As even the occasional weekend warriors know, recovery is crucial to any athletic training plan. Aschwanden, a former competitive runner, racer, and cyclist and now the lead science writer at FiveThirtyEight, combines her own experience, stories of other athletes, and solid research to separate the truth from the myths and hype about a wide range of practices, products, and services. From the dos and don’ts of icing, massage, and stretching and whether it’s better to drink Gatorade or beer after a practice session, to the benefits of trends like cryochambers, floatation tanks, and infrared saunas, Aschwanden explains the science, interprets the statistics, and assesses the benefits.