Developing and implementing healthy habits into your daily routine is a great way to live a happy, positive and productive life.
By practicing positive daily habits, you are engraining specific behaviors in your brain, which will then keep you running at a very efficient level. Sometimes this is easier said than done. Why? Because all of us also have bad habits!
Now, believe me when I tell you, I know how hard it can be to break a bad habit!!! The definition says it itself. A habit is a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up. They warned us! We want our good habits to be hard to give up, but that means the same for the bad ones unfortunately.
Your bad habits didn't form overnight, so they won't go away overnight either. In order for there to be a different outcome, you have to have a different input. If you want things to change, things have to change! Our good habits need to outweigh our bad habits in order to be effective. If you have a good habit of exercising daily but a bad habit of eating fast food post workout, you are working against yourself!
When it comes to fitness, practicing daily healthy habits will keep you moving closer and closer to your goals all while keeping you healthy! Its a win win. After a while, your habits will become routine and you will perform them without even thinking about it.
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Implementing daily habits to strengthen your muscles, is a good route to take if you want to maintain your muscle mass, keep a lean physique and stay in overall good health. Long periods of inactivity, poor nutrition, injury or other medial conditions can cause muscle atrophy. This is when when muscle does not get used, so the body will break it down to conserve energy.
By performing daily habits to keep your muscles strong, you are allowing your body to function properly. When you are healthy you feel good, and when you feel good, you are happy, when you are happy, you perform well! The list keeps going and going!!
Check out 5 daily habits to implement today to strengthen your muscles and keep your body working efficiently!
Get Proper Sleep
We all function better on a goods nights sleep. I don't care who you are, no one is pleasant to be around after a bad nights sleep! Did you know then when we sleep our bodies are repairing and recovering? Sleep plays a crucial role in recovery from injury and the repairing of our muscles. The amount of sleep someone needs varies from person to person, however I always suggest at least 7 to 8 hours.
So now your thinking, what actually happens when we are sleeping? When you are sleeping, there is an increase of blood flow which brings oxygen and other nutrients to your muscles to help repair and regenerate them.
Your hormones also play a role too! When you sleep, growth hormones are released which activate both muscle growth and repair. If your body doesn't get enough sleep, this growth hormone secretions declines and it can be harder for your body to repair its muscles.
If you are having trouble falling asleep, try to eliminate any type of stimulant at least 30 minutes before going to bed. This means get off social media, turn off the tv and close the laptop. By doing so, you are allowing your brain time to settle and move into a more relaxed state. Scrolling before bed is a sure way to keep the thoughts going, long after you close your eyes.
Whether recovering from an injury or simply living healthy lifestyle, your sleep is a huge investment in your wellbeing. Giving your muscles time to recover at night will set you up for success for the next day.
Refuel After Your Workouts
Using exercise to strengthen your muscles is a given, but what about the post workout recovery fuel?! I hear so many people underestimate the importance of fueling up post workout! Consuming proper nutrition after a workout is essential to strengthening your muscles.
By consuming protein and carbs post workout, your muscles get a kickstart recovering, repairing and rebuilding. Your body needs to be refueled after using up its available energy so always try to get your post workout fuel in within 30 minutes of working out.
What you have post workout doesn't have to be difficult to make or hard to choose. That is what I absolutely love having my post workout shake. Its quick, easy and jammed packed with all the goodness I need to recover. I know how busy some of you are and sometimes a workout is a quick 30 minutes and then you are off to your next obligation. A protein shake or protein bar is a great way to get those nutrients in.
By skipping your post workout recovery fuel, you run the risk of feeling tired, groggy and also muscle injury. Think protein and carbs!! Also remember after super sweaty or long workouts, it is important to replenish the electrolytes that you lost.
Follow A Meal Plan
Following a meal plan doesn't have to be difficult. Keep it simple and you will see success. Meal planning to strengthen your muscles is helpful because it takes all the guessing out of it. It is a good way to provide your body with the nutritious foods it needs to function properly and stay healthy.
I've said it once and I will say it again! Eating a healthy breakfast is the best way to start your day! Same as the post workout recovery, aim to eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up. Start your day with feeding your body, instead of starving it. When we do this, our bodies begin to lose trust in us and will begin to store our fat to use as energy later on.
Protein, protein, protein! These are the building blocks of your muscles. You know I am a huge fan of eating enough protein throughout the day. Protein also takes longer to digest which means it keeps you fuller longer.
Do you know how much protein you should be consuming daily? Join the FREE 5 Day Better You Program today to get paired with one of my amazing coaches, receive a customized nutrition plan with your protein number, and start seeing results!!
Planning healthy snacks throughout the day is a good addition when following a meal plan. Think of it as smart snacking and make healthy choices when it comes these snacks. Think natural and colorful. Stay away from processed foods. By having snacks readily available, you take out the risk of heading to the vending machine for a candy bar or bag of chips.
Cooking at home is beneficial for many reasons, but most of all, you know exactly what you are eating! Eating out comes with some negatives and that is all the ingredients that are NOT listen on the menu. It is hard to know with restaurants or fast food, all the ingredients or the cooking process of what you are consuming. By eating at home you are eliminating all of those possible unhealthy ingredients and cooking healthy, conscious meals.
Feeding your body proper nutrients continuously throughout the day will keep your body functioning at a high level and everything working together properly. By feeding your muscles, you are allowing them to grow and become stronger.
Check out my TikTok on what I eat in a day below!
@rebeccalouisefitness What I eat in a day to stay LEAN 🙌🏻 ##whatieatinaday ##whattoeattobehealthy ##getlean ##eatthisfood ##eatlean ##howtoeat ##leanfoods ##leandiet
♬ Happy Vibes - GNL
Stretch, Warm Up & Cool Down
Stretching is what keeps our muscles flexible, healthy and strong! We need this flexibility in order to maintain a range of motion in our joints. Without stretching, our muscles can tighten and become shorter in length. When this happens and you go to use the muscle, they are unable to extend all the way and they are much weaker.
Incorporating both a warm up and cool down with your workouts is crucial to the strength of your muscles. The warm up begins to increase blood flow to your muscles, which is when you begin to loosen up a bit. This will help reduce post workout muscle soreness and also lessen your risk of injury.
A cool down post workout allows your heart rate to recover, along with your body temperature and blood pressure. A warm up typically has faster movements, when a cool down is slower and more relaxing.
When stretching and warming up, remember to listen to your body. If you feel sore or something hurts, spend a little more tine stretching it out before jumping into rigorous activity. This gives you time to evaluate how sore you are, if you are injured or if you should continue to workout. Listening to your body is so important to prevent further injury. I know its hard to take time off, but a few days is better than 1 month!
Join the BTES App for exclusive full 28 minute stretch videos to loosen up those muscles!
Skip The Booze
When you workout, your muscles tear. This is what causes the soreness you feel. In order for these muscles to heal and repair, our bodies release growth hormones. Drinking alcohol directly prevents the healing of our muscles by directly decreasing the secretion of those hormones!
Its time to save the alcohol for special occasions! Every Friday night is not a special occasion. The glass of wine at home a few times a week is actually making you feel sore longer! Drinking makes your muscles take longer to fully repair.
Don't forget to hydrate!! Drinking enough water every day is crucial to our overall health. It doesn't only help all of our organs functioning properly, it also regulates body temperature, delivers nutrients to our cells, improves sleep quality and even our mood.
Drinking water also helps our body through our natural detox process. We need water to function efficiently. Rule of thumb is to drink half your weight in ounces of water every day.
Want to learn more about how to get your habits to stick!? Check out my blog on The Ultimate 12 Tips To Creating Healthy Habits.
These 5 daily habits will not only help strengthen your muscles, but will show you that you can create heathy habits that you can stick to! I challenge you to try all of these habits for 14 days and then come back and let me know how you feel in the comments!
Love you all!
Rebecca
Blanca Valencia
May 21, 2021Rebecca, you are truly an awesome trainer. I always taught I was eating the right meals, but I wasn’t and I was not seeing the changes that I wanted. I had been doing your workouts on YouTube for over 3 years and it was not until I did the 5 day better program that I saw a change. I am now a BTES girl and I love all your workouts. Thank you!