Last week, I wrote a post about my pefect pre-workout routine, so I figured it would only be a logical sequel to write my perfect post-workout routine. So without further ado…

- As soon as I finish my training, I lay down on my back for a couple minutes (especially if I did conditioning that day because I need that time to wind down and make sure I won’t throw up).  Is there any better ways to cool down anyway?

- After laying down for a couple minutes, I get up and do static stretching; mostly for the muscles that I trained that day to restore length. 

- After stretching and making sure I won’t throw up, I will take down my post-workout smoothie that I prepared before leaving home.

- Once I took care of my post-workout nutrition, I will take a couple of minutes to sit down in front of my lap top and blog my training session I just did.  I keep track of my training on a blog so I won’t ever lose programs and I can also refer to my archives very quickly on a blog.  I’ve been doing this for 3 years and it’s always interesting to go check back what I’ve done in the past and how strong (or weak) I was.

- To finish things off, I jump in a sauna, relax for 10-12 minutes in there and then immediately jump in a cold thub(or cold shower) for a minute or two, depending on  how cold the water is.  Once I got out, I feel unbelievably good and relaxed.  Unfortunately, I haven’t had access to a sauna in a while, so it has been more contrast showers lately.  It’s definitely not as effective, but when it’s all you have it still does a good job.

Are you kidding me? A sauna with a TV in it….that’s gotta be the greatest thing in the world!

The whoel purpose of that whole post-workout routine is to improve recovery.  Some people will argue that there is no scientifical proof out there that supports contrast bath/showers as a mean of recovery, but I could care less.  Even if it would do nothing at all to promote recovery, I still feel awesome and unbelievably relaxed after doing it; so even if that’s the only benefit I get from it, it’s still worth it!

What is YOUR ideal post-workout routine?