Mobility, Recovery, & Stretching Practices That Keep Athletes In Top Shape

We live in a time of doing more, going bigger, lifting heavier. Gains feel great and reflect our progress, but much of the magic happens when we’re not doing the actual work. This is the realm of recovery.

Exercise is a form of good stress (also known as hormesis), and recovery allows us time to come back to balance. Muscles heal and grow, the nervous system regulates, inflammation subsides, and injury risk decreases. 

Before diving into our expert-recommended tips and tricks for recovery, it’s worth exploring the ever-present role female hormones play in athletic performance and why women may benefit from a different approach than men.

Nicole Haas, PT, DPT, OCS, physical therapist and founder of Boulder Physiolab in Colorado, noted: “As a PT, I’m always looking at the female athlete in phases of cycles, whether it is for recovery or training,” she says. “I like to be mindful of the phase they are in, as it affects things like laxity and tissue tendon properties.” 

These factors—as well as the link between increased estradiol and poorer neuromuscular control—may increase the risk of injury1 for women during the ovulatory phase.

It’s for reasons like these that many women have embraced cycle-syncing workouts, to move in accordance with their natural monthly rhythms. Training and recovery could both be customized to support this approach, with many women choosing gentler practices leading up to menstruation.

Certified Exercise Physiologist Rachelle Reed, PhD, ACSM-EP, offers another point of view, stating that not all women necessarily have to shift training and recovery according to their cycles, but that we should “customize to the individual. This means listening to our bodies, tracking symptoms, looking for patterns in energy levels, sleep, hunger and satiety, hydration needs, and adapting accordingly.”

Chances are you’ve seen cold therapy at work—whether that’s an influencer enjoying their high-end cold plunge, the charge of jumping in a cold lake, or an athlete sitting in a garbage can of ice water.

Generally speaking, cold water immersion is intentional exposure to water colder than 60°F.

Reed suggests starting with just 15-30 seconds of exposure, and gradually increasing 15 seconds at a time, slowly over several weeks. A general approach is to work towards 1 to 5 minutes, 2 to 4 times a week.

Many people embrace the full-body immersion in an ice tub (our editors love the Plunge), while others go with a more accessible cold shower. Just keep in mind that ice baths and cold plunges are often colder and provide more localized relief than a cold shower, while cold showers are more accessible.

What about hormones and cold water immersion, you ask? While more research is needed, one study2 on women who regularly swam in cold water found that they felt dramatic improvements in menstrual and perimenopausal symptoms, like anxiety, mood swings, and hot flashes. 

Percussive therapy, which is now widely available in the form of massage guns, can be a valuable tool for recovery and getting your body back to a feel-good baseline. Massage guns use rapid vibrations and bursts of pressure to increase blood flow to certain areas.

Massage guns can also help decrease tight muscle tissue and elongate muscle fibers. As an added bonus, they are a self-managed, affordable intervention compared to weekly massages.

Haas recommends the R1 from Roll Recovery for women, as it’s better for smaller bodies and provides the right amount of force. She suggests embracing portable interventions like this so people can address the negative impacts of sitting at a desk or in a car throughout the day.

When it comes to achieving peak performance—whether that’s running, weight lifting, cycling, Pilates, or simply wanting to run around with your kids or grandkids—mobility matters. This means you can effectively move through full ranges of motion, free from pain, and safely. 

And mobility requires strength, flexibility, stability, and control. 

There are active ways to improve mobility through things like yoga, tai chi, and qi gong for flexibility and balance, as well as specific stretches to target trouble spots. 

One of Hass’ favorite approaches to both mobility and recovery is myofascial release, a technique used to release tension in the web of fascial tissues that are woven throughout the entire body. Stiff areas of fascial tissue are called trigger points, which is what you feel when you have a “knot” in a muscle. 

For professional care, someone trained in myofascial release therapy can locate those trigger points and use slow, repetitive pressure to release tension and lengthen the tissue. 

At home, you can use foam rollers, lacrosse balls, and fascial release sticks to find those tough spots and slowly work on releasing them, which have been linked4 to increased range of motion, reduced muscle soreness after exercise, and muscle performance. 

The body can’t function at its highest degree without the right inputs, so while these components might seem like the most basic, they’re actually the most important. Solid lifestyle habits should be the most consistent areas of recovery for everyone.