just worked. Putting a muscle under the tension of a proper, powerful stretch can trigger a significant anabolic, or growth-promoting, response.

Coach’s suggestion: Once your workout is complete (do not do this before training), stretch the targeted muscles (use resistance if possible) for 3 sets of 30 seconds. For example, if you trained chest, then lie down on a bench with a pair of fairly heavy DBs and sink to the bottom of a flye movement. Hold the deepest part of the stretch for 30 seconds before taking a one-minute break and repeating two more times.

After spending 90 minutes to two hours pounding the iron, your body is in severe need (as in ASAP) of nutrients—especially amino acids and carbohydrates, to replenish, restore, and repair damaged muscle cells while feeding the exhausted nervous system. Additionally, a short anabolic window of about 30 minutes post-exercise exists, during which the body is primed to direct nutrients to the muscles while minimizing fat storage—an ideal opportunity to improve body composition. Many trainees miss this by waiting 1–2 hours before eating their post-workout meal, making one of the biggest mistakes possible. Don’t let your hard work go to waste.

Coach’s suggestion:As soon as you finish that last rep, take a look at the time and make sure you will be ready to chow down within 30 minutes. If you have a long drive home from the gym, then always have a meal with you that can be consumed before or during the trip. Some gyms even have microwaves available so that you can pop your food in and heat it before you leave.

Because whey protein (especially in isolate and hydrolyzed form) is digested very quickly, it will supply your muscle cells with much-needed amino acids more rapidly than any other protein source. Additionally, whey is rich in branched-chain amino acids, which activate a key muscle growth pathway and support protein synthesis. Neglecting the benefits of whey would be a major mistake when aiming to add or maintain lean muscle tissue.

Coach’s suggestion: Within 15-30 minutes after completing your workout, mix 1-2 scoops of ISOFLEX in 8 oz. of water or almond milk for the perfect post-workout protein.

As I mentioned previously, it’s essential (if maximum progress is your goal) to quickly consume the proper nutrients immediately after a workout—and carbs play an important role in this equation. Avoiding moderate to high amounts of carbs for fear of gaining fat is understandable, but this concern does not apply to post-workout nutrition. After weight training, the body enters a hormonal state in which carbohydrate calories are directed almost entirely to muscle cells to replenish glycogen, leaving fat cells starved and empty. Do not make the misinformed mistake of missing out on the muscle-building power of carbs as part of your post-workout meal.

Coach’s suggestion: Along with ISOFLEX, consume about twice as many carbs as protein (so a 2:1 ratio of carbs to proteins) in the form of rice, potatoes, rice cakes, bread, or for optimum glycogen replenishment and nutrient partitioning, ALLMAX CARBION. (Note: CARBION can simply be mixed with ISOFLEX for an easy and efficient post-workout meal.)

When it comes to making optimal gains, there’s nothing more important than proper diet and training – those make up your “foundation.” When the foundation is solid, a scientifically validated, well-timed, high-quality supplement program can significantly accelerate progress. However, either out of ignorance or laziness, many lifters ignore supplements entirely, which is a huge mistake (and missed opportunity for greater progress), especially after crushing the weights for a couple of hours. Thus, if gaining muscle and losing fat are high on your priority list, then make sure to take advantage of such proven post-workout supplements as creatine, leucine, LCLT, taurine, betaine, and beta-alanine. By consuming an effective dose of each immediately after training, you ensure that not a single rep or set goes to waste.

Coach’s suggestion: Right after you complete that final repetition, immediately consume 5g. ALLMAX L-LEUCINE, 5 g. ALLMAX CREATINE, and 1 scoop of C:VOL.

Many people overlook the restorative and muscle-building power of quality sleep. Even with intense training, perfect nutrition, and a precise supplementation plan, without sufficient high-quality rest, progress will not materialize.

It is vital (if one is truly serious about building muscle, losing fat, increasing performance, and enhancing overall health) that each of us take measures to induce relaxation before bedtime and set up our physiology so that our “bio-clock” is optimally timed for a proper sleep-wake cycle. This will not only increase REM sleep during the night, but also allow us to wake up refreshed and full of energy for the day ahead.

Coach’s suggestion: Approximately 30 minutes before bed, take 1-2 capsules of Melatonin to begin feeling relaxed and stress-free before hitting the sack. Additionally, consume 1-2 scoops of CASEINFX to make sure your body remains in an anabolic state while asleep for 7-8 hours.

Remember, what you do after a workout can make or break your muscle-building and fat-burning efforts. Simply follow my suggestions, and you can rest assured you are getting the most out of every single rep!