title: How Does a Short, Interrupted Recovery Break Affect Performance and How Is It Assessed? A Study on Acute Effects.
abstract: A recovery process with optimal prerequisites that is interrupted is termed disrupted recovery. Whether this process has an influence on performance-related factors needs to be investigated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine how a short disturbance of a recovery phase is assessed and whether subsequent repeated-sprint performance is affected by it. A quasi-experimental 2 × 2-factor crossover design with 34 sport-science undergraduate students (age 20.3 ± 2.1 y) was applied. Factors were the type of intervention (power nap vs systematic breathing; between-subjects) and the experimental condition (disturbed vs nondisturbed break; within-subject). Repeated-sprint performance was measured through 6 × 4-s sprint protocols (with 20-s breaks) before and after a 25-min recovery break on 2 test days. Subjective evaluation of the interventions was measured through the Short Recovery and Stress Scale and a manipulation check assessing whether participants experienced the recovery phase as efficacious and pleasant. Regarding the objective data, no significant difference between sprint performances in terms of average peak velocity (m/s) on the treadmill was found. The manipulation check revealed that disturbed conditions were rated significantly lower than regular conditions in terms of appreciation, t31= 3.09, P = .01. Short disturbances of recovery do not seem to affect subsequent performance; nevertheless, participants assessed disturbed conditions more negatively than regular conditions. In essence, the findings indicate a negligible role of short interruptions on an objective level. Subjectively, they affected the performance-related assessment of the participants and should be treated with caution.
authors.forename: Maximilian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pelka
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrauti
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kellmann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012146:Rest; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: acute recovery; monitoring; power naps; systematic breathing