Recovery strategies to improve the performance of martial arts athletes

The research focuses on the importance of recovery in taekwondo, an Olympic combat sport characterised by intense physical exertion and quick responses. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of different recovery strategies, including Partial Body Cryotherapy (PBC), Cold Water Immersion (CWI), and Foam Rolling (FR), on physiological, physical, and psychological aspects in elite Latvian and Polish taekwondo athletes. Taekwondo athletes face substantial physiological and psychological stress, making recovery essential for peak performance, especially during rapid, repeated combat sessions. The research objectives include validating and adapting the Recovery Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport-36) to assess psychological recovery and stress levels, investigating the physiological measures induced by recovery strategies, evaluating the psychological effects of these strategies, and establishing the most effective recovery strategy. The scientific novelty lies in directly comparing physiological and psychological results to assess the effectiveness of different recovery strategies in elite taekwondo athletes. The study involves 40 athletes from Latvia and Poland, with interventions such as PBC, CWI, FR, and a control group. Physiological measures include muscle soreness, saliva markers of muscle damage, and heart rate variability, while psychological aspects are assessed using the RESTQ-S-36 questionnaire and the Determination Test.