Also known as: recovery day, light movement day
Strongest in Recency (87). Held back by Sample size (42).
Solid mix of RCTs with some methodological gaps.
Some independent replication, statistical precision uneven.
Hundreds of participants; meaningful but not large.
Mostly aligned, with some divergence.
Most studies are recent (last 2-3 years).
No per-outcome numbers yet for this one. Each finding's direction and strength is shown in the research below.
Areas where research points to a consistent direction of effect. The strength of evidence is graded; the size of the effect is not quantified.
Low-intensity movement on rest days to promote blood flow, reduce soreness, and maintain mobility.
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Cold-water immersion is more effective than active recovery for most recovery outcomes following acute strenuous exercise.
No modality outperformed passive recovery for sport-specific performance across 11 trials (I-squared 0%); intervals for compression garments, active recovery and electrical stimulation exclude clinically important effects in both directions.
Heart rate and blood lactate responses during HIIT were similar with and without motivational cues, indicating equivalent physiological workloads.
In patients with acute coronary syndrome, HRV-guided exercise training increased peak oxygen uptake by 2.1 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹ over 3 months of 3 aerobic sessions per week.
Exercising before the Portuguese lesson was associated with moderately better recognition memory on Day 1 (d=0.51) compared to control; not statistically significant.