The influence of a weekend with passive rest on the psychological and autonomic recovery in professional male handball players

This study aimed to examine the influence of a weekend of passive rest on the perceived stress and heart rate variability (HRV) in professional handball players. Fourteen elite athletes participated in the study (age 26.0±4.6 years; body mass 89.0±10.1 kg; body height 186.5±7.2 cm; practice 12.5±6.0 years). Stress symptoms via the Daily Analysis of Life Demands for Athletes (DALDA) questionnaire, time and frequency-domain to HRV indices were measured on Friday morning of a normal training load week and again after 72 hours of passive recovery. In response to the weekend without a scheduled match, the handball players significantly reduced their DALDA 'worse than normal' responses from 6.1±3.8 to 3.4±2.5 (ES 0.85). Further, changes in the root-mean-square difference of successive normal RR intervals (RMSSD) and standard deviation of all normal RR intervals (SDNN) were greater than the smallest worthwhile change over the weekend. These results highlight the positive role of a passive rest weekend for the psychological and autonomic recovery that should be considered during athletic training periodization