Recovery Strategies in Sport: Evidence-Based Approaches for Optimal Adaptation and Performance

The domain of sport science and exercise physiology increasingly acknowledges the pivotal role of recovery strategies in optimizing athletic performance and long-term adaptation. While advanced training methodologies continue to evolve, research highlights that inadequate recovery can impede physiological gains, heighten injury risk, and diminish overall resilience. Emerging evidence underscores the complexity of the relationship between training load, individualized recovery modalities, nutrition, and psychological techniques in shaping an athlete’s ability to perform and adapt. However, despite rigorous investigation, there are ongoing debates about the efficacy, timing, and personalization of specific recovery interventions. Recent studies have illuminated novel nutritional plans, technology-driven monitoring tools, and mental recovery approaches, but the field still grapples with challenges regarding their standardization, applicability across age groups and sport disciplines, and real-world translation. Consolidating these advancements, while critically appraising their limitations and practical value, remains an essential gap in the literature.

This Research Topic aims to systematically explore and synthesize the latest advancements, evidence-based interventions, and multidisciplinary perspectives on optimizing recovery for enhanced athletic performance and adaptation. The primary objective is to foster deeper understanding, develop best-practice frameworks, and identify actionable strategies for athletes, coaches, and practitioners. Key aims include clarifying the mechanisms underpinning effective recovery, pinpointing novel or understudied modalities, and examining the translational potential of these findings for diverse populations and levels of competition.

Articles within this Research Topic will be limited to approaches that directly inform applied recovery strategies, performance optimization, and adaptation in athletic settings. The focus extends to both theoretical underpinnings and real-world application, while excluding non-sport-related recovery interventions or basic science without clear athletic relevance. To gather further insights in these boundaries, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

- Training periodization and recovery scheduling.
- Nutritional and supplementation strategies for optimal adaptation.
- Sleep, circadian rhythm management, and fatigue mitigation.
- Injury risk reduction and return-to-play protocols.
- Psychological and mental health recovery techniques.
- Novel technologies, wearable sensors, and biomarkers for monitoring recovery.
- Multidisciplinary and integrative approaches in team or individual sport settings.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Physiology, Performance, Adaptation, Recovery, Nutrition, Training, Technology

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.