How to Keep Your Muscles Healthy

Healthy muscles mean more than pumping iron at the gym. The human body has over 600 muscles, many of which are involuntary. You can't go to the gym to exercise involuntary. In addition to exercise, proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle is necessary to keep all of your muscles in shape.

Things You'll Need

• Gym

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Instructions

Keep Your Muscles Healthy With Proper Nutrition

• 1

  Abide by the food pyramid for your recommended daily intake (see Resources below).

• 2

  Avoid refined grains, such as white bread and white rice. Replace refined grains with whole grains, such as whole-grain bread, oatmeal and brown rice. Whole grain foods have fiber, an essential part of growing and repairing muscles.

• 3

  Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are full of vitamins and minerals, including iron, calcium, and vitamin D. These nutrients are vital to muscle health.

• 4

  Avoid eating more than the recommended amount of fruit, as it contains fructose. Fructose is a carbohydrate, a fuel your body needs during exercise. An excess of fructose, however, will lead to fat buildup.

• 5

  Select lowfat or nonfat dairy products, like milk, cheese and yogurt. Dairy products are rich in calcium and aid in healthy bones. Strong bones are the foundation for building healthy muscles.

• 6

  Get your protein from meat, poultry, fish, nuts, eggs and beans. Proteins are the building blocks for bones and muscles. Meat and poultry also contain iron, which is essential for healthy oxygenated blood.

Keep Your Muscles Healthy With Exercise

• 7

  Stretch before any type of exercise. Stretching warms up your muscles and increases flexibility. Stretching also reduces the risk of muscle pulls and other injuries.

• 8

  Warm up before any rigorous activity. Warming up activates your muscles and slowly increases your heart rate. This reduces the shock on your body when playing an aggressive sport or performing an intense workout session.

• 9

  Do exercises that increase your heart rate. Try various cardiovascular activities to keep your heart active and healthy. Running, walking, swimming and sports provide cardiovascular workouts.

• 10

  Vary your exercises often. Once your muscles become used to a routine its effectiveness decreases dramatically.

• 11

  Work all of your muscle groups in different combinations. For example, do a chest press on a balance ball instead of a bench. Not only will you work your chest muscles, but you will also work your hip and gluteus muscles.

• 12

  Cool down after exercise to bring your heart down to its resting rate and to avoid muscle cramping.