Yoga-Based Recovery in Athletes: A Narrative Review of Autonomic Regulation, Psychological Well-being, Sleep and Physical Performance

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Recovery is an essential component of athletic training, supporting the restoration of physiological and psychological function between exercise bouts. Yoga combines physical postures, regulated breathing, relaxation, and meditation, and may therefore influence several processes relevant to recovery. This narrative review critically examines published evidence concerning yoga-based interventions in relation to heart rate variability (HRV), perceived recovery and psychological well-being, sleep, biochemical and immune-related markers, and physical performance in athletes and physically active populations. The literature was identified through a non-systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, and Google Scholar, supplemented by examination of relevant reference lists. The most directly relevant post-exercise studies were small: a crossover study involving 20 male athletes, a randomized crossover study involving seven healthy men, and a case study involving two elite karate athletes. These studies provide preliminary findings concerning selected autonomic, immune-related, and subjective recovery outcomes, but their small samples and differing populations and protocols limit generalization. Other studies report changes in psychological measures, flexibility, balance, and muscular functioning; these outcomes may be relevant to athlete preparation but should not be interpreted as direct evidence of faster post-exercise recovery. Evidence concerning biochemical recovery, objective sleep outcomes, and long-term recovery in competitive athletes remains limited. The current literature supports considering yoga as a potentially useful complementary practice, but it does not establish yoga as an effective stand-alone or comprehensive athletic recovery intervention. Larger, adequately controlled studies using standardized interventions and multidimensional outcome assessment are required.