Evidence Base

The studies behind every answer.

Original papers. Full analysis. Every finding linked to its DOI so you can check our work.

99 Studies Ranked Every Recovery Method. Your Routine Is Backwards. A meta-analysis compared ten recovery methods head-to-head for the first time. The method most lifters skip ranked first. The method most lifters do every day ranked last. Dupuy et al. · 2018 · Frontiers in Physiology · n=1,188

957-to-43 Against Your Ice Bath An 8-study meta-analysis calculates the probability your post-workout cold plunge is blunting your gains. When they tested both conditions inside the same body, the ice bath leg built a third of the muscle. 144s · Piñero et al. · 2024 · European Journal of Sport Science

The Recovery Tool That Only Recovers One Thing A 21-study meta-analysis found foam rolling reliably reduces how sore you feel. The part that surprises: the recovery benefits most gym-goers expect did not reach statistical significance. Wiewelhove et al. · 2019 · Frontiers in Physiology · n=454

Half the Muscle Growth, None of the Warning Signs Researchers gave young adults the ibuprofen dose printed on every bottle and tracked their muscles for eight weeks. What the MRI scans revealed cost them roughly half their gains — and their workouts never showed a single sign. Lilja et al. · 2018 · Acta Physiologica · n=31

The Fear That's Never Once Shown Up in a Lab Twenty-two studies tried to break lifters with overtraining. What researchers found, and didn't find, changes how you should read your next flat week. Grandou et al. · 2020 · Sports Medicine

The 16x Growth Hormone Claim Has Three Problems Nobody Mentions A systematic review checked forty sauna studies across twelve countries. The viral growth hormone claim traces to a single 1986 experiment that used two hours of heat exposure per day. What researchers found instead changes the conversation. Hussain et al. · 2018 · Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Four Tests. Four Barely-Passing Grades. A 12-study meta-analysis found compression garments produce moderate effects on every recovery measure — but the scores barely cleared the threshold. And a newer analysis from the same lead researcher found nothing. Hill et al. · 2014 · British Journal of Sports Medicine · n=0

Studies

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