Should we still be using ice and cryotherapy? Do we need to foam roll before or after working out? Are we wasting our money on compression gear?
On this week’s BJSM podcast, award-winning science writer and best-selling author Christie Aschwanden (T: @cragcrest) joins BJSM’s Daniel Friedman (T: @ddfriedman) to cut through all the hype and explain what works and what doesn’t when it comes to recovery.
Christie Aschwanden is the author of New York Times bestseller GOOD TO GO: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn From the Strange Science of Recovery and co-host of EMERGING FORM, a podcast about the creative process. She’s the former lead science writer at FiveThirtyEight and was previously a health columnist for The Washington Post. Christie is a frequent contributor to The New York Times. She’s also been a contributing editor for Runner’s World. https://christieaschwanden.com/
In this podcast, Christie dissects the evidence for common recovery methods and discusses:
- The changing definition of recovery and how we measure it
- Ice and cryotherapy
- Massage and foam rolling
- Which recovery methods actually work and how to optimise them
- The best indicators of recovery
- How to improve the quality of recovery research

Mentioned in this podcast:
Good to Go - https://www.goodtogobook.com/
Methodology problems in sport science - https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/sports-science-is-finally-talking-about-its-methodology-problems/