Your Running Journey: AI-Powered Plans by GPT-4o [3cfb]

Running is a beneficial exercise for both physical and mental health, and it has become an increasingly common choice for many people. However,many runners pay great attention to warming up before running but often neglect the cool-down work after running.

There are many things that are not suitable to do after running. If you do not pay attention to this aspect, it can cause significant damage to your body over time, increase the likelihood of injury, and ultimately affect your running ability.

Sometimes, people tend to focus only on the act of running itself and overlook the post-run precautions. Today, I will explain a few seemingly unimportant but crucial things that you should never do after running~

1. Immediately squatting or sitting down to rest

If you immediately squat or sit down to rest after exercise, it will hinder the return of blood from the lower limbs, affect blood circulation, and deepen physical fatigue. This situation is common in activities with larger amounts of exercise, such as long-distance running. The correct approach is to do some relaxation activities after each exercise, such as slow walking, leg stretching, and other stretching exercises.

At the same time, running generates many acidic substances that adjust blood and body functions. After running, these substances do not immediately stop being supplied. If you sit down to rest immediately, excess nutrients will accumulate in the buttocks and thighs, leading to an unattractive body shape, such as 'radish legs'.

2. Not changing clothes and shoes in time

After running, you are usually drenched in sweat. You should immediately free yourself from the damp clothes. Sweat-soaked clothes are a breeding ground for bacteria and can make your body feel particularly cold, making it difficult for you to recover quickly, even in warm weather.

Whether or not you can take a shower immediately after running, you should quickly change your clothes, socks, and shoes. This helps keep your muscles warm and relaxed and promotes blood circulation, which is one of the best ways to recover after running.Quickly changing out of your running shoes will also make your feet feel very relaxed. However, you should ensure you have a pair of relatively loose spare shoes ready in advance, as it is not suitable to walk barefoot at this time.

3. Taking a shower while sweating

The showers referred to here include both cold and hot showers. After running, your body sweats and releases a lot of heat, causing the pores of the capillaries on the skin surface to expand. Taking a cold shower at this time will cause the capillaries to contract suddenly, reducing your body's resistance and leading to colds, diarrhea, and other illnesses.

Of course, you should not take a hot shower immediately either. After running, a large amount of blood is distributed to the limbs. Taking a hot shower will increase blood flow to the skin surface, causing insufficient blood supply to the heart and brain, which may result in dizziness and, in severe cases, cardiovascular diseases.

4. Underestimating the consumption of running

Do not deliberately underestimate your running achievements, whether it is your speed or the distance you have completed. Sometimes, we may think we ran too slowly or the distance was too short and that no special recovery is needed. This is a big mistake.The impact of distance and speed varies for different runners, so the standard for measuring your running consumption is not a comparison with others but how your own body feels.

Compared to professional athletes, your running speed may not be fast, and the distance may not be far, but the consumption for your body could be quite significant. If you neglect post-run replenishment and adjustment, your body's recovery speed will be greatly reduced.

5. Incorrect energy replenishment

Running is a high-intensity and extremely physically demanding exercise, and it is easy to feel hungry after running. During running, blood in the body is redistributed, concentrating more in the limb muscles and respiratory system, with relatively less in the digestive organs. This weakens gastrointestinal peristalsis, making eating at this time likely to overload the digestive system, causing gastrointestinal discomfort and other diseases.

After completing your run, you should prepare to eat and drink some supplements within 20-30 minutes.Try to choose foods rich in protein, with some fats and complex carbohydrates to meet your body's energy needs.

You should also ensure you have enough water intake. Remember, not everything is suitable to eat after running.If you cannot control your appetite, the energy you consume after running may easily exceed the calories you burned.

6. Not controlling frozen drinks

Long-distance runners often experience hypothermia outdoors because running, a high-intensity exercise, causes significant heat loss. It is important to note that at this time, the body's functions are relatively weak, and the digestive system is also fragile. Drinking a large amount of cold water can easily burden the stomach and heart.

Similarly, eating a lot of ice cream, cones, popsicles, and other cold foods can cause a series of gastrointestinal discomforts.After exercise, the digestive system is still in a suppressed state. Consuming a lot of cold drinks can easily cause stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, and can induce gastrointestinal diseases.

7. Doing physical labor after running

If you do heavy physical labor after running, it will be a huge test for your already tired muscles, especially if you had a strenuous run and your muscles are dehydrated.Doing repetitive bending, climbing ladders, or lifting heavy objects after running will greatly increase the risk of injury to your already fatigued muscles.

If possible, you can postpone these tasks for 1-2 days after running. This will give you enough recovery time, and once your body has completed self-repair and energy replenishment, you will find these tasks much easier.

8. Ignoring recovery exercises

After running, you may easily develop the mindset that today's exercise is enough and you can afford to be lazy. You might want to sit on the couch, watch TV, and binge on snacks. However, this is a very wrong approach. After a good running session, do not succumb to this mindset. Light exercise is the best way to help your body recover.

This helps keep your blood flowing and speeds up your body's self-recovery.The day after running, you can schedule a whole day of light exercise. If you need to go to work, you can take a walk and do some simple stretching or deep breathing while standing.

Searching for the footprints of heroes

The breeze blows everywhere

Feel the dreamy sea of stars