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Do your homework before you work out

Do Your Homework Before You Work Out
While we all know that exercising can build up our endorphin levels and make us feel happier, it's also important that we do our homework and find out some of the important facts before we get fit. Here is some useful information for planning your workout:

Is it better to exercise in the morning?

Exercising in the morning is the best foil to excuses such as "lack of time" or "lack of energy". The idea is to plan your exercise for the time of the day when you're most likely to do it. But try not to do it within 4 hours of bedtime as you may find a late workout over-stimulating and interferes with your sleep.

How soon can I exercise after a meal?

Contrary to what you may have heard, you will not get appendicitis if you exercise right after a meal! However, you should still wait about 45 minutes to 1 hour before exercising if your meal was fairly light, with a longer rest period if you had a heavy meal. As everybody is different, it is difficult to determine what one's optimum waiting period is.

Why is it important to warm up or stretch?

Never stretch a cold muscle or you may risk injury! Warm up with stretching exercises for about 5 minutes to get the blood flowing, and cool down with stretching exercises again after your regime to reduce muscle soreness.

How much water should I drink during exercise?

Try to drink water every 15-20 minutes. Don't rely on feeling thirsty as a guide, because when you realise that you're thirsty, chances are, you're already dehydrated.