Temperature influences many physiological processes that govern life by way of the thermal sensitivity of underlying chemical reactions. The repeated evolution of endothermy and widespread behavioral thermoregulation in animals highlight the importance of elevating tissue temperature to control the rate of chemical processes. Yet movement performance in animals that is robust to changes in body temperature has been observed in numerous species. This thermally robust performance appears exceptional in light of the well-documented effects of temperature on muscle contractile properties. Here we propose that thermal robustness of movement is a general feature of any organismal system, spanning kingdoms, in which mechanical processes replace or augment chemical processes. The use of recoiling elastic structures to power movement in place of direct muscle shortening is one of the most thoroughly studied mechanical processes; using these studies as a basis, we outline an analytical framework for detecting thermal robustness relying on the comparison of temperature coefficients (Q₁₀ values) between chemical and mechanical processes. We then highlight other biomechanical systems in which thermally robust performance that arises from mechanical processes may be identified using this framework.