Keeping yourself in shape has so many benefits. From your looks to how you feel inside, fitness is a blessing—when you maintain it. However, it’s easy to go too far in your quest for that perfect midriff and stretch yourself too thin. It’s essential to know when to stop. You also need to know how to take care of yourself outside of your exercise routine. Here are some fantastic tips to help you avoid damage in your quest for that best body.

1) Do a Proper Warm-Up 

Exercising cold is a surefire way to ruin your body. It doesn’t matter if you’re running, swimming, cycling, boxing—get yourself ready before you try anything strenuous. You should put off even stretching until after a solid warm-up. Talk to your body and listen to it. It will let you know when it’s ready for the big time, and you don’t want to start testing it until that moment.

Going for a lengthy jog at a slow pace is a quick way to warm up and loosen tense muscles. It works a lot of muscles and prepares your body for the rigor of intensive exercise. It’s also a great way to socialize with anyone involved in your fitness routine—you don’t want to be chatting when you’re training, but making friends in the fitness community is essential. It can make a difference on days when you know you need to be training, remembering that there’ll be a good friend there to chat with and to spot you.

2) Stretch Well

Stretches may seem dull, but they are vital if you’re exercising regularly. It doesn’t matter what sport you’re participating in; you need your full body to be available. You’re a boxer? Your legs are as important as your arms, if not more. You’re a sprinter? Your upper body’s readiness is the difference between first place and fifth place.

Never underestimate how interconnected the human body is. Get every inch of you properly warmed up and stretched before you start your exercise. It sounds so basic, yet lack of warm-up and stretching are significant causes of muscular injury. Likewise, make sure you warm up before stretching—if you stretch cold, you run the risk of injury.

3) Stop When You Have to Stop

It’s very tempting to buy into rhetoric about ‘going the extra mile’ and exercising until you heave. It feels like it should be doing good; it feels like you’ve surpassed yourself. And hey—if you’re going for a world record, then maybe that’s true. However, if you’re trying to keep in shape, there’s no need to do yourself damage in your journey towards a healthy, beautiful body.

Throwing up isn’t generally good for people. That’s why it tastes so bad. Don’t worry about it. Exercise enough so that you feel you’ve improved your strength and fitness and do the same thing the next time you’re at the gym. Never cause yourself distress in your journey towards a healthy, beautiful body.

4) Aftercare

Warming down is as important as warming up. Make sure you do a bit of gentle exercise to ease the lactic acid out of your muscles when you’ve finished with your session.

A bit of extra attention is a bonus: massage equipment has been a game-changer for athletes, and availing yourself of the best massage gun in Australia is going to go a long way toward a quick recovery.

The Takeaway

It’s not rocket science, but it’s something that a lot of BBJ competitors forget. Caring for your body before and after intensive exercise is the key to getting the most out of the training. Keep this in mind, beautify your bodies, and most of all, take care of yourselves!