Main description:

This book offers a thorough and accessible look into the importance of recovery in both staying healthy and performing well, and highlights the detrimental effects of underrecovery on physical and mental health. Internationally renowned experts from psychology, physiology, sport medicine, health, and sport science offer interdisciplinary analysis of the effects of underrecovery as well as the use of applied intervention and prevention strategies.

Over the last few decades, research in sports has provided numerous studies showing the importance of addressing recovery to find recovery-stress balance and build resources that help prevent illness and promote healthy living and well-being. Each chapter of this volume discusses a specific area of recovery, providing a collection of useful and practical lessons athletes and non-athletes can take forward in their training and beyond. Focusing on both research and applied counseling techniques to discuss recovery as an underestimated factor in physical and mental health, the book aims to enlighten readers on ways to incorporate recovery into their everyday lives to reduce stress and prevent injury.

The book is written for the scientific community, applied health scientists, students, and interested readers. It draws on experiences and scientific findings from the field of sport to make them usable for an expanded understanding of recovery in the field of health and related areas such as the workplace.

Contents:

1. The importance of recovery: A long time neglected crucial concept for health and performance

Sarah Jakowski, Jahan Heidari, and Michael Kellmann

2. Recovery and its impact on health

Kristen Dieffenbach

3. Recovery and stress reactivity

K. Wolfgang Kallus

4. Self-regulation of recovery

Jurgen Beckmann

5. Underrecovery in elite athletes: Antecedents, implications, and prevention strategies

Leslie Podlog, Cristiana Conti, Selenia di Fronso, and Maurizio Bertollo

6. Quality of life and recovery

Tsz Lun (Alan) Chu, Robert J. Harmison, and Scott B. Martin

7. Resilience and recovery processes in sports

Varley Teoldo Costa, Franco Noce, Camila Cristina Fonseca Bicalho, and Guilherme de Sousa Pinheiro

8. Recovery and the immune system

Simon Haunhorst, Wilhelm Bloch, and Christian Puta

9. Sleep to heal and restore: The role of sleep in the recovery and regeneration process

Sarah Jakowski, Asja Kiel, Lisa Kullik, and Daniel Erlacher

10. Physical activity as recovery resource for mental health in young people

Asaduzzaman Khan and Nicola W. Burton

11. Physical activity as recovery resource for mental health in adults

Nicola W. Burton and Asaduzzaman Khan

12. Impact of long COVID on recovery in sport and exercise

Simon Haunhorst, Wilhelm Bloch, and Christian Puta

13. The challenge of school and participation in elite sports: Implications for the prevention of stress and mental health issues

Markus Gerber

14. Exercise stress and recovery in active ageing individuals and masters athletes

Peter R. Reaburn and John F. T. Fernandes

15. Concluding discussion: Recovery is more than just healing. Advocating a broader perspective on recovery in physical and mental health

Jurgen Beckmann, Michael Kellmann, and Sarah Jakowski