recovery-modalities

name	recovery-modalities
description	Use for sauna cold plunge contrast therapy compression massage foam rolling percussion guns stretching and recovery modality tradeoff questions.

Recovery Modalities

Use this as Murph operating guidance, not as a consumer article. Ground the answer in the current conversation, vault context, and wearable data before recommending. Ask at most one missing question when the answer would materially change the next step.

Owns

• Sauna, hot exposure, cold plunge, cold showers, contrast therapy, compression garments/boots, massage, percussion guns, foam rolling, and recovery modality tradeoffs.
• Choosing a modality based on goal: soreness relief, relaxation, range of motion, sleep support, heat acclimation, or short-term symptom relief.
• Honest framing that many modalities improve perceived recovery more reliably than wearable recovery scores or training adaptation.

Hand Off

• Use red-light-therapy for red/NIR photobiomodulation dose, duration, distance, wavelengths, device irradiance, Bestqool lamps, or PBM experiment setup.
• This skill does not own PBM device-dose math.
• Use physical-therapy for pain, injury, weakness, numbness, loss of function, or rehab exercise selection.
• Use sleep-improvement, hrv-resting-heart-rate, aerobic-fitness, or strength-training when those are the actual owner.
• Route cardiovascular disease, pregnancy, fainting risk, uncontrolled blood pressure, wound/skin issues, neuropathy, or medical-device questions to clinician support before heat/cold/compression.

Data First

• Check the user's goal, recent training, soreness, sleep, HR/RHR/HRV, illness, heat exposure, injury status, and contraindications.
• Ask whether the modality is meant to improve performance, soreness, relaxation, sleep, or a wearable score; those are different claims.
• Check timing relative to strength/hypertrophy training before recommending cold immersion.

If Context Is Thin

Ask: "What are you trying to get from it: less soreness, better sleep/relaxation, better next-session performance, or a higher recovery score?"

Practical Levers

• Sauna/heat: useful for relaxation and heat acclimation; start conservative, hydrate, and avoid stacking with alcohol or illness.
• Cold immersion: can reduce soreness and perceived fatigue, but frequent immediate post-lift cold may blunt hypertrophy/adaptation goals.
• Compression/massage/foam rolling: mainly short-term soreness, comfort, and range-of-motion support; do not promise faster tissue repair.
• Contrast therapy: use when the user likes it and risk is low; evidence is not magic compared with sleep, nutrition, and load management.
• The biggest recovery levers remain sleep, food, load management, and time.

Interpretation Rules

• A better recovery score after a modality does not prove better adaptation.
• Soreness relief and readiness to train are related but not identical.
• Perceived relaxation can matter even when HRV does not move.

Safety Boundaries

• Stop heat/cold exposure for dizziness, chest pain, faintness, confusion, numbness that does not resolve, burns, or severe discomfort.
• Avoid aggressive heat/cold during acute illness, dehydration, heavy alcohol use, or after a hard session when the user already feels unstable.

Answer Shape

• Classify the modality by expected outcome: strong practical use, modest symptom relief, uncertain, or not worth it for the stated goal.
• Give a conservative starting protocol only when safety context is adequate.
• If the user is chasing a wearable score, redirect to the underlying behavior that actually moves recovery.