How Athletes Rest and Recover

Sport Psych Topic in Focus: Rest and Recovery: too often “the forgotten Session”. Rest isn’t just about physical recovery; it involves mentally resting too, but how can you be effective at mental rest? 

• Vary Activities: Break out of the monotonous routine; do something different.
• Vary food: Keep it interesting, rather than repetitive.
• See different places: Change your commute route to work, the gym, the training ground.
• Meet different people: Get out of the sport bubble and speak with those who offer a different perspective – or just conversations which aren't about sports.
• Personal time and freedom of choice: Make sure you decide to engage in activities for you, rather than what others want for you.

If you don’t meet these needs regularly, then you become poorly rested (i.e., emotional and physical exhaustion; reduced cognitive demands; devaluation of sport; mental fatigue), and this eventually leads to overtraining and burnout. However, if you meet these needs, you become well rested (i.e., feeling fresh; high sport value; high enjoyment; high energy; high motivation) and this will lead to athlete engagement and increased development. So, what does this all tell us? Not focusing on sport can actually enhance your performance…

Find the original research here: 

Eccles, D. W., Balk, Y., Gretton, T. W., & Harris, N. (2022). “The forgotten session”: Advancing research and practice concerning the psychology of rest in athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 34(1), 3-24. 

Link to Article

Eccles, D. W., & Kazmier, A. W. (2019). The psychology of rest in athletes: An empirical study and initial model. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 44, 90-98.

Link to Article