Science
The research the BLOCKS assistant answers from: 1,118 studies and 81 guides, each graded for how strong the evidence is and who it was measured on, with a link to the original paper.
92 entries in Sleep, recovery & monitoring
B+The "dark side" of general health and fitness-related self-service technologies: A systematic review of the literature and directions for future researchChen H 2024C+Wearable technology for athletes: Information overload and pseudoscience?Halson SL 2016APlacebo and nocebo effects on sports and exercise performance: A systematic literature review updateChhabra B & Szabo A 2024C+The tale of orthosomnia: I am so good at sleeping that I can do it with my eyes closed and my fitness tracker on meJahrami H 2023B+Prevalence of orthosomnia in a general population sample: A cross-sectional studyJahrami H 2024C+Orthosomnia: Are some patients taking the quantified self too far?Baron KG 2017A-Placebo sleep affects cognitive functioningDraganich C & Erdal K 2014A-Sham sleep feedback delivered via actigraphy biases daytime symptom reports in people with insomnia: Implications for insomnia disorder and wearable devicesGavriloff D 2018C+Making sense of wearables dataAltini M 2024BLess is more — Cyclists-triathletes' 30 min cycling time-trial performance is impaired with multiple feedback compared to a single feedbackBayne F 2020B+Cycling in the absence of task-related feedback: Effects on pacing and performanceSmits BLM 2016BThe double-edged sword of self-tracking: investigating factors of technostress in performance-oriented cycling and triathlonWerner M & Bischof A 2024C+Mechanisms of decreased motoneurone excitation during passive muscle stretching: H-reflex falls 25% at a small stretch and about 54% at a larger one, and recovers as soon as the joint returns to neutralGuissard 2001C+Unraveling the Mechanisms of Manual Therapy: Modeling an ApproachMechanical force triggers systemic neurophysiological pain inhibition; overall treatment effects are smallBialosky 2021C+Does electrical stimulation enhance post-exercise performance recovery? Brief review: low-frequency NMES mimics active recovery, but evidence for physiological or soreness benefit is limitedBabault 2014ACompression Garments and Recovery from Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: two meta-analyses (Hill 2014; Brown 2017)Hill 2017B+Water immersion for recovery: cold works, 10-15 °C for 5-15 min is the protocol, and whether hot or thermoneutral water does anything at all is genuinely unknown rather than known to be uselessVersey 2013AAn Evidence-Based Approach for Choosing Post-Exercise Recovery Techniques to Reduce Markers of Muscle Damage, Soreness, Fatigue, and Inflammation: A Systematic Review With Meta-AnalysisDupuy 2018BIntermittent-Sprint Performance and Muscle Glycogen after 30 h of Sleep DeprivationIn 10 team-sport athletes a sleepless night slowed sprints (2.78 vs 2.74 s), cut self-paced distance, lowered muscle glycogen (209 vs 274 mmol/kg dw) and voluntary force/activation, and worsened…Skein 2015A-Hold-relax and contract-relax (PNF) stretching for hamstrings flexibility: large immediate gains versus no intervention, conflicting results versus static stretchingSystematic review with meta-analysisCayco 2019A-Six weeks of static stretching increased ankle range of motion without changing muscle or tendon stiffness, fascicle length, passive torque or strengthThe gain is stretch tolerance, not tissueKonrad & Tilp 2018BRoller-Massager Application to the Hamstrings Increases Sit-and-Reach Range of Motion Within Five to Ten Seconds Without Performance ImpairmentsSullivan 2017C+Percussive massage: the one verified study shows more bench-press repetitions before a velocity-loss cut-off; the range-of-motion and stiffness claims are unverifiedKonrad 2021AA Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Foam Rolling on Performance and RecoveryWiewelhove 2019A-Effects of foam rolling on performance and recovery: A systematic review of the literature to guide practitioners on the use of foam rollingHendricks 2020CAcute:Chronic Workload Ratio (ACWR)Originally proposed, now without supporting evidence for injury managementImpellizzeri 2020BWearable device validation for sleep and night-time HR/HRVSix devices vs polysomnography/ECG in 53 healthy adults: sleep/wake agreement 86-89%, sleep-stage agreement only 50-65% (κ 0.20-0.52)Miller 2022BDaily HRV trends and their coefficient of variation: athletes with lower fitness or higher perceived fatigue show larger lnRMSSD reductions under high training loadFlatt 2017BTraining Prescription Guided by Heart-Rate Variability in Cycling17 well-trained cyclists, 8 weeks: the HRV-guided group improved peak power (+5.1%), power at VT2 (+13.9%) and 40-min TT (+7.3%) while the traditional group did not, but the between-group difference…Javaloyes 2019B+Training adaptation and heart rate variability in elite endurance athletes: opening the door to effective monitoringPlews 2013BThe effect of repetitive exercise on tensile changes in the infraspinatus muscle evaluated with ultrasound elastographyIn 10 healthy subjects, infraspinatus strain went 0.5 (baseline) → 0.7 immediately after a standardized exercise bout → 0.6 at day 1 → 0.4 at day 2: stiffness took up to 48 h to return within 10% of…Coale AT 2025BMechanical loading and fatigue-induced changes in triceps surae muscle-tendon unit: sex-specific responses and recovery dynamicsAfter standing calf raises to exhaustion in 22 active adults, peak torque fell and MTU passive stiffness rose immediately, then stiffness decreased by 24 h while contractility had only partly…Salatkaitė-Urbonė S 2026BDiurnal variations in the expression of core-clock genes correlate with resting muscle properties and predict fluctuations in exercise performance across the dayIn 21 healthy adults, exercise performance peaked in the late afternoon (15-18 h), resting muscle tone (MyotonPRO) varied across the day, and HIGHER tone went with BETTER performance; core-clock gene…Basti A 2021B+Effects of a Manual Treatment on Lumbar Microcirculation and Tissue Stiffness Following Submaximal Eccentric Trunk Extensor Exercise: A Randomized Controlled TrialIn 21 trained adults, submaximal eccentric trunk extension that caused NO soreness still raised erector spinae stiffness at 24 h (+0.875 m/s) and 48 h (+0.869 m/s); myofascial release lowered it…Brandl A 2024B+Multiple cryosauna sessions for post-exercise recovery of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS): a randomized control trialFour −110 °C sessions after 10 × 10 jumps lowered leukocytes (24-72 h) and creatine kinase (24-96 h) versus control; within the cryo group stiffness still rose at 48 h (and at 72 h in two muscles)…Wolska B 2023BThe Time-Course of Hamstring Muscle Passive Stiffness and Perceived Tightness After Strenuous ExerciseAfter prone leg curls to exhaustion in 24 subjects, semitendinosus stiffness peaked at 48 h (+9.7%) and was back to baseline at 96 h, while perceived hamstring tightness peaked at 24 h: feel and…Pieters D 2025BChange in skeletal muscle stiffness after running competition is dependent on both running distance and recovery time: a pilot studySWE of 8 leg muscles in 22 runners before and after races of 3-5, 10-13 or 26+ miles: 67% of muscles trended SOFTER immediately after the race; race distance affected biceps femoris, vastus lateralis…Sadeghi S 2018BAssessing the Recovery of Muscle Fatigue Using Shear Wave ElastographyAfter eccentric elbow flexion at 90% 1RM in 35 athletes and 16 non-athletes, passive shear modulus rose immediately and was back to baseline by 48 h in male athletes and non-athlete males; there was…Cheng R 2026BSkeletal Muscle Elastic Modulus in Marathon Distance RunnersIn 80 runners at a World Marathon Major, pre-race rectus femoris stiffness was LOWER in competitive than recreational runners (13.0 vs 15.6 kPa) and in the fastest than the slowest finishers (11.6 vs…Winn BJ 2025BEffects of Maximal Eccentric Exercise on Deep Fascia Stiffness of the Knee Flexors: A Pilot Study using Shear-Wave ElastographyAfter 6 × 10 maximal eccentric knee flexions in 19 active men, biceps femoris MUSCLE stiffness did not change but the overlying deep FASCIA stiffened (median 18 → 21.12 kPa at 24 h, 21.3 kPa at 72…Wilke J 2022