I wrote my first post in 2011. For close to 15 years, I’ve tried to answer all types of training questions—ranging from the effectiveness of beet juice to how to boost your VO₂ max.
In preparation for writing a new post on recovery boots, I wanted to check in with ChatGPT to see how the robots would answer my working title: “Are Recovery Boots Fake News?”
Before we get to the robots, I wrote a post on recovery back in 2016, and as far as I could remember, not much had changed in the recovery landscape. To cut to the chase: sleep is king; the rest is a collection of minor details.
More recently (August 2025), a meta-analysis was published that reviewed 26 separate studies evaluating recovery boots (1). Meta-analyses are especially helpful in shaping general recommendations because they aggregate data from multiple threads of research in an attempt to highlight relevant trends.
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In broad terms, this new study found that recovery boots may make your legs feel less sore and/or reduce pain, but they don’t seem to improve objective measures of recovery or performance.
Now back to the robots. How well did ChatGPT do with my question about recovery boots? Astonishingly well. It gave me a clear, concise, and nuanced response in less time than it took to write this sentence.
Part of my confidence in ChatGPT’s response comes from my familiarity with the primary sources on which ChatGPT is trained, but still—it seems reasonable to conclude that for most (if not all) training-related questions, ChatGPT will probably serve up an answer as good as, if not better than, any Homo sapien alive today.
Personal Cycling Coaching
From scattered effort to structured progress—real results through human cycling coaching
As someone who has spent his entire career trying to answer training questions well, ChatGPT is humbling.
In a more important way, though, ChatGPT is a gift to coaches because it clarifies the highest order of coaching skills. If my subject-matter expertise is lining up against ChatGPT in a race, it’s beating me every single time—and it’s not even close.
This reality forces me, as a coach, to compete in the only arena in which I still have an advantage: connecting with athletes as a person.
What does this look like in a coaching context? More empathetic listening, more purposeful conversations, and acknowledgment of the honor of working collaboratively toward an important goal.
References
- Albillos-Almaraz, Laura1,2; Cavero-Redondo, Iván3; Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel1,2; Fares, Rony2,4; Crespo, Irene1; del Valle, Miguel2,5; Olmedillas, Hugo1,2. From Fads to Facts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Intermittent Pneumatic Compression Therapy for Muscle Recovery. Strength and Conditioning Journal 47(4):p 450-464, August 2025. | DOI: 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000892