Essentrics® athletic trainer Gail Garceau shares insight into how elite athletes use
Essentrics® to support performance and recovery over time.
The Olympic Games mark a defining moment in an athlete’s career, bringing years of discipline into a narrow window of competition. This is where preparation meets pressure, and where the body is asked to respond with extraordinary precision.
What appears effortless on the Olympic stage is the product of repetition. The same skills are practiced again and again, until the movements become instinctive and nearly automatic.
Sustaining that level of control over time, however, requires more than discipline alone.
Across an Olympic cycle that spans four years, athletes must not only refine their skill, but manage the physical demands of sustained, high-volume training. The challenge is not simply reaching peak performance but arriving there with a body that can still meet the intense demands of competition.
As the 2026 Winter Games in Milan Cortina approaches, more athletes are paying closer attention to what happens between training sessions. Not just how hard they train, but how they support their bodies so they can continue to respond at the highest level.
What Happens Between Training Sessions |
In athletics, recovery is often mistaken for rest. Taking time off, getting a massage or using the sauna are all great practices, but this passive approach does not undo the joint imbalances that come with hours of repetitive movement.
True recovery requires something more deliberate. It means actively undoing what repetition does to the body. We must equally target opposing muscle groups, restore range of motion, and teach the body how to distribute force more evenly throughout the body.
This is where Essentrics enters the conversation.
The Perfect Blend of Activation & Recovery |
Essentrics does not replace sport-specific training. Athletes still practice the movements required by their sport, but Essentrics offers a way to reset the baseline by restoring balance to the joints.
Sessions are full-body and continuous, built around slow, controlled, and precise movement. Muscles are strengthened as they lengthen, while joints move freely through full range of motion. In as little as 23 minutes, Essentrics reactivates underused muscles, supports circulation, and gradually releases strain from tissues that have learned to carry the load.
Unlike static stretching, Essentrics engages the body through multiple planes of movement, restoring balance between opposing muscle groups. Mobility is supported through eccentric contractions, allowing muscles to remain active as joints are guided back toward their natural alignment and trained to manage load without excessive compression, while flowing movement promotes blood flow through muscles and connective tissue.
How Athletes Prepare Their Bodies for Performance |
For athletes whose sports demand extreme positions and repeated impact, Essentrics helps prevent injuries while improving performance.
“Essentrics creates space in my body,” says Canadian ice dancer Marjorie Lajoie, who began incorporating Essentrics into her training ahead of the Beijing Winter Games in 2022, after her physiotherapist recommended it to address ongoing back pain.
“Figure skating puts your body into a lot of unusual positions,” Lajoie says. “Essentrics helps prepare me for those movements. It teaches me how to engage the right muscles and support my body safely, so when I’m on the ice, everything feels more natural and controlled.”
Essentrics® in Winter Sport: A History |
A brief look at some of the athletes who have used Essentrics to prepare for the Winter Games.
Joannie Rochette
Team Canada Figure Skating
Olympic Bronze Medalist (Vancouver 2010)
Rochette incorporated Essentrics as part of her preparation leading into her Olympic performance, where she earned a bronze medal.
Kim St-Pierre
Team Canada Ice Hockey
3x Olympic Gold Medalist (2002 Salt Lake City, 2006 Torino, 2010 Vancouver)
St-Pierre used Essentrics to support flexibility and speed throughout a demanding career as one of Canada’s most accomplished ice hockey goaltenders.
Photo Courtesy of Hockey Canada
Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford
Team Canada Pair Skating
Olympic Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalists (Sochi 2014, Pyeong Chang 2018)
Olympic and world champions who used Essentrics to support alignment, strength, and recovery during intense training cycles.
Photo by Luu, via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Marjorie Lajoie
Team Canada Ice Dance
Beijing 2022, Milano Cortina 2026
Lajoie uses Essentrics to manage back pain, recover from training, and maintain the mobility required for high level ice dance.
“Essentrics helped me create space in my body,” she says. “It releases my back, my joints, and my muscles so I can move freely. When I stop doing it, I feel tight and the pain can come back.”
Photo by Danielle Earl/Skate Canada
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson
Team Great Britain Ice Dance
Beijing 2022, Milano Cortina 2026
World medalists and seven-time British national champions who use Essentrics throughout the four-year Olympic cycle to support mobility, recovery, and consistency.
Photo courtesy of Lilah Fear
The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games will take place from February 6 to 22, with figure skating and ice dance events scheduled for February 11 and 13. We look forward to cheering on the athletes as they prepare for the Games and step onto the Olympic stage.
FAQ
Q: How does Essentrics help Olympic athletes prevent injuries?
A: Essentrics helps athletes move more efficiently through rebalanced muscle activation, keeping joints flexible, and releasing tension in overworked areas, which lowers the chance of injury during intense training.
Q: What is the best way for athletes to recover between training sessions?
A: Active recovery that stretches and strengthens opposing muscles, restores range of motion, and promotes circulation can help the body recover more effectively than passive rest alone.
Q: Can full-body stretching improve performance in high-impact sports?
A: Yes. Gentle, controlled full-body stretching strengthens muscles as they lengthen, improves alignment, and enhances joint mobility, which supports better performance.
Q: How often should athletes practice exercises like Essentrics?
A: Regular practice, ideally integrated throughout the training week, helps sustain mobility, release tension, and support consistent performance.
