Walker completed her first Ironman in 2007, and was instantly hooked. “I just, you know, enjoyed being out there all day,” she says. “What better way to spend a day than swimming, biking, and running?”

Which is why, over the past 16 years, she’s completed 68 of these extreme endurance triathlons. That math works out to more than four Ironmans per year. For comparison, the average athlete takes about five or six months to train for this kind of race, and then another two to four weeks to recover afterwards.

Walker doesn’t exactly do average, though. Earlier this year, she and her husband, Dougin, completed six Ironman races on six continents in six weeks as part of their quest to join “the club” of people who’ve done every Ironman in the world (a club of which there are currently only five members). Last year, they completed two Ironmans in one weekend—one in Kalmar, Sweden, on Saturday followed by another in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Sunday. The Tampa, Florida–based couple even got married on the bike course during the 2022 Ironman in Cozumel before finishing the rest of the race. Casual.

Walker’s number-one key to recovering well enough to compete so often

This begs the question: How in the world does someone keep their body not only healthy, but recovered enough to compete in major endurance events so close together? (And Walker is competitive—during her six-in-six-weeks challenge, Walker won her age group in the Philippines and took second in Brazil.)

“Sleep is my superpower,” admits Walker. “I get, on average, nine to 10 hours a night.” Even in foreign hotels, or on planes during travel days, she sleeps well, she says. “I can just lay down anywhere and go to sleep. Once my head hits the pillow, it’s like I go into a coma,” she jokes.

This ability to sleep helps explain how Walker can manage such high volume. As experts will tell you, sleep is the most powerful muscle recovery tool we have. “Non-REM sleep is associated with the highest levels of growth hormone release during a day, allowing muscles to heal and grow,” Ben Smarr, professor at University of California San Diego in bioengineering and data science, previously told Well+Good. That human growth hormone helps repair the microscopic muscle tears that happen during exercise, helping your body bounce back and grow stronger.

And for endurance athletes like Walker, the muscle repair process that happens during sleep also helps improve your body’s stamina, according to Jeff Monaco, Gold’s Gym director of education. “If an individual is engaged in endurance training, the body will respond by increasing the oxidative capacity of those muscle fibers through increases in mitochondrial density and size,” he previously told Well+Good, adding that sleep also helps to keep your endocrine, immune, and nervous systems functioning properly so that your body can operate at full strength. (FYI: mitochondria are your cell’s battery packs aka energy sources.)

The effects of all this physiology are something Walker has long relied on. “I know there are a lot of people that are like, ‘I can sleep six hours and be fine,’ ” she says. “I’m just not one of those people.”

Her other recovery tools

Sleep may be the primary recovery technique Walker uses to get her to start line after start line, but it’s not the only one. Here are a few of her other non-negotiables:

1. Chocolate milk

“We have chocolate milk after any kind of workout, any kind of race,” Walker says. Research has shown this tasty childhood treat has an optimal ratio of carbs to protein for post-workout recovery.

2. Consistent body work

Walker and Dougin go to a chiropractor and also get a 90-minute massage every week. “It’s not a relaxing massage,” Walker clarifies, with a laugh. “Our massage guy beats us up, but it’s what we need.”

3. Normatec boots

Hyperice’s Normatec 3 Legs use a rhythmic series of compression from your feet up to your hips to encourage blood flow for faster recovery. “They also get me to sit still,” Walker admits.

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4. Massage guns

Walker regularly uses portable massage guns, which have been proven to increase muscle strength and power, and to reduce muscle pain. In fact, having one is such a “must,” that when the couple forgot to bring their Theragun to a race, they ended up buying a Hypervolt while they were there. They also own the Theragun mini for easy packing. “It helps refresh, and make you feel better,” says Walker.

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“I’m sorry,” I said sheepishly. “My calves and hamstrings are so, so tight.”

Lulu got down to business and did serious work on my body. My feet, calves, and hamstrings took a particularly intense kneading. It felt like she was disentangling the rigid strands of a thick rope in a way that was incredibly needed.

As we wrapped up and I was thanking her, she gave me some advice: “You need to soak your feet in warm water for 15 minutes every night,” Lulu said.

“For my calves?” I asked. “And legs,” Lulu replied.

“Okay, but…” I didn’t get to finish my question of, well, “why?” before Lulu whisked out of the room, off to her next lucky client.

My upper and lower leg muscles are tight because of the running, dead lifting, and non-ergonomic sitting I do on the regular. I also have pretty flat feet, which can pull on my calf muscles and tendons when I walk, further straining them and causing tension. However, tightness like mine is in fact very common.

“Muscles tighten up just from the repetitive stress of twisting and turning and bending day after day after day,” chiropractor Jeffrey Klein, DC, founder of Broadway Chiropractic & Wellness Center in New York City, previously told Well+Good.

Lower body tightness can start in your feet and work its way up from a myriad of sources, like “standing on your feet for many hours, the type of shoes you wear, sitting too long, flying, or strenuous workouts,” says massage therapist Gilma Linares, the assistant spa manager of Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles.

I asked Linares if my massage therapist Lulu’s advice to soak my feet every night to reduce tightness held water. She was all for it.

“Soaking feet in hot water reduces inflammation and stimulates circulation,” Linares says. “Therefore, it will help reduce pain or discomfort to lower extremities such as lower back, hips, and legs.”

Sitting or standing for long periods of time causes blood to pool in the lower body, “which adds pressure to leg veins and compromises their structural integrity,” Kate Denniston, ND, a licensed naturopathic doctor at Los Angeles Integrative Health clinic, previously told Well+Good. That’s why Linares says paying attention to your feet can pay off in other parts of the body.

“Warm water will increase circulation, which helps with cell recovery,” Linares says. Those muscles that are knotty or inflamed from exercise or being stationary get some extra blood and oxygen sent their way, which helps them rebuild. “The feet carry all the weight, therefore it’s necessary to pamper your feet.”

Maggie Abrams, DPT, founder of Nourish Meditation, thought she knew right where her stubborn back pain was coming from. It had been a part of her daily life ever since she was a teenager when she performed in a demanding show at her performing arts school. Her doctor diagnosed her with a stress reaction in her lumbar spine, and prescribed her the typical treatment, including a stint in a back brace, a regular physical therapy routine, and even some Pilates to strengthen her core. And while it did seriously reduce her daily aches, she’d still experience flare-ups now and again.

Then Dr. Abrams went to physical therapy school, and she learned about an interesting tool she could add to her practice: visceral manipulation. She’d come to find this wouldn’t just be a helpful therapy for her patients; it would also eliminate her back pain for good.

What is visceral manipulation?

Let’s break it down. “Viscera” are your soft internal organs, such as your kidneys, lungs, stomach, and liver. So, visceral manipulation is a type of gentle hands-on therapy that assesses and addresses organ mobility.

Wait, our organs are supposed to move? Yes! As strange as it may sound, our organs need to be able to move smoothly within our bodies for a pain-free life. One small but important example is our kidneys. When we breathe in, our kidneys should glide downward and then back up when we exhale, Dr. Abrams says.

This therapy, developed by French osteopath and physical therapist Jean-Pierre Barral, highlights the importance of treating the body as a connected system. “If an organ can’t move properly, you can imagine that it might change how movement and loading affects the rest of your body and it might shift too much stress into one area, contributing to injury,” she says.

How is visceral manipulation done?

Manipulating your organs might sound intimidating, but don’t fret—a therapist won’t be smooshing your stomach like a stress ball. “What we’re ultimately working on is the fascia around the organs,” says Heather Jeffcoat, DPT, president of the Academy of Pelvic Health Physical Therapy. Fascia is the connective tissue that runs throughout the body—and holds every organ in place.

Although there are slightly different modalities, visceral manipulation typically goes something like this: The therapist will place their hand on a fascial landmark, like over your ascending colon, and gently move the tissue in each direction—up, down, left and right—looking for the direction with the most restriction. Once they’ve found it, they’ll gently pin down the tissue with their hand, coaxing that fascia to release. Sometimes, the therapist will ask clients to rotate their hips or flex their arms in a certain position to add additional tension to the fascia.

“It’s not like a belly rub. It’s a very targeted movement of the tissue looking for the most restricted direction,” Dr. Jeffcoat says.

Can you do visceral manipulation on your own?

Because this practice requires extensive training, it’s best if your first foray into visceral manipulation is with the help of a trained specialist. Through purposeful presses and strokes, they’ll feel around your abdominal cavity and identify tight fascial lines—something a newbie probably wouldn’t be able to do on their own.

Once your therapist has homed in on areas that need attention, they may give you some exercises you can do on your own at home. “The lines of tension can go in so many different directions so it’s not a cookie-cutter protocol,” Dr. Jeffcoat says.

Who might benefit from visceral manipulation?

The research around visceral manipulation is still developing, but therapists are finding it effective for a number of disorders, including endometriosis, irritable bowel syndrome, and bladder pain. One common cause of organ restriction is the growth of scar tissue. If you’ve had surgery, visceral manipulation could help release tightness caused by postoperative scar tissue.

Dr. Abrams says some of the most promising results are being seen among patients with non-specific back and neck pain. (You know, when doctors can’t pinpoint an exact reason for that nagging ache, but it’s there nonetheless.) If the origin isn’t from a specific injury or infection, it could be the result of restricted organ mobility. Oftentimes, back and neck pain is multifactorial, meaning it’s caused by a number of things.

That was the case for Dr. Abrams. Although she was dealing with a stress reaction in her spine, treating that didn’t make her back pain disappear. It wasn’t until she was in a visceral manipulation course that she found lasting relief. While training, partners practice on one another to get the hang of the technique. Dr. Abrams’ partner was practicing on her when she felt that the fascia around Dr. Abrams’ left kidney, sigmoid colon, and small intestine were incredibly tight. After some gentle manipulation to release them, Dr. Abrams noticed something pretty amazing: Her back pain flare-ups stopped—and her IBS improved dramatically, too.

“I’ve seen it be a game changer for so many patients who have struggled chronically for a long time, myself included in that category,” Dr. Abrams says. “The folks that aren’t finding answers, they might be in visceral manipulation.”

“Our lifestyles put strain on the low back, hips, neck, and shoulders,” Jeff Brannigan, program director at Stretch*d, previously told Well+Good. “These are the muscles that are likely to be tight or that can lead to injury because they are so tight.”

Tightness isn’t the only factor. There’s also muscle strain. Although we typically think of intense exercise when we imagine putting strain on a muscle, Brannigan explains that not changing positions for extended periods of time has a similar effect.

“You can have chronic inflammation from simply sitting at a desk all day,” Brannigan says. “Oftentimes, we may not experience the feeling of soreness, yet the muscles can be tight and inflamed. Repetitive stress of any kind can lead to inflammation, and this includes inactivity. People tend to associate high levels of activity with soreness and inflammation but being still all day, every day, is one of the worst things you can do for your body.”

What you can do to ease neck and shoulder tension

So what to do about this crunched-up feeling and chronic inflammation? Taking breaks and changing positions is your first line of defense. But you can also include intentional movement in your day designed to relieve the parts of you that need some extra TLC.

Of course, knowing how to target and reach those parts can be easier said than done. When we talk about tight neck and shoulder muscles, we’re also talking about the trapezius and chest muscles. Shortened chest muscles from slouching can cause you to further round your shoulders forward, creating a vicious cycle. So creating space and strength in your trapezius muscles, which run from the top of your neck down to the middle of your back, can help counteract this.

What’s more, tension or stress might cause you to shrug your shoulders up, which, thanks to those traps, can have effects throughout the upper body.

“There are a lot of connected muscles in that region that can be affected,” Ashley Taylor, DPT, a physical therapist at Coast Physical Therapy in La Jolla, California, previously told Well+Good.

A quick routine you can try before you even stand up

A new six-minute stretch sequence that trainer Nicole Uribarri created for Well+Good will help you target all these affected areas. The best part: You can actually do this series at your desk, sitting in your chair.

This could possibly help establish this stretch as a regular part of your day. Consider using the habit stacking technique, which involves attaching something that you want to make into a daily habit to something you already do. So, if there’s a way you always end your day—maybe you check your email one final time, or maybe the final act of work is closing your laptop—you can tell your mind that every time you do that task, you follow it up with this seated stretch series.

“This way, the current habit becomes a cue to engage in the new action,” clinical psychologist Melissa Ming Foynes, PhD, previously told Well+Good.

This could also help serve as a reset, where you create some separation between your work day and your evening at home.

“There’s this saying that ‘companies shouldn’t have the right to get their employees fresh during the day and send them home tired at night,’ but until the [working] world comes around to that reality, it’s really up to us to do these mini resets for ourselves,” wellness and meditation expert Susan Chen, founder of Susan Chen Vedic Meditation, recently told Well+Good. Movement is one great way to establish this bookend.

So before you hop up to leave your work day behind, stay seated, but turn away from your work setup. Then, you’ll want to get into an intentional and proper seated position.

“Bring your hips down towards the front edge of your chair,” Uribarri instructs. “Actively root down through your feet. So make sure that you can easily press your feet into the floor, stack shoulders over hips, sit up tall.”

Got that starting posture down? Great. You can watch the video above to go through this short series that will feel like the loving transition your body needs, or follow the instructions below.

Good Stretch: After work stretches for your neck, shoulders, and traps

Format: Six stretches done in a seated position
Equipment: One chair
Who is this for?: Anyone who wants to relieve neck and shoulder tension at the end of a long day.

Shoulder shrugs (3 reps)

1. Inhale and pull the shoulders up towards the ears.
2. Exhale and release.

Shoulder blade extensions and pull-aways (4 reps)

1. Bring arms out in front of you.
2. Interlace the fingers and round the spine, tucking your chin down and creative concavity in your stomach and chest.
3. Sit up straight as you flip the wrists to face outward and bring the arms with interlaced fingers up and over your head.
4. Flip your wrists back to the starting position as you bring the arms back down in front of you with a rounded spine.

Chest and pec openers (5 reps)

1. Bring interlaced fingers behind your head with bent elbows.
2. Open the elbows wide and lean back slightly to create space along the front of the chest.
3. Keeping your interlaced fingers on the back of your head, sweep your elbows in front of your face.
4. Tuck your chin into your chest and round down, feeling a release through the back of the neck.
5. Open back up and return to the starting position.

Self-hugs (2 reps—one each side)

1. Extend the arms out to the sides and reach out with fingertips, with palms facing forward.
2. Let your shoulder blades slide down your back.
3. Give yourself a hug, crossing your arms over the front of your body, with your right arm on top.
   (Option: Take eagle arms. Keeping your upper arms and elbows in place, reach up with your forearms so they are wrapped around each other, wrapping your left wrist around your right wrist.)
4. Move the elbows to the left as you look over the right shoulder.
5. Return to center.
6. Move the elbows to the right as you look over the left shoulder.
7. Release and open the arms.
8. Repeat with the left arm on top.

Shoulder and neck back interlaced fingers stretch (2 reps—one each side)

1. Interlace your fingers behind your low back.
2. Keeping your hands interlaced, bend your elbows slightly and bring the hands over towards the left side.
3. Pull elbows back, sit up tall, and let your left ear fall towards your shoulder, creating length on the right side of your neck. Hold for one deep breath.
4. Keeping your hands where they are, return head to upright position. Then let your right ear fall towards your right shoulder, creating length on the left side of your neck. Hold for one deep breath.
5. Return to neutral: Bring head upright and re-straighten arms with interlaced fingers straight back behind you.
6. Repeat with hands on the other (right) side.

Handcuff stretch (2 reps—one each side)

1. Take the arms back behind you.
2. Grab your right wrist with your left hand, pulling both arms down straight behind you.
3. Let the left ear fall to the left side.
4. Bring head upright, then let the right ear fall to the right side.
5. Release hands.
6. Repeat on the opposite side.

Still looking for more neck and shoulder relief? Try this routine with a massage ball: 

In fact, the certified corporate wellness specialist known as “The Stressbender” primarily helps her clients relieve stress by focusing on their physical tension. “When we talk about relieving stress, a lot of people focus on addressing the mental side,” Chock says. “It’s really important to remember, though, that it’s not stress until there’s a buildup of tension in your physical body.”

Whether you’re stressing over an upcoming deadline or an argument with your partner, that mental tension leads to physical reactions that we think of as stress: increased heart rate, high blood pressure, chronic muscular contractions, brain fog, among other responses.

“When you’re stressed out, your brain just doesn’t work as well,” says Chock, who’s a master teacher of both Tai Chi and Qigong. She uses both of those techniques to help clients manage their stress. “Internal martial arts like Tai Chi and Qigong are wonderful techniques for relieving stress because you really have to come into the body to find out where the tension is.”

So how can you relieve stress within your body yourself? This four-step sequence (curated for Well+Good by Chock, using elements from both Tai Chi and Qigong) will help set you up for less-stressed success.

As Chock says, “If you can put your body in an optimal state where you’re in good alignment with good posture and good breathing, you’ll be better able to handle those stresses that are part of everyone’s lives.”

Step 1: Come into your body

Take stock of how your body is feeling physically. “Quiet that analytical part of your brain that wants to overthink everything,” Chock advises. “We can’t relax what we don’t feel is tense.” Listen to your body so you can notice and relax any points of tension.

Not sure where to begin? For many of us, the shoulders hold a lot of physical stress. “Imagine you’re a clothes hanger, hanging in a closet from the crown of your head,” Chock suggests. “Picture gravity as a fluid weight that flows down through your head, neck, shoulders, arms, and fingers. Allow your arms to feel heavy as they hang down by your sides.”

 

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A post shared by Shirley Chock (@aipingtaichi)

Step 2: Relax your face, then your body

According to Chock, practitioners of Chinese medicine and internal-arts practices often say, “If you can relax your tongue, you can relax your whole face. If you can relax your face, you can relax your whole body.”

Start by gently touching the tongue to the roof of your mouth, right behind your top teeth. Keeping your lips closed, let the tongue spread gently across the roof of your mouth and form a tiny “Buddha smile” with your lips. As you take a moment to get comfortable with this softening of the jaw, you may also notice a corresponding release of tension around your eyes. (Keep up this practice, and you could eventually feel some relief from chronic tension headaches.)

Check in with your overall posture, and repeat Step 1 as needed.

@aipingtaichi Replying to @rudeman81 Stressbending Hack, when your mind is flooded with stress, here’s a relaxation hack that releases face and body tension so your mind can also release the tension #stress #stressrelief #stressreliever #tip #hack #relax #relaxation #relaxationtips #relaxface #taichi #qigong #stressbending #stressbender ♬ Quiet meditation music – Jun Naotsuka

Step 3: Slow down your breathing

“A lot of the tension that we feel can be alleviated by improving, i.e. lengthening, our breathing,” Chock explains. “However, trying effortfully to deepen our breath will add unnatural tension.” To avoid this pitfall, begin by simply noticing where your inhale stops or feels trapped.

Oftentimes, Chock sees clients’ breath stop like this in the upper chest area. If that’s you, try to visualize what the tension feels like. Tight coils? A hard, stuck feeling? Per Chock, creating a clear mental picture of your physical tension will help you release it with equally vivid visual metaphors. Try thinking of washing the tension away with cool water, untangling a ball of string, or anything else that resonates with you.

 

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A post shared by Shirley Chock (@aipingtaichi)

Step 4: Tune in to your body’s symmetry

“Our bodies are designed to be symmetrical, and they function best when symmetrical,” Chock says. But, she adds, most of us spend our days shifting between uncomfortable, asymmetrical positions.

Chock’s fix? “Learn to notice the stillness, calm, and symmetry in your body.” Maintaining healthy posture and a neutral stance will cut down on the daily bodily micro-stresses caused by poor posture and its close companion: asymmetrical body positions. Put both feet on the floor when sitting, uncross your arms, spread weight evenly between both hips—you’ll feel your body start to feel better.

@aipingtaichi Why Tai Chi is S-L-O-W #taichi #overcomeyourfear ♬ original sound – AipingTaiChi

This is what I’ve heard from nearly every massage therapist I’ve been to. I’m someone whose body absorbs and holds onto all kinds of stress, tension, and pains. Like anyone else, I’d love a daily or even weekly massage. However, logistically and financially, that just isn’t feasible.

With so many of us wanting to work out those knots but unable to book regular massages, it’s little surprise that a more DIY replacement has cropped up. Since Theragun was first released in 2016, handheld percussive therapies have only increased in popularity, with the market valued at $115 million in 2022 and expected to grow to $178.3 million in 2032.

While I’ve had a Theragun for a few years, like many, I’ve just hit the same few tight spots and hoped for the best. But recently I was introduced to new techniques during a wellness weekend at Rancho Valencia in San Diego. The plan for the weekend was to relax, but me doing what I do best, I decided to jam-pack my schedule with back-to-back activities. From yoga and Pilates in the morning to jewelry making, tennis sessions, and ice baths in the evening, I anticipated a sore and stiff body come Monday morning. However, this didn’t turn out to be the case, thanks to a 60-minute Theragun recovery class that I ended my stay with.

How massage guns like Theragun work

A Theragun is a percussive therapy device designed by chiropractor Jason Wersland, DC. Injuries from a bad motorcycle accident had inspired him to create a tool that could relieve pain and tension and assist in recovery.

“Theragun percussive therapy aids in preventing aches and pains, reduces muscle tension, increases mobility and range of motion, increases blood flow, [relieves] tightness, and pain, and can assist in accelerating the repair and growth of muscles,” he says. And it doesn’t take long to reap the benefits. A recent review of research on the topic found percussive therapy could significantly improve strength and flexibility while decreasing muscle pain—with one 2022 study finding an increased range of motion and decreased injury risk after just two minutes.

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What a Theragun recovery class is like

Our 60-minute session began and ended with massaging our hands, something which I’ve never really put much focus on. But when you think about it, our hands and feet are doing so much work each day—after all, they account for 106 bones, 160 joints, 126 muscles, and hundreds of ligaments, tendons, blood vessels, and nerves.

“I like to start at the edge of your pinky finger before working the gun down the edge of the forearm to the armpit and gently around the chest/pec area,” says instructor Brittanee Greenshaw. “If that’s the only thing you did at the end of the day, it would give you optimal lymphatic circulation benefits, very similar to dry brushing—but deeper.”

One thing I hadn’t expected were the after-effects of a lymphatic drainage massage—i.e. I felt less swollen, was thirsty, and had to pee. “Many students experience a thirsty sensation due to the excess/stagnant fluids being released from tissues,” says Greenshaw.

I don’t know if this had something to do with the results, but most of our session was done laying down on our backs. The process was slow and steady and we were encouraged to take breaks and stretch out sore areas where necessary. Greenshaw also came around with her Theragun to help stretch us and get into the tight points.

How to give yourself a full-body Theragun recovery session

While everyone’s body and recovery needs are very different, a general approach is to use the following sequence—while also remembering to massage the hand that’s holding the Theragun before moving onto the next area.

“Starting with the feet, move to the upper thighs, going back and forth before transitioning to the traps, hips, and forearms, before ending with the inner thighs in a butterfly position,” suggests Greenshaw. “From there, conclude with the chest, lower belly, and the hands once more.” Spend more time with the muscles that need the most love, and allow your body to stretch whenever you feel the need to.

But remember that it’s not necessarily essential to always have a full-body session—sometimes we just need to release tension in a certain area. Theragun’s app has been my friend for many years, providing a timed demonstration on how to target specific areas.

My new weekly commitment

The slow, steady, gentle, yet effective nature of DIY Theragun recovery is something I don’t typically experience during massages. Being so tight, I typically get a soft-tissue massage to loosen up the knots, which is generally more painful than relaxing.

Ever since the Theragun recovery class, I’ve continued to incorporate a weekly 60-minute session into my schedule. While having an instructor assist and demonstrate each step makes things more helpful, I’ve still noticed improvements like increased flexibility and reduced muscle tightness—particularly around my hamstrings—while doing it at home consistently.

“The 60-minute class is like getting a massage, so it is not necessarily every day,” says Greenshaw. “If you can spare even 10 minutes for the Theragun it’ll be beneficial for your recovery.” It’s hard to overdo it, though Dr. Wersland notes to keep the device always moving and not stagnant.

Will I still opt for massages when possible? Of course. However, in the interim, I will continue incorporating longer Theragun recovery sessions. Because so far, it’s been a game changer.

I got a chance to see this firsthand when I spent a rest day with USWNT midfielder Rose Lavelle in Seattle. As the world eagerly anticipates the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer, her team is in full training mode as they prepare in hopes of taking home a third consecutive trophy. They’re giving their all during practice sessions for one to three hours a day, five to six times a week. Yet recovery is just as important.

“In high school and college I played as much soccer as I possibly could and played on as many teams as I could,” Lavelle shared with me. But things are different now, with a focus on nutrition, various forms of active recovery, and mental preparation.

“Today, rest is vital and I can’t play as much as I did as the load is so much more,” she says. “Now it’s a balance, and I have to prioritize the off-field piece and everything that I’m doing to help best prepare my body to be able to perform on the field.”

Here’s what a rest day of one of the most talented soccer players in the country actually looks like.

9 a.m.: Wake up

A big part of rest for Lavelle is ample sleep. “On the West Coast, I get up at 9 a.m.—that’s early for me,” she says, adding that if she could, she’d sleep until 11. “Sleep is part of rest and recovery and important for my job.”

9:30 a.m.: Breakfast

While many go to bed dreaming about what they’ll be eating the next day, this isn’t the case for Lavelle, who keeps things simple with a plain bagel. “I like to have something light like a bagel so I can have some carbs but not feel too full when training.”

She also loves a cold brew—sans alternative milk. “I don’t mess around with anything but full-cream milk,” she shared with me while we waited in line for our drinks at Café Hagen.

10 a.m.: Movement

Shortly after breakfast, the Cincinnati native makes a point to get in some movement. “I like to get my legs moving in some way cause being a blob the whole day doesn’t make me feel great,” she says. While she doesn’t count steps or miles, she enjoys going on a walk or a bike ride. “The goal is to just get my heart rate going and activate my muscles for the rest of the day.”

12 p.m.: Lunch

Lavelle’s high school days may have seen her rolling up to practice with a large Dr. Pepper and a Big Mac, but things are slightly different now.

“I’ll usually get a mixed fruit smoothie or smoothie bowl or make one at home with whatever fruit and yogurt I have,” says Lavelle. A Chiptole bowl is another go-to for sustenance, and what we enjoyed for lunch together when I visited. “It is everything I need to fuel me after a workout or on an off day.” For a quick on-the-go snack, you might also see the star enjoying a GoGo Squeez fruit pouch.

2 p.m.: Reformer Pilates, stretching, massages, and/or therapy

While each recovery day brings something new, Lavelle knows the importance of listening to her body and responding to its needs. She spends the afternoons of her recovery days taking care of herself in whatever way she’s craving.

On the day we spent together, that included a 30-minute Pilates class on the reformer (which seriously tested our core strength—or at least mine). This has become a regular part of her schedule as Lavelle has fallen in love with reformer Pilates over the past few years. “I do two to three one-on-one sessions a week so I can have all the attention to focus specifically on the muscles I need to strengthen,” she says.

Stretching is also an essential part of Lavelle’s recovery day. After Pilates, Lavelle’s trainer Dak Notestine took us through her seven-minute routine that she does before every training session as well as during her daily stretching at home.

“This specific routine helps to strengthen the upper and lower legs to help the knee,” he says, which is relevant following Lavelle’s recent knee injury. Starting with a foam roller, Lavelle warms up the sensory tissues in the ankles before moving to the hips and upper thighs. From there she moves onto dynamic stretches like swimmers, cat-cow, and mermaid leg raises, before finishing with resistance bands around her upper knees to work on balance and strengthen her hips.

Lavelle also makes it a point to apply Icy Hot PRO recovery products (her favorite is the dry spray) to relieve strained muscles and joints after training sessions as well as on rest days. She’s even an Icy Hot ambassador.

In addition to looking after her physical health, the bronze-winning Olympian also prioritizes her mental health with daily meditation, visualization, journaling, and sessions with her sports psychologist when needed. “My confidence comes in ebbs and flows, so having a sports psych has been a huge part of my professional career,” she says. For Lavelle, her introduction to sports psychology came after a year-long break due to a hamstring injury. “Anybody that goes through a long-term injury or just any injury in general, it’s hard physically. However, it felt 10 times harder mentally coming back from it. My psychologist helps me keep my head above water.”

6:30 p.m.: Dinner

While not a foodie or fan of cooking, a meal of carbs, protein, and vegetables is something Lavelle prioritizes. “Protein is crucial to help restore the tissue that got beat up in the training session or match,” says Notestine. He adds that he encourages Lavelle to add high-quality carbohydrate whole grains like rice and quinoa, too. When on the road, dinner is taken care of by the National Team chefs; otherwise, she makes sure to get her body a nutritious, balanced meal herself.

9:00 p.m.: Reading and bed

It’s still on the relatively early side when Lavelle crawls into bed, and enjoys a few chapters and a few hours of a book. “I always have a book with me and try to find time whenever I can to read, which is usually before bed,” she says. “Right now, I’m in a fantasy era and I’m having so much fun with it.” The day ends with some more sleep. “I aim for eight hours a night which gives my mind and body the proper recovery I need.”

If you can relate, you’re not alone. And thankfully, it’s never too late to start a daily stretching routine. Because according to scientific research, there are some pretty darn good reasons we should all start following one ASAP.

Aside from improving our flexibility and feeling amazing, daily stretching has been proven to improve our circulation. This promotes faster blood cell production, which makes it easier for our bodies to heal from wounds and helps our natural filtration system get rid of waste. Stretching is beneficial for our mental health, too; that boost in blood flow directly improves brain function. One other reason to stretch it out: Good circulation can also improve your sexual health.

Eager to reap the benefits of daily stretching? In the latest episode of Well+Good’s “Good Moves” series, trainer, professional dancer, and yoga instructor Nicole Uribarri walks us through a daily stretching routine that can improve your overall flexibility and range of motion in less than 10 minutes. All you need is a flat floor to work on, maybe a yoga mat for some cushioning, and two yoga blocks. (Tip: If you don’t own yoga blocks, you can use a small pillow, a stack of books, or a folded blanket in their place.)

This stretch routine can be done at any time of the day, but is designed specifically for the beginning of the day, when our body is at its tightest. “Take note: We’re doing a series of dynamic stretches, meaning stretches that are movement-based,” says Uribarri, who says that static stretching (when you just hold the position) is best done after a workout. “What we’re doing is best done before doing any kind of physical activity, strenuous workout, or first thing in the morning.”

Uribarri focuses on spine-lengthening stretches that also elongate the extremities and loosen up the body from head to toe. For the stretch-deprived, some of these moves will be challenging. So take things slow and remember to breathe. “Relax your shoulders as best as you can, try to relax your jaw, your forehead, and then gently let it go,” says Uribarri. “We may not even realize it, but when we’re in deep stretches for our hips, specifically, and we feel tight, those parts of the body—jaw, forehead—tend to really clench. So be cognizant of that as you breathe and as you flow.”

Once you reach the end of the series, you’ll feel limber, loose, and ready to take on the day—and you’ll know you’ve already done something to improve your overall health. “Take a moment to breathe,” says Uribarri, “knowing that you’ve done something really great for yourself at the start of the day.”

No matter your lifestyle or hobbies, short, stiffened hip flexors can wreak havoc on your body. Since this group of muscles originates in your lower back, tight hip flexors can cause back pain. They can also cause you to have a shortened stride in running, and not be able to move through the full range of motion in a strength training session.

“If you do a lot of repetitive movements like cycling, for example, or running, your hips are not going to be as mobile,” says Roxie Jones, a strength trainer with Alo Moves. “That’s why it’s really important to do these things to keep [them] loose, and it will also prevent future injury, and lower back pain in the future.”

To keep that critical hinge and rotation point healthy, Jones has created an 11-minute hip mobility routine for Well+Good’s Good Moves series that you can do whenever is convenient and possible for you.

“Once a day would be great, before or after training sessions,” Jones says. “Basically as often as you can do it.”

In this short workout, you’ll move through four base positions that will help bring rotation and openness to your hips. In the first, a bear sit on the floor, you’ll push your knees and elbows together then pull them apart to engage and ultimately release those hip flexors. You’ll also work on rotating through the whole leg, one at a time, moving your foot in an arc with the heel on the floor.

You’ll apply these same ideas—engaging, releasing, and rotating—to your hips in two other positions: Lying on your back with one leg lifted in a bent-knee position, and in a half kneeling pose. Finally, you’ll end with some extended 90/90s to put it all together.

Jones’ most pertinent tip throughout: Lean into the movements, and go slow.

“You want to take your time with mobility,” Jones says. “A big mistake is people going too fast with mobility. I want you to be really mindful, and really feel what the joints are feeling when you’re taking it through the range of motion.”

If you do, that range of motion should be bigger in no time.

Self-described “soft girls who hike” Emily Thornton and Lucy Hird are two UK-based women chronicling their journeys exploring the nature of Great Britain on their TikTok account with the philosophy that “hiking doesn’t have to be hard.”

The idea of “softness” has taken over TikTok as an aesthetic and POV. It’s about leaning into what feels good, taking time for yourself, and nourishing your body and soul. Thornton and Hird apply the soft idea to hiking, reframing the activity from a type of hyper-athletic, achievement-oriented activity, to one that’s accessible to someone with the motivation “simply to enjoy ourselves,” and so coining the term “soft hiking.”

“Soft hiking is about the pure joy of spending time in nature and moving your body,” the soft girls who hike say in an explainer video. “It’s important to take breaks, eat, and actually take in your surroundings. Make some time to go off trail and be present in the moment. There’s no need to rush.”

The soft hike is akin to the hot girl walk and the exploding popularity of walking in general as a form of movement that’s not about burning a certain amount of calories or achieving any particular aesthetic goals.

“I think it’s extraordinary,” says walking expert Joyce Shulman, the co-founder and CEO of the app 99 Walks and author of Walk Your Way to Better, 99 Walks that Will Change Your Life. “What happened during the pandemic and post-pandemic is that people are really recognizing what I call the transformative power of an intentional walking practice.”

Shulman says soft hiking has all the benefits, and then some, of that intentional walking practice. Frankly, there are too many benefits of walking to list, but some highlights include promoting longevity, bone strength, cardiovascular and brain health, boosting creativity, and alleviating symptoms of depression. Walking promotes “feel good” hormones like serotonin, while lowering cortisol.

“A lot of the mental and emotional benefits, I believe, come from when we step away from our computers, our phones, our obligations, and give ourselves the opportunity to really clear our minds,” Shulman says.

Which is exactly what soft hiking does. It’s not about pushing yourself or achieving something. Maybe you’re even somewhere without cellphone service. The purpose is to appreciate your surroundings and move your body.

You can do that anywhere, whether it’s a mountain range or your own neighborhood. But being in nature has the scientifically-proven benefits of reducing stress. Soft hiking is also a form of taking “awe walks,” which have been shown to boost happiness and feelings of wellbeing.

“In order to experience an awe walk, you have to be willing to slow down enough to take it all in,” Shulman says. Taking your time just happens to be one of the tenets of soft hiking.

It might not appeal to everyone at first, especially when hiking has a rap as something difficult that’s only accessible to the hyper-fit people who can scale mountains, or privileged groups with more ready access to nature and hiking equipment. But soft hiking expands the idea of who a hiker is, so that more people can experience the activity.

“I’ve always thought that if you see yourself as a hiker, as someone who hikes, it just kind of opens up all of these opportunities to take your walk off road,” Shulman says. “Once you embrace that identity, think about all the places you can go.”

Improper footwear or biomechanics, weak calf muscles, certain medications or health conditions like diabetes and even nutritional deficiencies can also play a role in causing tightness and issues with the Achilles tendon, says Rashi Anand, DPT, a physical therapist at Grit ATX in Austin, Texas.

“We also know that the amount of rest and recovery a person includes in their training program plays a key role in their susceptibility to Achilles tightness,” says Dr. Anand.

The good news: Stretching your Achilles can help you maintain an optimal range of motion and potentially prevent discomfort.

How do you know if you have a tight Achilles tendon?

Although in some cases, it is quite obvious that your Achilles tendon is tight, in mild cases, tightness might be harder to identify. And if you have chronic Achilles tightness in both legs, you may have become so accustomed to the feeling that it’s difficult to detect.

Dr. Anand says that signs can include a limited range of motion in the ankle joint when the toes are pointing towards the knees, along with tenderness along the tendon. “Other potential symptoms could include pain, weakness in the calf muscles, and crackling or popping sensations,” she shares. It might be uncomfortable to walk or run. “Counterintuitively, some people may experience increased stiffness with inactivity, but feel better with activity, only to have the symptoms return after,” she says.

3 effective stretches for the Achilles tendon

Classic calf stretch

With this move, you should feel a stretch in your gastrocnemius (the larger calf muscle) and Achilles tendon of the back leg. Dr. Anand suggests that you can adjust the distance of your back foot from the wall to increase or decrease the intensity.

Here are the steps:

1. Find a wall and stand facing it with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Take a step back with one foot and plant the ball of that foot on the ground. Make sure to keep the toes of your feet pointing straight ahead. (Turning your foot outward reduces the stretch on the Achilles.)
3. Lean forward while keeping your back leg straight, and slowly shift your weight towards the wall. Keep your hips squared to the wall.
4. Hold the stretch for about 20 to 30 seconds.

Here’s the stretch in action:

Soleus calf stretch

The soleus is the thinner, flatter muscle that lies underneath the gastrocnemius in the calves; it tapers down and fuses into the Achilles tendon. Dr. Anand says that the soleus calf stretch is similar to the regular calf stretch, but the main difference is how you position the knee in the back leg.

“In the classic calf stretch, you keep the knee of the back leg straight, which really targets the larger calf muscle. But in the soleus calf stretch, you bend the back knee somewhat,” she says.

Here are the steps:

1. With your feet hip-width apart, take a step back with one foot and plant the ball of that foot on the ground.
2. With a slight bend in your back knee, and slowly shift your weight forward.
3. Hold the stretch for about 20 to 30 seconds.

Check out the stretch below:

Calf stretch in a long sitting position

If you’re looking for a gentler alternative to standing calf stretches, Dr. Anand suggests trying a calf stretch while sitting on a bed or the floor with your legs extended straight out in front of you.

Here are the steps:

1. Sit down with your legs extended out in front of you. You can place a rolled-up towel or yoga block under your ankles to get a deeper stretch.
2. Loop a belt, strap, or band around the balls of your feet and gently pull it toward you. Make sure to keep your toes pointing up.
3. You can also choose to stretch one leg at a time if sitting in this position is uncomfortable for you.

Check out the video below for a demonstration:

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Before you begin any of these Achilles tendon stretches, Dr. Anand suggests applying heat (via a heating pad, warm bath, or shower) to your lower legs and feet. You can even stretch in the shower if you have enough room. “Not only does the heat feel great, but it [also] promotes blood flow and softens the Achilles and surrounding tissue for more effective stretching,” she explains.

How often should you stretch the Achilles tendon?

Dr. Anand recommends doing these three stretches three times through for one “set,” holding each for three long slow breaths each (at least 20 seconds total). Repeat that three times per day.

“Just think: ‘3x3x3’ at breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” she says. Consistency is key: Stretching frequently is an important factor in reducing stiffness and improving mobility. “Doing frequent mild to moderate stretches also promotes blood flow and circulation, which directly improves healing rate and tissue health,” she adds.

Although it may seem like a big time commitment, the entire routine shouldn’t take long, and you’ll likely feel a lot more limber and comfortable, which should help reinforce your motivation to stick with it.

A number of brands have surfaced to accommodate the demand for at-home ice baths, making it easier than ever to take daily dips in your own backyard. This is great news for those who don’t live by an ocean or lake to experience “polar plunges”, or don’t want to spend the money on a wellness studio membership in order to have access to an ice bath.

The benefits of ice baths

Though the physical and mental health benefits that people experience from cold-water immersion are entirely unique to each individual and not exactly a foolproof cure-all for everyone, research indicates deliberate cold exposure can benefit the human body and mind.

Michael Bourgoyne, DPT, CNS, a physical therapist at Home Health in Salt Lake City, UT, says that a cold plunge is essentially cryotherapy (cold therapy), which is known to induce a parasympathetic response in the body by stimulating the vagus nerve. That icy jolt to the system can slow your heart rate, lower your blood pressure and cortisol levels, and ultimately, reduce inflammation and stress in the body.

According to Bourgoyne, after lowering your core body temperature down in an ice bath, your blood vessels work to re-dilate as your body warms back up and readjusts its temperature back to normal levels, thus increasing circulation throughout the body. After a teeth-chattering plunge, you may also notice an invigorating sensation similar to that of a “runner’s high”—some studies suggest that a rush of chemicals like dopamine can be triggered by a chilly soak.

As noted, the benefits can differ from person to person. For example, Adam Klink, director of community and functional fitness coach at Bare Performance Nutrition, invested in an at-home ice bath to counteract his busy days and intense training. He notes the physical benefits, like soothing inflammation and aching muscles, but particularly enjoys the mental benefits of cold plunging, which he describes as a driving force to get him to do something outside of his comfort zone every day.

“Nothing makes me more uncomfortable than sitting in freezing water and I wanted to build some extra mental fortitude, amongst other things,” he says. “My mental capacity has improved noticeably. Hopping in the cold water first thing in the morning makes anything that comes my way the rest of the day that much easier. Once I hop out, I feel an endorphin rush and am quickly awake and alert to start the day.”

When Well+Good’s associate commerce editor, Francesca Krempa, took an ice bath every day for two weeks, she noted the opposite—also confirmed icing made a big difference on her body, especially her joints.

“Ice bathing can be relaxing, when you train up to 30-degree water, of course,” she wrote in a review. “And I did feel better, at least physically. While I didn’t notice a difference in my anxiety or depression levels, my muscles felt great. My knees particularly felt looser and less angry than they had all winter, particularly on the days when I lasted three minutes or more.”

If you are ready to give it a whirl, these are the best at-home ice baths worth taking the plunge in.

9 best at-home ice baths

Best overall

Ice Barrel — $1,200.00

Easy set up? Check. Small-space friendly? Check. Simple to clean? Check, check, check. The Ice Barrel ticks off all our boxes, which is what makes it the best overall at-home ice bath on our list.

It arrives ready to go—all you have to do is fill it with water and ice and climb in. (It comes complete with a step stool to help you jump in and out of the barrel) For some, sitting in a comfortably crouched, upright position feels a bit less vulnerable than having to lie horizontally with coldness circulating around you—the Ice Barrel is great for that. The accompanying lid keeps bugs and debris from flying in when it’s not being used while also keeping the water cold for a few days. When ready to drain, the valve at the bottom makes for quick and easy drainage. Bonus: It’s made out of recycled materials too, making it a more sustainable option on the list.

Pros:

• Arrives fully assembled
• Small-space friendly
• Lightweight (when empty)
• Easy to clean

Cons:

• No seat—need to crouch down
• Expensive

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Best luxury tub

Plunge, Plunge Tub — $4,990.00

Should you have the spare dough to splurge, the Plunge Tub is one of the most popular at-home ice baths on the market, racking up a following of IG influencers, personal trainers, and even celebrities like Lizzo. With its sleek, modern design made of acrylic and fiberglass, Plunge aesthetically nails it. It even has a built-in underwater light for added vision and ambiance at night. The complete cold-plunge setup can cool down to 39°F while circulating water around your body for better water quality and an increasingly chilled experience.

Pros: 

• Automatically filters and cleans the water
• Built-in thermometer
• Gorgeous design

Cons:

• Expensive
• Not portable
• Best for large spaces

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Best on Amazon

G Ganen, XXL Ice Tub — $100.00

The G Ganen XL Tub is a popular option on Amazon, and for good reason. For one, it’s affordable. It’s also inflatable and portable and includes a foot pump for quick inflation. And it’s big enough to stretch out in or soak with another person, making it one of the larger options on this list. Each tub is made from a 3-layer PVC that can be brought outside or inside, depending on your needs. It’s definitely not as fancy as others on this list, but the reviews say that it makes a great, budget-friendly option for those who want to soak without having to splurge.

Pros: 

• Affordable
• Inflatable and portable
• Fits two people
• Multi-purpose tub

Cons:

• No frills
• Not as sturdy

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Best budget

Shui Mei Yan, Portable Tub — $80.00

Don’t want to drop thousands on an ice bath, but still want something nicer than a steel trough? Snag this one for just $80 on Amazon. With a foldable design, hassle-free assembly, and a quick-release bottom drain, it gets the job done, whether that job is icing down your muscles or heating them up. It’s a no-frills way to enjoy a soak on a budget and for tight spaces where a larger, sprawling tub simply won’t fit (it’s small enough to fit in most showers.)

Pros: 

• Affordable
• Inflatable
• Easy to clean
• Small

Cons:

• No-frills
• Not that sturdy

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Best bundle

The Pod Company, The Ice Pod Pro Bundle — $240.00

For those looking for a more modest option, this tub bundle has a great look and even greater affordability. The Ice Pod Pro Bundle includes a tub, insulated lid, water flow pump, floating thermometer, and even a skimmer—all for $240. The tub itself is made from high-quality materials and engineered with the capability of indoor or outdoor use—making it weather- and UV-resistant, and able to withstand temperatures below freezing. It’s even insulated to keep water cold for up to 24 hours, and includes a waterproof cover to keep the water clean and colder for longer.

 

Pros:

• Affordable
• High-quality
• Portable
• Easy to set up

Cons:

• Small and low—requires crouching

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Best inflatable tub

Tru Grit Fitness, Inflatable Ice Bath — $1,000.00

Totally inflated within 2-5 minutes with its pump, Tru Grit’s patented inflatable ice bath features an industrial-grade drop-stitched chassis, overlayed with a high-grade PVC shell that rolls up into a simple carry backpack. Your ice bath can stay put at home, or go with you, if you so please. There’s also an option to protect your ice bath from the ground with a custom Tru Grit Rubber Floor Mat.

Pros:

• Portable
• Quickly inflates
• Sturdy
• Easy to clean

Cons:

• Expensive

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Best portable tub

The Cold Plunge Store, Cryospring Ice Bath — $990.00

If you’re a van-lifer, RVer, or travel often, Cryospring allows you to take your ice-bath routine to virtually any location. A great portable option for the vagabonds whose home is wherever they park it, this tub comes with a backpack that makes it easy to transport and store while traveling. Its made of a material similar to an inflatable stand-up paddleboard and pumps up in two minutes.

And if there’s no ice, no problem—upgrading is available with the Cryospring Wi-Fi-enabled smart chiller, which allows you to control the temps directly from your phone. If you decide to keep it inflated at your home-away-home, the lid includes a locking combination buckle, so you can keep it safe and protected until you’re ready to plunge again.

Pros: 

• Inflatable
• Portable and packable
• Bluetooth-compatible
• Durable
• Easy to drain

Cons:

• Expensive
• Chiller sold separately

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Most versatile tub

Aleko, Natural Pine Tub — $1,349.00

A multipurpose tub that can be hot, cold and cook?! Sign us up. The Aleko was created to be an all-inclusive at-home spa experience. Cool the water to become a cold-plunge tub or heat it up to use as a hot tub, whichever you’re in the mood for that day. Whatever you decide, you can even cook up a delicious meal while you soak using the attached charcoal stove—fancy! A tub cover is included to help retain the temperature when it’s not in use and keep debris from falling in, while the pine wood finish has an earthy, natural look that blends in with your backyard backdrop. Another benefit is the option to fit two people into this tub, giving you the ability to soak away the stress with a friend or your significant other.

Pros: 

• Multi-purpose
• Luxurious look
• Built-in stove

Cons

• Expensive
• Takes up a lot of space

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Most aesthetic

Redwood Outdoors, Alaskan Cold Plunge Tub — $1,999.00

Redwood outdoors makes stunning saunas, red cedar hot rubs, and not ice baths, as well. The tub is built to replicate the Finnish tradition of jumping in the snow between sauna sessions. The Scandinavian spruce thermowood (a heat-treated wood) covering the entire exterior creates a rustic, Hyyge design that comes fully assembled at delivery. Each tub includes a step stool for easy entry and exit, a plastic liner fully fitted to the inside, and a comfortable bench seat so you don’t have to crouch or hold yourself up. For an upcharge, you can add on the Redwood Outdoor Chiller + Heater to control water temperature as desired for your daily dips.

Pros:

• Beautiful design
• Arrives fully assembled
• High quality

Cons:

• Expensive
• Not ideal for small spaces
• Accessories like the lid and thermometer sold separately

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At-home ice bath Q&A

Before you get started, Bourgoyne says it’s a good idea to consult a medical doctor to determine it’s safe before taking your first dip, especially if you have family or personal history with heart, vascular, or nerve conditions, if you are pregnant, or have other conditions that are a concern with cold or water.

How cold should the water be to see the benefits?

There’s really no definitive answer, as some people tolerate cold better than others. As to not completely shock your body, experts recommend starting out with warmer temperatures in the 45-55<<°F range before working down to colder temps (35-39°F).

“Gradual cold exposure and listening to the body, never forcing, is the way to build cold tolerance until you are ready to try an ice bath,” Andri Einarrson, a certified Wim Hof instructor, leads the cold water therapy experience on adventure travel company Flash Pack’s Unknown Iceland trip, previously told us. “What you can do is put cold water (no ice) in your [tub] and see if you manage to be as relaxed as if it was hot water. If not, keep with cold showers until you manage to go into the [tub] in total relaxation.”

How long should you take an ice bath for?

This will also vary from person to person depending on their experience level, threshold, and the temperature of the water. But the colder the stimulus, the shorter amount of time you need to expose yourself to the cold. If it’s your time taking an ice bath, If it’s your first time taking an ice bath, it’s often recommended to aim for 1-3 minutes. If the plunge was manageable, you can increase your time (or decrease your temp) next time. 

How much ice do you need for a cold plunge without a chiller?

The amount of ice depends on the size of the tub and the temperature you are seeking in your ice bath. For a ballpark, you’ll need about 60-100lbs of ice to get your bath to the desired temp (under 50 degrees).

What are some tips to mentally get through a plunge?

Like most things, starting is the hardest part. Upon submersion and shock, your body’s fight or flight response will kick in (telling you to get the hell out of there). This is where the true challenge lies: “Mentally getting through a plunge is actually the toughest part for me,” says Klink. “I have had to train my mind to slow down and focus on my breathing. The more you focus on your breathing, taking deep breaths, and focus on staying in the moment, the quicker the time goes. This takes some time to get to a point where you can feel relaxed in the cold water.”

When is the best time to take an ice bath?

It’s easier said than done, but try to stay consistent and commit yourself to a regular schedule. Like most habits, it will take time and repetition to develop. “My biggest piece of advice is to start with a manageable time duration and water temperature,” says Klink. “You can build on this session after session as you build a tolerance.” Even better, setting goals throughout your cold-plunge journey always makes it a personal challenge to reach/beat, adding even more of a pep in your step as your dry off.

But it turns out, Julia Blackwell, a fascia release expert, says this approach is often ineffective at actually loosening up that fascia and, you know, decreasing your pain. However, there are other ways to use a foam roller to relieve knee pain—they might feel a little more intense, but they only take 10 minutes or so to do.

First things first: What is fascia?

Blackwell describes fascia as the biological “fabric” (or connective tissue) that holds everything in the body together.

“One of my favorite analogies is to imagine fascia like plastic wrap that wraps around every single thing within us. It encases every muscle fiber, muscle group, ligament, tendon, bone, nerve, blood vessel, and organ,” says Blackwell. “This plastic wrap organizes our body into the shape, structure, and texture we see in the mirror.”

Blackwell says that the amount of mobility afforded by our fascia is largely dictated by the extracellular fluid within it. “Think of it like oil between all those layers of plastic wrap,” she says. “This fluid nourishes our cells, hydrates all our tissues, allows muscles and joints to glide, and even absorbs impact. Healthy fascia hydrated by the extracellular fluid is key for feeling young, moving easily, and living life without aches and pain.”

So, how can fascia lead to knee pain?

According to Blackwell, issues begin to arise when certain areas of our fascia become restricted and dehydrated. With knee pain specifically, there are several potential reasons why the fascia can become unhealthy:

• Underuse: “Working at a desk and simply living in modern culture has landed this as the most common culprit; there are truly so few of us that are moving the way our bodies were intended!” says Blackwell.
• Overuse: We tend to be repetitive in our movement patterns—and in our choices of workouts. Blackwell says that running and squatting, in particular, tend to tighten fascia around the knees over time.

“Through either of those causes, that critical hydration of extracellular fluid gets pushed out and our ability to absorb impact and have our knee joint glide easily becomes directly affected,” says Blackwell. “What this ends up feeling like is stiff, achy, and painful knees.”

How can foam rolling help?

Blackwell, who offers free foam rolling routines at movementbyjulia.com, says that even if your knees have been achy for a long time, the good news is that it is possible to restore the health of your fascia. A comprehensive approach, using compression, cross-fibering, and active movement can help to re-introduce hydration and space.

“Through compression, we encourage a massive fluid exchange when we release the pressure—goodbye inflammation and hello blood flow!” Blackwell says. “We can do this with a standard foam roller.”

She further explains that foam rolling can activate our fasciacytes, which are cells within the fascia that stimulate the production of hyaluronic acid (HA)—a critical component of extracellular fluid that acts like grease for our joints.

But here’s the thing: Blackwell says that the normal back-and-forth foam rolling with the “grain” of the muscle that we usually do is actually ineffective at stimulating the fasciacytes to produce the lubricating HA. They are only activated through cross-fibering, or going against the direction of the muscle fibers. “So this is likely the reason you’ve been unable to find lasting relief with only rolling up and down your muscle,” says Blackwell.

The final piece of the puzzle is actively moving through a range of motion to signal to our nervous system that it’s safe to move that way. “While all these separate parts can give you some results, the magic is in the simultaneous combination!”

How to properly use a foam roller for knee pain

There are three moves Blackwell recommends doing with the foam roller to help lubricate the fascia in order to decrease knee pain. With each, she says to remember to breathe consistently throughout. And she adds: “If it feels tender, know that that is simply a signal that the fascia is dehydrated here and that it will become less intense over time as your fascia becomes healthier.”

Calves

1. Sitting on the floor, place your left calf muscle on top of your roller. Start on the upper calf, but stay at least two inches below the knee joint.
2. Cross your right leg over the top of the left to add more compression.
3. Slowly point and flex your toes from the ankle. Take your time and move through the maximum range of motion possible. Do 10 reps.
4. Next, slowly circle your ankle. Roll the entire shin/ankle complex, so when you roll your toes to the inside, you turn your whole leg to the inside as well, then as you roll your toes to the outside, roll your whole leg to the outside, so that you get ultimate cross-fibering on the calf. Do five circles in each direction.
5. Repeat on the other leg.

Quads

1. Come into a forearm plank position with both of your quads (front thigh muscles) on your roller. Start on the lower quads, but at least two to three inches above the knee.
2. Flex your toes, and slowly bend your knees back towards your butt like you’re doing a hamstring curl.
3. Once you get to 90 degrees, slowly straighten your legs back out.
4. Repeat two more times.
5. Then, bend your knees back to 90 degrees again and begin rocking your heels from side to side for the cross-fibering action.
6. Slowly move your heels from side to side 10 times, remembering to breathe deeply. Avoid engaging your lower back.
7. Rest for 15 to 30 seconds and then repeat this technique on a slightly different spot of your quads one more time for maximum effect.

IT bands

“This one can be a bit intense the first few times, so if you want to make this easier, wrap your roller in a yoga mat to add padding,” suggests Blackwell.

1. Come down into a side plank position with the roller on the side of your left thigh about three inches above the knee joint. Place your right foot on the ground in front of you for stabilization.
2. Flex your left toes and slowly bend your knee back towards your butt like you’re doing a hamstring curl.
3. When you get back to 90 degrees, slowly straighten back out. Repeat one more time.
4. On your third time bending your knee back, pause at 90 degrees and then lift your heel gently towards the ceiling and then down towards the floor.
5. Rock up and down three times and then come off the roller.
6. Repeat on the right leg.

Blackwell says it’s safe to perform these foam rolling movements for your knees every day, or you can do them every other day if you experience any soreness after releasing fascia with this technique. “Soreness is rare, but I always recommend honoring your body if it’s asking for an extra day to integrate and recover,” she says.

If you’ve mainly been experiencing knee pain during exercise, she recommends doing these moves as part of your warm-up. But a word of warning: “This method of rolling can be a bit more intense than standard rolling back and forth. However, it’s so effective that you can spend less time on your roller and experience faster and more lasting results.”

Here to give her expert tips on what to eat before a 5K, what to avoid, and how else to best prepare yourself is registered dietitian and Cook, Eat, Run author Charlie Watson, RD. Watson helps runners (of all levels) properly fuel their bodies during training as well as on race day. Keep reading for her insight.

What food should I eat before a 5K run? The night before? The morning of?

While determining what to eat before a race is an individual process, there are a few golden rules to fueling up properly.

1. Stick with foods you know your body digests well

Before getting into the specifics of what to eat, Watson wants to make something clear: race day is not the time to experiment or drastically switch up your eating habits. “Make sure you practice to establish what works for you,” Watson says. “When it comes to pre-race fueling, what works for one person might not work for another.” Think back to your training: What did you eat before some of your best, long runs? If a food consistently made you feel good during your training, chances are it will on race day, too.

2. Eat your pre-race meal at least an hour before it starts

According to Watson, when you eat matters, too. “Ideally, eat about an hour before [the race] starts, although some people [feel best] eating two to three hours before a run,” she says. Most importantly, she says not to eat pre-run fuel immediately before your race. “When we run, blood flow to the digestive system reduces by up to 80 percent, meaning if you eat too late, much of what you eat will go undigested while you run and can feel uncomfortable sitting in the stomach,” she says. It also means the nutrients in your pre-race meal won’t be used as energy until much later because of the delayed digestion.

3. What should I eat for breakfast before a 5K run? Make sure your pre-race meal has carbs.

When it comes to the important nutrients to include in your pre-5K meal, Watson says carbohydrates are the biggie. “You want to mix slow- and fast-release carbs to get that pre-race energy boost that will sustain you throughout the three-plus miles,” she says. The best food for runners, slow-release carbs include foods with a lower glycemic index that are less processed and higher in fiber (so, oats, whole grains, sweet potatoes, that kind of thing), while fast-release carbs tend to have a higher glycemic index, like fruits and juice, to give you immediate energy.

4. Keep it simple

While it’s important to keep the nutrient balance of your pre-race meal in mind, the actual prep work shouldn’t be complicated. After all, the majority of races are in the morning, so you won’t have a lot of time to make an elaborate breakfast. Some of Watson’s favorite pre-race breakfast foods to eat before a 5K include:

• Whole grain toast with jam
• Oatmeal topped with fruit
• Banana with nut butter

5. Get your carbs at dinner, too

The night before a race is also a good time to give your body some carbohydrates that can be used as energy the next day. Sweet potatoes, brown rice, and chickpeas are all examples of healthy carbs that can be used to fuel your run. A couple meal ideas from Watson’s cookbook include sweet potato gnocchi, salmon and sweet potato fishcakes, and Balinese beetroot curry.

Watch the video below for more tips on what to eat for optimal energy:

What foods to avoid before running? And other tips to keep in mind

It’s important to know what you shouldn’t eat or do before a 5K race in order to keep up the pace.

1. Avoid high-fat foods before a race

As far as what not to eat before a race, fats are going to be least beneficial. “Fats remain in the stomach longer than any other macronutrient because of their complicated digestive process,” clinical nutritionist Nicole Lund, RDN, of the NYU Langone Sports Performance Center, previously told Well+Good. That means you’ll want to veer away from foods like burgers or anything fried the night before. Lund also recommended avoiding foods with sorbitol (a fruit-derived artificial sweetener), which could irritate the digestive system.

2. Don’t forget to hydrate

When prepping for a 5K, it isn’t just about what’s on your plate; hydration matters, too. “It’s important not to start your race dehydrated as it’s very hard to ‘catch up,'” Watson says. “Ideally, you want to meet your fluid requirements—usually between two to three liters—each day in the week leading up to the race so that you don’t find yourself gasping for water at the first aid station.” Watson adds that if you tend to sweat a lot, you may want to consider using electrolyte tablets the day before, morning of, and afternoon after a race, too.

3. Keep your coffee habits the same

If you’re wondering whether your morning cup of joe will help or hurt your run, Watson reiterates her advice to do whatever has worked for you in the past while you’ve been training. “If coffee is part of your morning ritual, if you like the caffeine boost, or if coffee helps get things moving before the race, then stick with it. But don’t start having it pre-race if it’s not something you’ve done before…trust me on that.”

4. Plan your post-5K meal, too.

Besides figuring out what to eat before a 5K, Watson says to consider what you’ll eat when you’re done, too. (A nice mental picture to make those miles fly by faster…) “After a race, you want a mix of carbs and protein, ideally in a 3:1 ratio,” she says. “It doesn’t have to be complicated. I tend to have a skim milk iced latte after a 5K. Otherwise, a mix of eggs with toast or a smoothie can work, too.”

5. Is it ok to run a 5K on an empty stomach?

Like most aspects of training and running, what (and whether) to eat before a 5K is a personal choice. However, to get the most out of your run, and perform your best, experts recommend fueling up. If your body doesn’t have carbohydrates and protein on hand, it will break down your fat and muscles for fuel instead. Getting this less readily available energy adds an additional strain on your body, which could negatively impact your workout.

“Trying to force the body to use fat as fuel can negatively affect your performance,” Natalie Rizzo, MS, RD, sports dietitian and founder of Greenletes, previously told Well+Good. “This means you won’t be able to work out as hard and may even feel like you’re losing your fitness level.”

6. Should you eat during the race?

This is another personal choice.  A 5K typically won’t take the amount of time experts say requires a mid-run snack, which is 75 minutes. But if you’re curious about juicing your body with fuel during a race, check out this guide to what to eat during a marathon.

With these tips in place, you’re bound to go into your 5K energized and ready to kill it. Now that your mind is cleared up about what to eat, you can focus on other pressing matters: like what exactly should be on your race day playlist.

“Just like the song ‘Dem Bones,’ ‘the hip bone’s connected to the… knee bone.’ So, the ankle is really connected all the way up to the hip,” explains physical therapist Karena Wu, DPT, owner of ActiveCare Physical Therapy in New York City and India. Because everything is linked, weak ankles can cause trouble for your entire lower body and lead to unnecessary injuries. “If the ankle joints are weak, the emphasis gets placed on the knee and hip to create more motion and absorb more forces,” says Dr. Wu. “This creates an imbalance, so the other joints in the kinetic chain then have to step up and do the work.”

This type of domino effect can happen in all types of movement patterns, but Dr. Wu says she most often sees weak ankles causing problems for folks who run or who play tennis, soccer, beach volleyball, or other sports that involve start and stop motions on uneven terrain. And that kind of makes sense, right? When you’re coming to an abrupt stop, landing at an odd angle could wind up straining your entire lower body.

Fortunately, strengthening your ankles (and your feet) helps to increase the longevity of your hips (and your entire lower body kinetic chain). Below, Airrosti physical therapist Anthony Pavlich, DPT, shares the three ankle-strengthening exercises he recommends to everyone.

3 ankle-strengthening exercises recommended by a physical therapist

1. Monster walks

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and a resistance band around your calves. Tighten your core, and push your hips back until you’re in a half squat position. Keep your head and chest up, and your knees at about a 120-degree angle, making sure they stay behind your toes for the extent of the exercise. Push your knees out and walk forward and then backward while holding the half squat position. Keep your feet parallel, with toes pointed forward.

2. Single leg deadlift

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keep one foot planted on the floor and bend at the hip to press the opposite leg straight out behind you. Reach your arms straight down in front of your body, or place them on your hips to make sure your whole posterior chain (backside) is completely flat. Bring your leg back to the ground, and switch sides. For an added challenge, hold a dumbbell in one or both hands.

3. Split squats

Move into your lunge position with one leg forward and one leg back. Slowly lower yourself down to tap your back knee onto the ground, then use your glute muscles to contract and raise yourself back up to a tall, standing position. Make sure to complete an equal number of reps on each side.

A new mobility and stability workout for back pain for Well+Good’s Trainer of the Month series contains all of the classics, which are must-dos for a reason. They bring blood flow and lubrication to joints, and length to muscles shortened from staying in one position all day.

But one move that physical therapist Winnie Yu, DPT busts out during this 16-minute routine truly blew my mind. Well actually, it’s a Frankensteined combo of two moves.

Windshield wipers, which involve laying on your back with your knees bent, and then dropping your knees back and forth from side to side, are one of those classics that are great for people experiencing back pain and hip stiffness. “Why this is one of my favorite exercises to do is, if you think about the position of sitting all day at your desk, or standing all day at work, some of those lower back muscles and hip muscles can get really tight,” Dr. Yu says. “So if you do lower spine rotations, it’s a great way to get blood flow and mobility to the area.”

Another delectable classic is the figure four hip stretch, in which you start in that same lying down knees bent position, but you place one ankle on top of the opposite knee, then use your hands to draw that knee closer to your chest. This is a must-have move in your hip and glute stretching arsenal, with some added benefits in releasing your lower back, and even stretching your inner thigh.

Here’s where things get interesting. After going through classic windshield wipers, Dr. Yu instructs you to place your lower body in a figure four position. Then, you’ll do that same side-to-side rock, extending your knees towards the ground, while still in figure four. It’s like a windshield wiper with added oomph, creating space in your hip joint and glute muscles, and adding an extra stretch to your lower back as you twist.

You might not get your knees very far down at first, but keep at it, and your trunk will limber up. Don’t be surprised if you hear cracks or pops, says Dr. Yu. “Things will move, things will shift, it’s totally fine,” she says.

Do the whole mobility and stability routine in the video above to bring that same level of deliciousness to your upper back, too.

One of the best ways you can help your body recover from any exercise is by going for a walk. Marathons are an especially intense form of exertion, but the same needs and methods still apply.

“The underlying process of damage and recovery are the same for different activities,” says endurance coach Paul Kinney, who helps people train for events like marathons, Ironmans, triathlons, and ultramarathons. “The main difference is how much damage was caused, which ultimately determines the total recovery time from that activity.”

When you’re running 26.2 miles, a whole lot of damage occurs. Your glycogen stores (fuel for your muscles from carbohydrates) get depleted and your muscles and connective tissue even get damaged at the cellular level. The act of running particularly puts strain on your quadriceps, caused by “eccentric loading,” or putting them under pressure (the act of striking the ground) while the muscle is elongated, which causes the most amount of damage. This is why navigating the stairs after a big run, let alone after a marathon, can be torturous.

Sleep and proper nutrition are ground zero for repairing the damage. But you can help that process along by engaging in a light cardiovascular activity, like walking. Which is why Kinney recommends marathoners schedule a stroll for the day after a marathon.

“Walking and light hiking are great, low-stress and low-impact ways to get the blood flowing and accelerate recovery,” he says. Getting that nutrient-rich blood circulating to the damaged muscles helps bring the cells what they need to repair—and build back even stronger. “Walking also aids in reducing the inflammation and keeps the muscles more pliable,” he adds. “This keeps the body from stiffening up in the hours and days following the big event.”

There are mental benefits to post-marathon walks, too. Running a marathon puts both your body and mind under stress. And, whether or not you hit your goals for the race, crossing a finish line after months of structured, dedicated training can leave many runners feeling a bit lost. Walking, especially in nature, can help your whole being recover and find a sense of calm. Kinney recommends using an app like AllTrails to filter for something that’s not too strenuous, for a distance and time that seems manageable to you, and without any steep inclines.

“Taking a hike in nature brings about a part of recovery that many neglect: the mental recovery from a big event,” Kinney says. “Being in nature helps to calm the mind and improve one’s psychological well-being.”

After your next marathon, he suggests planning a couple weeks of unstructured training that involves getting back to nature with several walks and hikes “to stimulate recovery, both physically and mentally.” Even most professional runners take a week or two entirely off from running after finishing a marathon. Taking it easy with some gentle strolls will help your body and mind feel their best again.

Research shows that subjecting the body to drastic changes in temperatures may have physical benefits, such as pain relief, reduced inflammation, and improved circulation. But what about alternating between extreme temperatures?

This method of switching from hot to cold (or cold to hot) temperatures, often going back and forth several times, is called contrast therapy, or contrast bathing, and has its own set of purported health benefits.

Contrast bathing is a tool that’s been used by athletes for decades to relieve pain and soreness and recover from intense physical activity. Now, experts are touting contrast therapy as a wellness practice that everyone can benefit from, especially for fighting inflammation and slowing down the aging process.

But is this practice really worth all the hype? And what’s it like to subject your body to such extreme temperatures back-to-back? To find out, I decided to take the plunge (literally) and speak to some experts on the topic.

The health benefits of contrast bathing

There are different benefits for hot therapy and cold therapy treatments. For starters, heat exposure boosts heart rate and causes blood vessels to dilate. This, in turn, causes you to sweat and induces effects similar to moderate exercise, according to Frank Lipman, MD, a leader in functional medicine and author of The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength and Vitality.

Dr. Lipman recommends using an infrared sauna specifically. “Infrared saunas heat with infrared light and warm the body from the inside, not just on the surface,” he explains. “You’ll still sweat like a prize fighter but with less heat-related discomfort than you’d experience in a traditional sauna.” He recommends getting your doctor’s okay first, but says “time spent in an infrared sauna can be a safer and more comfortable way to gently work up a good sweat.”

Infrared saunas run approximately 120-140 degrees Fahrenheit. This type of heat exposure may help combat aches and pains, boost immunity by briefly raising the body’s core temperature, and stimulate blood flow.

In a 2016 study of Finnish men, those who used a sauna four to seven times a week were 66 percent less likely to be diagnosed with dementia than those who only used a sauna once a week. Related research also found that frequent sauna bathing was also associated with a reduced risk of mortality related to heart disease.

When you add cold therapy to the mix, contrast bathing can lead to increased circulation, which may help decrease muscle soreness, reduce fatigue, and relieve pain. As Healthline explains, when your body is in cold water, your capillaries (small blood vessels) get smaller, and when you are in warm water, your capillaries open up.

Some contrast bathing enthusiasts believe these circulatory changes—the pulsing action of your blood vessels opening and closing—is what leads to the injury-relief benefits because the increase of blood flow allows for faster cellular recovery. In fact, a meta analysis published in 2017 found that contrast bathing helped athletes recover from fatigue after events.

Physical therapist Leada Malek, DPT, SCS, says that contrast bathing is more effective for recovery than passive rest after exercise, “though you may have to be exercising at elite levels for this effect.” Moderately active people might find just as much of a recovery benefit with other modalities like stretching and compression, she says.

At the very least, however, contrast bathing could offer a mental boost. A 2013 paper in PLOS ONE states that “water immersion may offer a generic psychological benefit whereby athletes simply feel more ‘awake’ with a reduced sensation of pain and fatigue after exercise.”

Can contrast bathing actually slow down the aging process?

Much of the research on contrast bathing focuses on recovery, especially for athletes, but Dr. Lipman says contrast bathing can also boost the health of your cells, which slows down the aging process.

Cold exposure in particular has been shown to increase the production and health of the mitochondria in mice. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell, and as Dr. Lipman explains it in his book The New Rules of Aging Well, they are “the essential force of life and longevity.”

“Mitochondria transform food and oxygen into ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, a type of molecule that powers biochemical reactions,” he explains. “ATP molecules are especially abundant in the cells of your heart, brain, and muscles.” This is why mitochondrial function is so important for overall health and longevity.

Contrast bathing may also boost autophagy, which is how the body repairs damaged cells. Dr. Lipman explains that when cells become damaged, the autophagic process kicks in, “recycling” the still-good parts of the cell to create new, healthy cells.

“Autophagy can be likened to a cellular fountain of youth, delivering an impressive array of preventative benefits protecting us from dysfunction and disease,” he says. Autophagy has many preventative health benefits, such as controlling inflammation, boosting immunity, and yes, regulating mitochondrial function.

What it’s like to do contrast bathing IRL

Luckily for my own curiosity and for the sake of journalism, my gym, Equinox Wall Street, had recently gotten a cold plunge tub that sits near the heated jacuzzi tub and dry sauna.

Although I had frequented the sauna and jacuzzi before, I wasn’t sure if I was up for the challenge of sitting in a cold plunge. Yet, clad in a one-piece bathing suit, I headed to the jacuzzi, which was about 102 degrees Fahrenheit, and stayed in for about 20 minutes. Then I moved on to the dry sauna, which was about 180 degrees Fahrenheit, for a little over five minutes. So relaxing! I didn’t want to get out to subject myself to something uncomfortable, but I knew I had to complete my experiment.

As soon as I got in the cold plunge, the freezing water stung my bare legs. The water was 47 degrees Fahrenheit, which doesn’t sound that bad, but I’ll be the one to tell you that it’s really f’ing cold. I only submerged up to the top of my legs and lasted 20 seconds before getting out. I went back to the dry sauna for a few more minutes and decided to try again; although I was able to get up to my mid-torso the second time, I only lasted 15 seconds before calling it a day. Although I did notice an immediate mental boost, I ended up taking a hot shower in the locker room to heat back up.

A couple weeks later, I wanted to see if I could make it to a full minute. So I started again in the jacuzzi for 10 minutes, followed by the dry sauna for 10 more minutes. Once the cold plunge was available, I got in. I submerged up to just below my boobs, but kept my arms outside the tub. Let me reiterate that it was really f’ing cold, but I managed to make it a full minute!

I found that slowly moving my legs up and down within the tub (while still underwater) helped make it more bearable. Also, breathing is key—my breathing pattern could only be described as “a Lifetime movie actress going into labor in a made-for-TV movie,” but it definitely helped.

I know many people recommend ending on cold, but I couldn’t fathom the idea of just going back to the locker room and changing into my street clothes after freezing my buns off. So I ended with another few minutes in the dry sauna, which made the whole experience more tolerable.

Overall, I did feel invigorated. That second day, I had been up since 4:30 a.m., and even after my cold plunge at around 9 that morning, I had plenty of energy all day. I did notice that I felt a little clearer when it came to focusing and getting work done (let me preface this by saying I also take Vyvanse for my ADHD, which is helpful for this, too). But there’s no denying the immediate mental boost I experienced after getting out of the cold tub.

Is contrast bathing worth it?

I know I’m in a privileged position to belong to a gym that has a jacuzzi tub, dry sauna, and cold plunge, so I do plan on adding this to my routine a couple times a week. The cold plunge is definitely a test of mental resilience; I’m determined to work my way up to two minutes with my arms in the tub. The fact of even lasting a full minute is enough to instill confidence in myself.

I am by no means a hardcore athlete, so I’m not sure how beneficial contrast bathing will be for my fitness recovery. But if it can help my muscles after my strength workouts, that’s an added bonus. And the potential anti-aging benefits that Dr. Lipman outlined are enough to keep me coming back for more.

How to do contrast bathing safely and effectively

While not everyone has access to cold plunges and saunas, don’t let that deter you. Contrast therapy can be as simple as ending your hot shower with a minute or two under cold water, or stepping outside in winter for a few minutes after being in a warm indoor space.

Jordan Crofton, family nurse practitioner and director of patient care at THE WELL, says she frequently recommends contrast bathing to patients. Her personal regimen is 10 minutes in a steam room followed by 10 minutes in a sauna, and then a few minutes in a cold plunge with breathwork (to help her body relax, since extreme cold can shock the system). She repeats the circuit two to three times.

If you’re trying this at home, Dr. Malek suggests starting out by spending one minute in a hot bath, followed by one minute in cold water, and alternating for five to 15 minutes, about an hour after exercise. The hot water should be between 95 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and cold between 55 and 60 degrees. Just don’t spend more than a few minutes at a time in the cold water in order to prevent cardiac distress and other negative side effects—cap it at three to five minutes, tops.

Crofton mentions that some companies offer at-home infrared sauna experiences, like HigherDOSE’s infrared sauna blanket, which you can do at home and follow with a cold bath or shower. Clearlight also makes infrared saunas you can install in your home.

Still unsure? Start out by ending your hot shower with 30 seconds of cold water. If you like how that makes you feel, then you might be ready to take the full contrast bathing plunge (literally).

Breathing in deeply and calmly through the nose and out through the mouth signals to your parasympathetic system, which helps you calm down, that “it’s time to transition into sleep,” says Raj Dasgupta, MD, FAASM, sleep expert and spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Certain breathing exercises support quality sleep because they slow down your breath, which increases comfort and relaxation while reducing stress and anxiety, explains Martin Seeley, CEO and sleep expert at Mattress Next Day, a UK-based bed, mattress, and sleep-accessories retailer. When you’re intentional about calming your stressors or anxiety triggers by using the lengthened breath technique, your mind might just quiet down enough to get good-quality shut-eye.

When you don’t pay attention to your breath, it can become shorter and faster, which increases heart rate—and that’s not exactly ideal for falling asleep.

Your body reacts differently when you’re not fully aware of how you’re breathing. “Our breaths can become short and fast, which increases our heart rate and creates a less than ideal state of mind before bed,” says Rebecca Robbins, PhD, sleep expert at sleep-tech company Oura, creator of the Oura Ring.

How to practice the lengthened breathing exercises for sleep

Start by relaxing into a comfortable position, says Seeley. From there, breathe in for two seconds through your nose, then breathe out for four seconds through your mouth. To get the best results, you’ll want to repeat this for a couple of minutes.

Once you’ve noticed that you’re calmer than you were before you laid down, increase the length of your inhales to three seconds (still through your nose) and exhales for six seconds (still through your mouth), Seeley says. Continue doing this for a few minutes, ensuring that your exhales are twice as long as your inhales, even if you extend the length of your inhales further. So, if you’re inhaling for four seconds, you’d exhale for eight. If it’s a five-second inhale, you’d have a 10-second exhale.

That said, do “be mindful of your own abilities,” says Seeley. “If you extend your exhalation further than your capacity allows, your body will go into survival mode,” which might undo the work that you’re trying to do. To avoid this, start off slow and gauge how long you can inhale and exhale.

The reason for the twice-as-long exhale is that practicing the lengthened-breath technique to help you fall asleep sooner is all about controlling your breathing. The benefits from this technique are at their peak when you’re intentionally breathing this way to calm yourself down.

Moreover, says Dr. Robbins, “adding the complexity of ‘in for two and out for four’ helps us to focus on the breathing and keeps our thoughts at bay.” So the next time you feel like you can’t get any sleep because of anxious thoughts or any other reason, try the lengthened-breath technique to see if it does the trick for you.

Looking for something else to help you fall asleep fast? Watch this video to get an herbal tea recipe for a better night’s rest:

Desk goblin mode also results in tightness and pain in what physical therapist Winnie Yu, DPT, describes as your “stress muscles.” These are the muscles of your neck and upper back, including your trapezius and the muscles surrounding your scapula.

There are some easy ways to release these stress muscles (and keep computer work from affecting your whole body). The first is to get up or change positions every 30 minutes or so. But you can also take a body vacation while sitting right at your desk by doing a series of stretches that Dr. Yu has put together in a new nine-minute video for the most recent episode of Well+Good’s Trainer of the Month Club.

“Every day I get patients that complain of neck pain or back pain, and these exercises are a really good way to combat some of those issues,” Dr. Yu says.

You’ll work in quadrants: Your upper back and shoulders, your mid-back and core, and your lower body. While your stress muscles are located in that first quadrant, tight or disengaged muscles in your trunk and base can affect your posture and contribute to that overall goblin feeling.

Dr. Yu starts with a series of static neck stretches. You’ll really want to hold these for the full 30 seconds to see their benefit and feel a delicious loosening up.

“These muscles typically get tight when we’re working at a desk and leaning forward to a computer,” Dr. Yu says. The stretches she takes you through “are a really great way to loosen up those muscles, bring more blood flow, and improve that extensibility.”

You’ll move into side stretches and shoulder and chest openers, before hinging forward at your hips to stretch your glutes, hips, and hamstrings. In less than 10 minutes, the series can take you from a ball of stress to a lengthened and strengthened body.

These vertical workouts have become so popular that Peloton instructor Rebecca Kennedy even curated a whole collection of classes on the Peloton platform called Standing Core with Rebecca. Right now, members can access nearly 20 different classes and counting, each ranging from five to 20 minutes. One of the best parts is that you can do many of them virtually anywhere with quite literally zero equipment—technically, standing core workouts even negate the need for a mat.

But the benefits of standing core exercises don’t end there. There are several reasons why this style of training really does deserve a spot in your workout routine.

7 key benefits of standing core exercises

Kennedy believes there are a litany of impressive advantages to standing while you engage your core. These are some of the biggest ones:

1. They’re great for small spaces

Standing core workouts can be done in tight spaces or in areas where you’d really rather not lie down, such as the grimy airport corner by your gate or a cold tile floor of a hotel room.

2. They train proprioception

Proprioception is your awareness of your body in space. When you aren’t in as much contact with the ground (read: when you’re standing), and you’re moving in multiple plans of motion—back and front, side to side, and rotating—it improves your spatial awareness and coordination.

3. They improve your balance

By standing instead of sitting or kneeling, each exercise will also challenge your balance, coordination, and stability.

4. They’re typically good for prenatal workouts

Get the all-clear from your OB, but most standing core workouts are generally approved for pregnant people who cannot safely lie on their stomachs or backs.

5. They help you train for power

With moves such as standing wood chops or medicine ball slams, you’re able to train for power while burning out your core. Power moves train your explosive strength, which require quick bursts of energy.

6. They’re accessible for many people with injuries

If you’re rehabbing an injury or have arthritis or other joint issues in your wrists, many traditional hands-and-knees core exercises like planks are likely off-limits. Standing core workouts take wrist pressure out of the equation, and are also good for those who tend to have tenderness in their tailbones, or shoulder or neck pain.

7. They keep things interesting

Body adaptations happen when you test your muscles and mind with new challenges. Standing core work offers a fresh element to your workouts that otherwise might feel stale.

Who should try standing core workouts?

With the exception of people with balance issues, like those experiencing vertigo, standing core workouts are something everyone can do, says Kennedy. “Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t a modified core class, or made for beginners—it’s simply a different way to work your core,” she says. “Some standing core is fast, some is slow, some is dynamic, some is static—mirroring life. It can be friendly to beginners and challenging for advanced athletes. That’s the beauty of it.”

Plus, those who work desk jobs can really benefit from standing core workouts, says Tatiana Lampa, CPT, corrective exercise specialist and founder of the Training with T app. “Your core is one of your powerhouses,” says Lampa. “A strong core can prevent injuries, especially in your day-to-day life.

When you’re locked on your computer for work, how’s your posture? Are you spending majority of the time hunched over? What does that say about your core? “Including standing core exercises can help build a well-rounded strong core, which is important in all activities and sports,” says Lampa. Getting up on your feet after a day sitting still engages those hips and glutes too, to build a strong center that supports the rest of your body.

How to add standing core workouts into your fitness routine

Kennedy recommends building standing core exercises into your schedule one to two times a week as a warm-up. “[Standing core workouts are] a wonderful tool to use as a warm-up to get aligned, get your heart rate up slightly, and mobilize your joints dynamically without putting a lot of demand or stress on them,” she explains.

Alternatively, standing core workouts can act as an abbreviated full-body workout on days when you want to stay active, but might not have the space, equipment, or time for a more complicated session.

3 standing core exercises to try

Ready to stand up for your core strength? Here are three of Kennedy’s go-to standing exercises that will bring that core burn to new heights.

Single arm overhead march

1. In one hand, hold a medium-size dumbbell straight up over your shoulder, keeping that bicep by the ear and your elbow straight.
2. Bring your right knee up to hip-height, then return your foot to the floor.
3. Bring your left knee up to hip-height, then return your foot to the floor.
4. Continue marching for 30 to 45 seconds while keeping the weight in place.
5. Switch hands and repeat.

Standing bird dog

1. From a neutral standing position, come into a single-leg deadlift by hinging at the hips, lifting your straight left leg directly behind you, and bringing your torso toward the floor until you feel your hamstring on standing leg catch. Both arms should be hanging down toward the floor. Hold.
2. Extend your right arm straight out, bringing your bicep up by ear. Your left leg and right arm should be extended long.
3. Crunch, bringing your right elbow to your left knee, then extend both limbs back out.
4. Repeat the movement pattern—crunching in, then extending out—for 45 seconds.
5. Switch sides.

Sumo side bend to oblique crunch

1. With your feet wider than shoulder-distance apart, toes turned slightly outward, bend your knees to come into a sumo squat.
2. Bring hands behind your head, then bend toward your right side, bringing your right elbow toward your right knee.
3. From here, twist your torso to bring your left elbow toward your right knee for an oblique crunch.
4. Return to bring your torso upright and face forward, but stay in a sumo squat.
5. Repeat the side bend and oblique crunch on other side. Continue alternating sides for 60 seconds.

But even after all these years, soreness still sometimes surprises me: It might sneak up on me nearly three whole days after a workout, or show up way sooner than expected.

I’m certainly not alone in having delayed onset muscle soreness (known as DOMS, or that soreness that kicks in 24 to 72 hours after a workout) catch me off guard: Exercise physiologist and trainer Tom Holland, MS, CSCS, CISSN, says that clients new to exercise are often amazed that they feel fine one day after their workout, but have a rude awakening on day three.

It’s perfectly normal to experience DOMS after a challenging workout, especially if it’s a type of exercise that’s new to you. But the more immediate feeling of soreness is less straightforward—and could be a sign that something else is afoot. Here’s what the experts say the timing of your muscle soreness can tell you about your workout.

When you can expect DOMS, and what it means

If you’ve ever experienced tender, stiff, tired muscles a few days after a workout, you know DOMS, which is caused by your body trying to repair the microscopic tears in your muscle fibers that occur during intense exercise. (No, it’s not caused by lactic acid buildup, a common misconception.) DOMS can range from slight stiffness to debilitating, can’t-get-out-of-bed pain, says Timothy Coyle, MS, an exercise physiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

You’ll probably experience some DOMS anytime you try a workout that’s new to you, or that you haven’t done in a while, says Holland, even if you’re an experienced exerciser. Those with more fitness experience may even get more sore in some cases, says Holland, since they likely have a stronger connection to their body and might be engaging more and deeper muscles.

“It’s all about muscle activation patterns,” Holland says. For instance, sometimes he has clients do a go-to workout backwards (starting with the exercise they usually do last), and they’re shocked to find that they get sore. “They’re pre-fatiguing in different ways, so the muscle activation patterns change a little bit,” he says.

You’re most likely to feel some DOMS if you do anything that involves lots of eccentric muscle contractions (when the muscle is lengthening), like the lowering part of a bicep curl, or the way your quads catch you as you run downhill. But rest assured: “For the most part, you’re never going to feel quite as sore as you do that first time,” says Holland, “because your body gets stronger.”

When the soreness sets in sooner

Sometimes, it doesn’t take so long to feel the sensation of soreness: During challenging workouts, you may experience what’s called acute muscle soreness, which is caused by the buildup of metabolites (like that oft-misunderstood lactic acid).

But, says Holland, those metabolites will be out of your system not long after you finish working out. So what’s to blame for that feeling of soreness that might set in a few hours later—too late for acute muscle soreness and too early for DOMS? Usually, says Holland, the culprit is actually just muscle tightness, which could be caused by anything from not warming up to poor form to muscular imbalances or weaknesses to simply overdoing it.

“If we really listen to our body and where that ‘soreness’ is, it may be telling us, this is something you need to strengthen, or work on,” he says.

Building a healthy relationship to soreness

To avoid feeling sore so often, be sure to always properly warm up and cool down, and try to increase the intensity of your workouts gradually over time. But having DOMS every once in a while isn’t a bad thing—it means you’re challenging yourself and hopefully getting stronger.

When you do have DOMS, Holland suggests avoiding trendy tips and treatments that claim to get it over with faster, like cryotherapy (unless you’re an athlete who needs to perform the next day!). You need to go through DOMS for your muscles to repair themselves, so let your body take the time it needs to do this.

Try to resist the temptation to park on the couch, though. Keep moving with an active recovery session like yoga or light cardio, while avoiding doing another round of intense exercise for a few days. “Every hard session should be followed by at least one, if not two, recovery sessions,” says Holland. “Eighty percent of the time we want to go easy. Twenty percent of the time you want to go hard.”

And yes, your workout is still worthwhile if it doesn’t make you sore. “A little bit of soreness is good, but what’s really more important is your frequency, and your safety,” says Coyle. Holland agrees: “Soreness is not an indication of whether or not your workout was meaningful.”

Shortly after closing our laptops, we’d head out the door for up to 45 minutes, just strolling the neighborhood, finding neat homes or green spaces we somehow hadn’t noticed in the 12 years we’ve lived in the area. We took in our town with a kind of stillness and observation that we just weren’t able to pre-pandemic.

As the months, and then years, of the COVID-era rolled on, and WFH stuck around permanently for him, then part-time for me, the one thing that remained a constant were these long walks we’d take every evening as a family of three. (Yes, dogs are 100 percent family.) Even when I had to go into the office, we continued the habit, with him and Zoey meeting me after I got off the bus. Those days were even sweeter because it was a true decompression time post-commute.

It was subconscious at first, simply finding solace in the routine of it all, but with time, we began to realize the consistency of this half-hour or so spent together, phones tucked away and work set aside, allowed us to connect in a more mindful way.

Some days that meant simply relaxing after long hours on Zoom, laughing at Zoey’s antics, walking mostly in relative silence. Often, this time allowed us to check in with each other in a more measured way. Asking not just how our days were, but how we felt about an interaction, and honestly, what we hoped for our future, whether that was merely weekend plans, or something more existential. We’ve been dancing around the kids convo for a while, and while it’s still super tricky to navigate, talking about it while we’re walking has felt like a nice way to ease into scary territory.

“In an incessantly distracted and always-on world it can seem that you’re always ‘together’ but never truly there, especially when it comes to our intimate relationships,” says Katina Bajaj, co-founder and chief well-being officer of Daydreamers and a clinical psychologist with a masters degree from Columbia University’s Spirituality Mind Body Institute. “There are so many subtle cues that you send each other when you’re connecting in person, without distractions, that you miss when you don’t prioritize it.”

As my husband and I became more aware of how nice it was to have this time to be more present for each other, and how it seemed to move complex or difficult conversations forward, we made the interactions more intentional. We set aside one day a week where we’d specifically use our walk to “check in”—ask a probing question, talk about a topic on our minds, or clear the air about something that we felt was lingering. For instance, my husband had been feeling a little restless at work, while at the same time, my own career was taking more and more of my attention.

“Doing something enjoyable together, like walking your dog or creating a new recipe, increases your collective dopamine,” explains Bajaj. “Also, during a creative flow state, the part of your brain responsible for internal mental chatter begins to quiet down, leaving space for vulnerability and a reduction in self-consciousness—all important elements to building stronger, deeper connections.”

And I saw this work IRL for us, as the casual nature of a walk with the dog allowed for the right amount of mindfulness without feeling interrogative or combative, especially when a certain topic felt tricker to navigate. Plus, by the time we got home, we generally felt lighter emotionally, really ready to relax for dinner and couch time where we could comfortably zen out and totally unplug.

I don’t think either of us would have predicted a simple walk with our pup would have turned into something that mattered so much to us both, but we’re holding steady on our commitment to create space for each other and for Zoey—no matter what that looks like, it’s time well-spent together. I can honestly say, we still do everything in our power to stay committed to this time. We only skip our evening walk when we truly can’t move something to accommodate it.

For Bajaj, she says she’s not so surprised by the subtle yet positive effects. “Most [human] connection is happening subconsciously,” she says, “so being near each other, doing things you enjoy, is much more powerful than you think.”

In a new video for our Trainer of the Month Club, Winnie Yu, DPT, a New York–based physical therapist who focuses on the connection between mental health and fitness, demonstrates a 15-minute morning stretch routine that moves through gentle full-body dynamic stretches and a few core stability moves to start loosening up your muscles and joints and getting your blood flowing.

The best part? You don’t even need to get out of bed if you don’t want to. “You can do it from the comforts of your bed, your couch, your living room rug, virtually anywhere,” says Dr. Yu.

The routine starts on your hands and knees in a position similar to yoga’s child’s pose. In just under 15 minutes, you’ll get a great mix of upper- and lower-body stretches to open up your hips, shoulders, and back, and then you’ll end with a couple moves to fire up your core.

Depending on how your body feels, you can modify this 15-minute morning stretch to go slower or sink more deeply into the positions, or choose more dynamic movement to get your blood flowing; the number of reps you do is up to you and what kind of movement session you’re looking for. Though Dr. Yu says she typically prefers taking the more dynamic route in the morning. “Waking up after a long night of sleep…you spend a lot of time in just a static position so dynamic stretches are a great way to bring more blood flow to those muscles and lubrication to those joints to start the day,” she says.

But most important is to only go as far as feels good. “We want every repetition to get a little bit deeper into the range without pinching, cramping or even sharp pains,” says Dr. Yu. How far that is might differ from one side of your body to the other—which is perfectly normal, she adds.

If there are particular areas that you struggle with, feel free to pause the video and repeat certain exercises that hit the exact spot that needs a little extra grease. Soon, you’ll be skipping down that yellow brick road (or speed racing for coffee, if you’re anything like me) with no hitch in your get-along.

Your post-workout routine shouldn’t feel harder than the workout itself. But making time for everything we’re told to do after intense exercise can be overwhelming, especially when it all—refueling, stretching, getting out of sweaty clothes—feels urgent.

As it turns out, your post-workout routine can mostly be whatever works best for you. And it can probably be much quicker than you’d think.

Start your post-workout routine during your workout

Just like you probably put some forethought into your workout—mapping out your intervals, or planning your reps and sets—thinking about your post-workout routine in advance can make it that much easier.

One way to do this: Make sure you’re properly hydrating and fueling during (and prior to) your workout, so you’re not so depleted when you’re done that you need to eat or drink urgently. Yes, it can be annoying to carry hydration or pause your HIIT session for a sip, but if you’re working out in warm weather, or for longer than an hour, you probably need to.

Another strategy: If you’re going to be driving home after a workout, have hydration and a snack ready in the car, suggests Jason Machowsky, RD, CSSD, ACSM-CEP, CSCS, a sports dietitian and exercise physiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery’s Tisch Sports Performance Center.

And don’t forget to account for the time it takes to cool down when planning your workout in the first place, says Heather A. Milton, MS, RCEP, CSCS, an exercise physiologist supervisor at NYU Langone Sports Performance Center. She says she often sees runners who have an hour-long lunch break try to maximize miles by running for a full hour, and not leaving themselves time for anything else.

“All of the things surrounding the run are as important as the run itself,” she says. “It’s not a benefit to ignore those things for two more minutes of running.”

Prioritize the cooldown

Think of the cooldown as the last five minutes of your workout, and it won’t feel like just another thing to get done after you’re done exercising.

Milton’s recommendation for runners is to plan to end your run a few minutes away from your home or final destination, and use those last few blocks to transition from running to jogging to walking and allow your heart rate to come down, “so that you’re walking back into the building without being a sweaty, out-of-breath mess,” she says. Cyclists can take a similar gradual slow-down approach. And if you’re strength-training in the gym, you can set aside those last few minutes for something lower-intensity, like mobility work.

What your cooldown looks like is actually less important than getting it done, says Milton—just take a few minutes at the end of your workout to transition from a high-intensity state to a resting state.

“We don’t want to have our body be in that heightened amount of intensity for a prolonged period of time,” she says. “When you exercise, your sympathetic nervous system starts to increase—that increases your heart rate, your breathing, blood perfusion to the working muscles, and your metabolism. Those are all good things to happen when you are exercising, but you want to transition away from that and into a rest state to start to aid in recovery when you’re done.”

Stopping exercise without this transition could mean the redistribution of blood flow doesn’t occur as gradually, she says, which can cause fluctuations in blood pressure. And if you don’t cool down, you’re more likely to have a higher resting heart rate and higher blood pressure for longer, which likely means you won’t be as recovered for your next session.

But don’t let yourself get cold

If you find that your sweaty workout clothes are giving you the chills once you stop moving, make it a priority to change and shower before you do anything else, says Milton. Otherwise, you could make yourself more vulnerable to catching a cold, since our immune function already dips slightly after high-intensity exercise.

Refuel when you need to

As long as you’ve eaten within the past four or five hours, you probably don’t need to rush to refuel after your workout. In fact, Milton says that she doesn’t advise eating right away, since blood flow will still be going to the working muscles rather than the digestive system.

“Cooling down and starting to receive that blood flow back to your whole body again is important to do first,” she says.

This advice might come as a surprise, since we often hear experts saying we need to eat in that crucial 30-minute window after exercise for optimal recovery. But the truth is that most of us aren’t trying to so go hard in back-to-back workouts that we really need to max out those refueling benefits.

One exception: If you do have another tough workout planned for the same day, Machowsky says you’ll want to eat soon after to maximize absorption. Otherwise, eating a balance of carbohydrates and protein within two hours of your workout should do the trick—no need to suck down a shower smoothie (unless you find that fun).

And stretch whenever you can

Milton says that your cooldown doesn’t need to include stretching at all, and that according to both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine, we really only need to stretch twice a week. In theory, this could happen at any point during your day—not necessarily right after your workout.

But, she says, if you tend to get tight after a hard workout—and especially if you’re going to be sitting at a desk for the rest of your day—you may want to go ahead and get in a short stretch and foam roll. (Plus, points out Machowsky, you may forget to do it otherwise.) If you don’t have time, don’t fret—there are still plenty of benefits to stretching later on while you’re watching TV, or before bed.

Try this stretch series whenever you can fit it in:

My solution was to mind-over-matter it with some good ol’ strength training, so I joined my local gym. When I explained my situation to trainer Dylan Elgas, he suggested I try Functional Range Conditioning (FRC). He’s an FRC mobility specialist who swears by the system, both for fitness and, in the most inspiring thing you’ll read all day, as part of his toolkit for managing multiple sclerosis.

FRC was developed by Andreo Spina, DC, a shade over a decade ago as an antidote to what he terms, with characteristic bluntness, “useless flexibility.” The program blends flexibility, strength, and nervous system training to develop mobility, strengthen joints, and enhance bodily control. Its proponents even say it may prevent injury and speed healing.

Sure, I’ve heard that “motion is lotion” and “movement is medicine,” but how true is that, really?

Mitch Broser, DC, a chiropractor and Functional Range Systems instructor, explains, “Cells called fibroblasts are responsible for the rebuilding and reorganizing of connective tissues,” he explains. “These fibroblasts need to be told how to repair an injury. We can ‘talk’ to them through movement.”

Moving through wonky ranges of motion is like giving your fibroblasts a bad blueprint. “I guess this is how it’s supposed to work,” they shrug, and build a joint with a confined range of motion. Dr. Broser warns that this can lead to repetitive loading of tissues and, over time, joint degeneration. FRC works by sending the right message to fibroblasts—a carefully calibrated dewonkification of movement patterns.

Sounds like it must be super-fancy right? Well…

“Scrape your chin along your collarbone,” Elgas instructed during my first FRC class. “Now imagine you’re pouring water out of your ear onto your shoulder. Trace the sky with your chin. Ear to shoulder, chin to chest—get a good double-chin going. Now retrace your steps.”

I gotta be honest, my first thought was, …these are just neck circles.

Actually, they’re Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs), a standard part of mobility training. They’re also the foundation of FRC, a veritable Swiss Army knife with assessment, diagnostics, maintenance, training, and rehabilitation applications. A full-body CARs routine is a comprehensive exploration of each joint’s range of motion, from your cervical spine to your ankles.

It’s one thing to do a couple neck circles; it’s quite another to do them mindfully for three straight minutes. After a while, I started to notice nuances in the movement, and once my time was up, I had a whole new understanding of my neck. We moved down my spine, and then it was time for shoulders and scapulas. I approached these CARs with cautious curiosity. Putting on a shirt or accidentally rolling onto my left side while sleeping was enough to make me yelp. How was I going to handle three straight minutes of CARs on my injured shoulder?

Elgas was way ahead of me. He explained that CARs are intended to explore and define the pain-free range of motion. If it hurts, he told me, back off until it doesn’t. My left shoulder CAR looked less like a circle and more like a lumpy Pac-Man, but I couldn’t have felt more empowered: I can move my shoulder in a way that doesn’t hurt! 

The fact that I could do FRC with an injury highlights its biggest strength: inclusivity. There’s no base level of fitness required to get something out of it, and the goal is pure function. Sure, the level I’m practicing at doesn’t quite satisfy my cardio and strength needs, but it’s easy enough to add FRC to an existing workout routine without burning out.

After class ended, Elgas gave me my homework: Do CARs every day. He recommended a schedule of “breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with snacks;” I settled on “morning coffee and popcorn during a movie.” Daily CARs helped me cultivate awareness of all my joints, so that two or three times a week in class, we could focus on my shoulder.

Elgas designed a program using the FRC toolkit, which consists of a bunch of intimidating names: Level I, II, and III CARs, PAILs/RAILs (Progressive/Regressive Angular Isometric Loading), PRH/PRLO (passive range hold/lift-off), and the positively scary-sounding “eccentric neural grooving.” I’ll spare you the physiology lesson—basically, they’re isometric exercises in strange positions that you hold for what feels like forever.

“Ultimately, doing all these different training system protocols is going to lead to us carving out more of a joint capsule, layering in quality connective tissue, and then increasing muscular control, endurance, and strength in those positions,” Elgas explains.

What the training protocol looks like depends on the needs of the student, the imagination of the trainer, and whatever tools are at hand. One session had me laying face down with my arm bent behind my back like I was being arrested, using internal shoulder rotation to push my fist into my tailbone. During another, I laid on a yoga mat with my arm at a 90-degree angle; Elgas gently pushed my arm toward the floor while I resisted, like a weirdly nurturing version of arm wrestling.

The goal of FRC is bodily control, but there’s definitely a strong mentorship aspect as well. If the idea of someone intently scrutinizing your joint mobility freaks you out, FRC might not be for you.

My favorite exercise involved leaning against a wall with my arm overhead like I was hitting on some invisible partygoer, sliding my scapula toward my spine and holding it at low effort. After seven or so minutes, my muscles were shaking, and I ran out of energy. When I stepped away from the wall, the most amazing sensation of relief rushed through my shoulder and down my arm.

It’s been three weeks, and although my shoulder isn’t 100 percent, it’s a lot better. I have no doubt that the isometric loading has affected my muscle and connective tissue, but the biggest change, I’ve realized, is mental. Giving myself permission to utilize a pain-free range of motion in class made me realize there’s no reason to do things that hurt outside of class. Turns out mind-over-matter was the wrong attitude; mind is matter.

And if that’s what you’re actually dealing with, no amount of stretching is actually going to fix the issue. Instead, you need dedicated hip flexor strengthening exercises.

So how can you tell whether yours are tight or weak? “Hip flexors are, in general, more prone to getting stiff than weak, but there are some times when the hip flexors can become weak,” says Dave Candy, DPT, a board-certified specialist in orthopedic physical therapy and owner of More 4 Life PT. Here, he breaks down the telltale signs, and what you can do about it.

What causes weak hip flexors?

As the name implies, hip flexors are muscles that flex the hip. They help you bring your thigh up closer towards your chest, like when you lift your leg to take a step forward when running or climbing the stairs.

Dr. Candy details three common scenarios that can increase the risk of having weak hip flexors:

1. “People who have a ‘flat back’ posture, who stand with their hips extended, can develop overly-lengthened and weak hip flexors,” explains Dr. Candy. You can see this by looking at someone from the side: The front of the hips press forward, the lower back is flat, and the knees are behind the center of the hip joint.
2. Another possibility is that a pinched nerve in the upper lumbar spine can cause a neurological weakness of the hip flexors, Dr. Candy says.
3. The final—and most common—cause is a muscle imbalance between the different hip flexors. Dr. Candy says that in this case, not all of the four muscles that make up the hip flexor group are weak. “Instead, one hip flexor muscle may be weak and another hip flexor muscle takes over and gets overworked,” he notes. “The most common example of this is where people overuse their tensor fasciae latae (TFL) and under-use their iliopsoas.”

Signs that your hip flexors are weak

When you have tight hip flexors, you can usually tell because they will feel stiff and somewhat restrictive, especially when you stand up from a seated position or straighten your leg all the way after you’ve been lying down for a while.

Hip flexors weakness, however, is often less apparent—which is why it might go undetected (or mistaken for tightness). Still, Dr. Candy says there are three telltale signs:

1. If your natural, comfortable standing posture results in your knees positioned behind your hips (hips and knees hyperextended), you may have overstretched, weakened hip flexors. “Your hip flexors may still feel ‘tight,’ because they’re stretched to their end-length. However, you should only stretch if the muscle is actually short in length,” says Dr. Candy. “A physical therapist can assist you in doing length and flexibility tests to determine which muscles are actually short.”
2. If you have trouble lifting your leg to climb a stair or step into a bathtub, or if you feel like you are tripping when you walk because your legs feel “heavy” or hard to lift up.
3. “If you can’t lift your knee up to your chest and hold it there for a few seconds, you likely have weak hip flexors,” Dr. Candy says.

3 exercises that can help strengthen your hip flexors

If any of the above signs sound familiar, it’s time to begin strengthening your hip flexors. Here are three exercises Dr. Candy recommends.

Seated iliopsoas activation

If you’re dealing with a muscle imbalance within your hip flexors, it’s likely that your iliopsoas is the weak link. “Your iliopsoas muscles attach to your spine and are a hip flexor and external rotator [of the hip],” says Dr. Candy. Here’s one way to strengthen it:

• Sit upright in a chair or on a weight bench.
• Lift your knee up higher than 90 degrees (ideally as close to your chest as possible) with your knee turned outward. Dr. Candy says the TFL muscle isn’t a good hip flexor in this position, so turning your knee out isolates the iliopsoas.

Complete 12 to 15 reps per leg. You can add an ankle weight as you get stronger.

Lying straight leg raises

The rectus femoris is one of the muscles in the quadriceps (the large muscle group on the front of your thighs), and it plays a role as a hip flexor. To strengthen your it, you can do straight leg raises lying on your back.

• Lie down on your back and straighten your knee fully, then lift your leg toward the ceiling, making sure to keep your knee fully straight and toes pointed directly up.
• Hold for five seconds, and then return as slowly as possible to the starting position.

Complete 15 to 20 reps per leg. You can add an ankle weight once you can perform the exercise easily.

Iliopsoas straight leg raises

Dr. Candy says you can also use lying straight leg raises to strengthen your iliopsoas by performing the same exercise, but turning your toes outward 45 degrees (rather than having them pointed straight up to the ceiling). Turning your legs outward this way will externally rotate your hip to target the iliopsoas muscle.

Begin with one set of each of these three exercises and build up to three sets. If you experience significant soreness or if the exercises seem to be making matters worse, work with a physical therapist to identify the root cause of your hip flexor issues and find an effective rehab program.

In contrast, weekly or monthly workout plans pre-determine what a person’s activity is going to be in advance. These regimens can be helpful for people trying to achieve certain goals, like getting the CDC’s recommended amount of exercise (150 minutes of moderate activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, per week), training for a race or strength feat, or for the person who really just wants to move their body, but doesn’t want to have to think too hard about how to do that.

So, what do you do if you find yourself not in the mood to do what’s on the schedule that day? Maybe you’re tired and the thought of a speed run sounds like the opposite of what you want to put your legs through. Maybe you have a ton of energy and you want to hit a cycling class instead of lifting weights. In a myriad of ways, your body, mind, and schedule could be out of sync.

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. You have to come back to the “why” of your workout plan, and then decide whether sticking with what you’re slated to do, or making an adjustment, is the best course of action.

Questions to ask yourself if you’re not in the mood for your workout

House of Athlete Plus trainer Alex Lyons suggests asking yourself, “Is the opportunity cost of skipping that [workout] worth it to me?” Meaning, what do you get instead, and what do you lose out on? Maybe, if you’re working out to ensure a good night’s sleep, but you’re already bone tired from an unusually active day, perhaps you don’t need a gym session to achieve that goal. But if you’re planning to race a 10K at the end of the month, and you’re feeling blah on a crucial training day, then you’re just going to have to make up the run later, anyway. So would you rather do it now or later?

Making these opportunity cost assessments also comes down to getting in tune with what you’re feeling. So if you’re dreading what’s on your plan for the day, stop and ask yourself, Why? Can you flip the “why not” question on its head, and ask what you’re in the mood for instead?

What to do if you have an intense workout planned, but you’re not in the mood to work out

If your energy levels aren’t quite up for what’s listed on your calender, check in with yourself about your goals. Are they flexible enough that you can do the intense workout you have planned on a different day? What would be the consequences if you skip or opt for a different activity?

Sometimes, getting started is the hardest part. That could be especially true if you’ve been stationary for a long period of time, so you’re feeling low energy from lack of blood flow. Lyons suggests committing to just doing a warmup, and seeing how you feel after, giving yourself full permission to stop if you’re still not feeling it.

If the issue is physical or mental fatigue, you want to understand where the feeling is coming from. “It’s really coming back to understanding the mental barriers,” Lyons says. “Is the program actually too difficult? Am I just too sore, or do I just not enjoy what I’m doing in the moment?”

Finally, you might just want to switch things up if you feel like pushing yourself is not what you want or need. “If you had a really heavy lift or really heavy run and you know that if you [do your workout] something might happen to your body, switch it for something more low impact like a Pilates or reformer or yoga,” Lyons says. “You’re still benefiting from the mental aspect of getting moving, getting your day going or winding your day down, but you shifted your priorities.”

How to avoid not being in the mood for your workout in the first place

Having a well-rounded fitness plan that allows for variety and flexibility can help minimize these misalignments. If your program hits different parts of your body, combines different types of activities, and incorporates rest days, you ideally will be primed for the workout you have planned on the day that it arrives.

Plans can even be designed around the idea that every day is going to be different. So maybe if you’re someone who works best with flexibility, then the goal could be to do a certain amount of strength days per week, but not predetermine the day.

“If you are training for a run or on a weightlifting plan, that’s one aspect of your training regimen, but you also need to have something else that you just super enjoy that may not impact a certain goal or output,” Lyons says. “Everyone’s exercise arsenal should have a multitude of options.”

But going too hard or too fast, or pushing your body without resting enough can backfire: It’s all too easy to overwork ourselves and end up with exercise burnout.

Signs that your workouts are burning you out include extra fatigue, a lack of motivation, or even dread around going to the gym. This could leave you feeling discouraged or ashamed (though, in reality, you have nothing to be ashamed of!). At what point is it time to start your exercise burnout recovery? How can you get out of that rut when it feels so deep?

Symptoms that suggest exercise burnout is on the horizon

Knowing what exercise burnout signals to look for in your body and mind is paramount to your well-being. After all, excessive exercise can lead to injuries, illnesses, emotional fluctuations, and more.

Eric O’Connor, a certified CrossFit trainer, shares some signs that indicate your body is either burned out from exercise or is about to be:

• Your resting heart rate after waking up in the morning either increases or decreases five percent or more from what is normal for you
• Restlessness or trouble falling asleep (even if you technically slept enough hours)
• A loss of appetite (a sign your body is stressed and not fully recovering)
• Prolonged or unexpected soreness
• Symptoms of an illness
• Not performing as well or struggling more with your workouts (resist the urge to go harder at that point, O’Connor warns)

“Keep track of these markers for seven to 10 days to identify your ‘norms’ before making judgments based on negative-trending indicators,” he says. “If you notice two to three of these markers trending in the wrong direction, consider taking a rest day or doing a low-intensity session.”

The importance of rest

Even if you don’t think you need as much rest as other people, don’t underestimate what proper recovery can do for you. “Even the most disciplined individuals will have periods of time where their motivation for exercise fluctuates from feelings of ultra-high levels of motivation to days where motivation is lacking, or they are feeling burned out from exercise,” O’Connor says.

What’s more, while we have cultural messages all around telling us that rest must be “earned,” that’s actually not the best route. “‘Choose rest before rest chooses you’ is the slogan used at the CrossFit Level 1 Certificate Course,” O’Connor adds. “In order to seek the results you’re after, you must allow time for recovery both for the body and the mind.” A longer or more intense workout is not necessarily better in every case.

5 steps to exercise burnout recovery

Once you’ve rested, your body feels physically better, and those above markers have gone away, what can help with the mental aspect of burnout and motivation? Here are some tips from O’Connor:

1. Don’t rely on motivation alone

Believe it or not, activation often precedes motivation. In other words, you may have to take a few steps first to get that boost you want. “I think it’s important to understand that expecting to be motivated on a daily basis is unrealistic,” O’Connor says. “The unfortunate reality is that it may take some planning and commitment.” If you want to work out but aren’t totally feeling it, commit to just 10 minutes, then take stock of how you feel—odds are that once your blood’s flowing you’ll likely want to keep going.

2. Work out with other people

Getting in some movement with a friend can be more fun than exercising alone, and it helps keep you accountable. “On the days where motivation is lacking, people will still show up just because it might be the most fun part of their day, and the energy can be through the roof,” O’Connor says. He recommends finding a workout buddy or signing up for a group fitness class.

3. Set goals

Knowing what you want out of a workout can also encourage you. “Exercise can become less motivating when it feels aimless,” O’Connor says. “Set a couple of goals that are important to you, or sign up for an event.” This could include running an upcoming 5K with a friend, signing up for a new sports league, or aiming to lift heavier weights. Remember to make your goal SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely)—and more about adding to your life than taking away.

4. Make sure lifestyle factors are in check

“When motivation or recovery is lacking, it is usually a sign that areas outside of the gym need improvement,” he says. This might include:

• Nutrition: Are you incorporating plenty of protein, carbohydrates, and fat each day? (The amount will differ for each person, so listen to your body and consider working with a registered dietitian.)
• Sleep: Are you sleeping long enough and deeply enough? If not, O’Connor suggests a sleeping ritual at the same time every night. “This could include turning off your devices an hour before bed (blue light from phones, TVs, and iPads disturb our bodies’ attempts to find sleep), reading, or a warm shower,” he suggests. “A dark, cool room also promotes better sleep.”
• Stress: Consciously work on relaxing your mind and body through therapy, mindfulness, breathing exercises, and other activities that help you feel good.

5. Switch up your workout routine

Doing the same type of exercise every day can get boring quickly, so O’Connor recommends adding other activities if you feel unmotivated. “Use different pieces of equipment, do some different movements, or maybe even avoid the gym for a week and put your fitness to use outdoors,” he says. Switch things up with hot girl walks, outdoor bike rides, or hikes somewhere beautiful nearby.

Last but not least, remember that exercise doesn’t have to be grueling to benefit your mind and body. As the CDC states, movements such as pushing the lawn mower, yoga, gardening, and water aerobics “count” and are something to be proud of, too.

Want to take the slow lane today? Try this routine:

Well, by putting in those miles for the good of others, too. A new program on Strava is currently allowing you to raise money for gender justice in sports charities with your walking. Specifically, your “hot girl walking.” For the uninitiated, hot girl walks are a TikTok trend in which you take walks while listening to music and think about how awesome and hot you are while also celebrating your accomplishments and thinking about your goals.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Strava’s Hot Girl Walk United challenge runs through the end of March. And hot girl walk creator Mia Lind is helping to lead the charge.

“I created the hot girl walk to encourage other women to get active in a way that helps their mental health—it’s not just about walking,” Lind said in a press release. “The hot girl walk is about building self-confidence, mindfulness, and community. I’m excited for Strava’s community to join the hot girl walk movement and support these important charities.”

If you walk four miles (Lind’s suggested hot girl walk length) and log it in Strava, you’ll earn $4 for Women Win initiatives GRLS, which promotes female leadership skills in sport, and the ONSIDE Fund, which supports grassroots female sports initiatives. Currently, women and girls are underrepresented, underpaid, and under-researched in sports. Charities like these are helping to give equal access and opportunity to these marginalized groups, including all those who identify as women, girls, and non-binary. By pooling all of our four mile $4 walks together, Strava has committed to donating up to $250,000 to these charities, which is part of Strava’s larger three-year $1 million commitment to gender equity in sports called Strive for More.

In Strava, you can find suggested hot girl walk routes suggested by Lind all over the world. Or, of course, you can just head out the door and make your own route. Just sign up for the challenge and put your money where your feet are.