Optimizing Athlete Travel for Performance: A Scientific Blueprint for Athletes, Coaches, and Sports Medicine Staff

Abstract

Travel is an integral component of modern sports, with athletes frequently crossing timezones for competition. This travel introduces challenges that can impact both recovery and athletic performance. As more athletes and teams travel for competition, it is increasingly important to understand ways to mitigate common travel-related issues such as jet lag, travel fatigue, and sleep disturbances. Specific strategies to adapt to new timezones including managing light exposure, ensuring proper hydration and fueling, determining appropriate travel times, utilizing supplements and maintaining sleep consistency should be addressed. Additional considerations include the potential impact of other environmental factors, such as adapting to heat or altitude, when combined with traveling. In this narrative review, we focus on long-haul travel, where circadian misalignment and jet lag are most pronounced, and provide a scientific blueprint of how to minimize the impacts of travel on athletes with the goal of helping athletes, coaches, and sports medicine staff to develop a practical framework to enhance recovery and athletic performance amidst travel-related obstacles.