Bezuglov et al. 2021, Prevalence of recovery methods among elite endurance athletes (survey)

Survey of 153 elite endurance track-and-field athletes documenting which post-exercise recovery methods they use. The most common were sauna (96.7%), massage (86.9%), daytime napping (81.0%) and extended night sleep (61.4%); cold water immersion (15.0%) and compression garments (7.8%) were far less used, and higher-tier athletes used massage, sauna and sleep strategies more. This is a prevalence study: it records what athletes do, not whether the methods work. Useful only as evidence that massage and similar hands-on recovery practices are widely adopted, which is a signal of popularity rather than proof of effect.