From Lab to Field: Translating Exercise Physiology into Real-World Athletic Performance

Exercise physiology and sports performance research rely on laboratory studies to identify physiological mechanisms and evaluate training, nutritional, recovery, and performance-regulation strategies. However, the controlled conditions that enhance internal validity may not capture the complexity of training and competition, where athletes experience accumulated fatigue, tactical demands, psychological pressure, environmental stress, variable schedules, and individual differences in responsiveness. As a result, findings that appear promising in the laboratory do not always produce meaningful improvements in real-world performance. Recent advances in portable physiological monitoring, wearable technologies, field-based testing, and individualized interventions have made it increasingly possible to examine athletes without removing performance from its ecological context. Nevertheless, important gaps remain in understanding how laboratory-derived mechanisms translate across sporting environments, why intervention efficacy differs between controlled and competitive settings, and which physiological markers can support reliable decisions in practice.



This Research Topic aims to narrow the gap between mechanistic exercise physiology and applied sport practice by examining how laboratory-derived knowledge can be validated, adapted, and implemented under ecologically relevant conditions. It will consider how acute and chronic interventions influence performance, fatigue resistance, recovery, readiness, pacing, decision-making, and the regulation of effort in training and competition. Particular emphasis will be placed on studies that compare laboratory and field responses, test established interventions in realistic sporting contexts, investigate inter-individual variability in adaptation, and evaluate whether physiological measures can provide actionable information for athletes and practitioners. The Research Topic also seeks to integrate physiological, perceptual, psychological, environmental, and contextual factors that shape performance outcomes.

To gather further insights into the translation of exercise physiology across laboratory, training, and competitive settings, this Research Topic will focus on athletes from endurance, strength and power, team, combat, racket, and mixed-demand sports, including recreationally trained, competitive, elite, youth, female, and para-athlete populations. We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

Laboratory-to-field validation of physiological and performance outcomes
Acute and chronic training interventions in ecologically relevant settings
Sports nutrition, supplementation, and ergogenic strategies
Recovery, sleep, readiness, and fatigue management
Neuromuscular, cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic responses
Environmental, competitive, and psychosocial stressors
Perception of effort, mental fatigue, motivation, pacing, and decision-making
Athlete monitoring, wearable technologies, and portable physiological assessment
Individual differences in adaptation, responsiveness, and performance
Translating physiological markers into actionable training and competition decisions
Ecological validity, reproducibility, and implementation of exercise physiology research

Appendix: Relevant article types include Original Research, Brief Research Reports, Clinical Trials, Methods papers, Systematic Reviews with or without meta-analysis, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Perspectives, and Hypothesis and Theory articles.

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
• Conceptual Analysis
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• ... 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
• Conceptual Analysis
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Exercise physiology, sports performance, ecological validity, athlete monitoring, wearable technologies, training interventions, recovery and readiness, fatigue management, pacing and decision-making, individual variability

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.