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Post-Exercise Recovery Strategies in Basketball: Practical Applications Based on Scientific Evidence

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Basketball Sports Medicine and Science

Abstract

Basketball can be described as a moderate- to long-duration exercise including repeated bouts of high-intensity activity interspersed with periods of low to moderate active recovery or passive rest. Basketball games are characterized by repeated explosive activities, such as sprints, jumps, shuffles, and rapid changes in direction. In top-level modern basketball, players are frequently required to play consecutive games with limited time to recover. To ensure adequate recovery from basketball-specific activities, it is necessary to know the type of fatigue induced and if possible its underlying mechanisms. Recovery strategies are commonly utilized in basketball despite limited scientific evidence to support their effectiveness in facilitating optimal recovery. It is particularly important to optimize recovery because players spend a much greater proportion of their time recovering than they do in training. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to distribute useful information for practical application, based on the scientific evidence and applied knowledge in basketball.

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Huyghe, T., Calleja-Gonzalez, J., Terrados, N. (2020). Post-Exercise Recovery Strategies in Basketball: Practical Applications Based on Scientific Evidence. In: Laver, L., Kocaoglu, B., Cole, B., Arundale, A.J.H., Bytomski, J., Amendola, A. (eds) Basketball Sports Medicine and Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-61070-1_63

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