5 Tips to Keep Your Muscles Healthy

**this is a contributed post**

spa relax

Pexels – CCO Licence

Muscles enable you to move freely but they also regulate other important functions, such as breathing and chewing. When you keep your muscles healthy, you can improve your mobility, enhance your balance and optimize your body’s functionality. If you’re eager to enhance your well-being or improve your fitness, take a look at these five tips to keep your muscles healthy:

  1. Use Them!

When you don’t use your muscles, the tissue begins to shrink, which means you’ll lose strength and the volume of your muscles decreases. By not using your muscles, you’re effectively telling your body that they’re important, so it will re-route nutrients to other areas. However, you can prevent this from happening by exercising regularly and ensuring that you’re using all of your muscle groups.

  1. Stretch Frequently

As well as exercising to enhance your muscle health, be sure to stretch regularly too. It’s particularly important to stretch before and after exercise to warm up and cool down the muscles before they’re used intensively. This can help to prevent the muscle tissue from tearing and can keep you free from injuries. 

  1. Have a Massage

Over time, toxins accumulate in muscle tissue which can cause discomfort or the formation of muscle ‘knots’. By having regular massages at Unwind Health, you can ensure that toxins are eliminated for muscle tissue, which will relieve discomfort. In addition to this, massage increases the blood flow to your muscles, which means they can be repaired more quickly following exercise or injury. 

  1. Eat a Healthy Diet

When people want to increase muscle strength of volume, they often follow a high protein diet. Although protein is important for muscle health, you need a range of macro and micronutrients to build and maintain your muscles. This generally means consuming a healthy mix of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats each day, as well as amino acids. By giving the body the fuel it needs, you can enhance your overall well-being and ensure that your muscles stay healthy. 

  1. Avoid Dehydration

The human body is made up of a significant amount of water but you need to ensure you stay hydrated if you want it to function properly. Even relatively mild dehydration can lead to kidney damage, headaches, and reduced blood flow if it isn’t rectified quickly. Additionally, your muscles will lose strength due to dehydration and a lack of electrolytes can affect your muscle control. 

Remember – you can lose a considerable amount of water via sweat, so be sure to replenish your reserves after working out or weight training. 

Increase Your Muscle Strength

If you want to increase your strength, you can do so with regular training. Whether you practice bodyweight exercises at home, invest in a set of dumbbells, or use weight training machines at the gym, there are a variety of ways to maintain and enhance your muscle strength. 

Although it can take time to gain muscle, doing so can speed up your metabolism, reduce the risk of injuries and enhance your core health.