{
  "abstract": "In elite level sport, success in tournaments is often determined not only by athlete skill and strategy but also by the capacity to tolerate and recover from the cumulative musculoskeletal stresses of condensed competition schedules. Modern tournaments frequently require athletes to perform multiple high-intensity matches or events in rapid succession, sometimes with less than 48-hour recovery. These compressed schedules impose substantial physiological, mechanical and cognitive loads. Research in elite team sports shows that when several matches are played within a short timeframe, athletes experience marked spikes in stress hormones (eg, cortisol) and inflammatory markers (eg, interleukin-6), alongside evidence of muscle damage.1 As fatigue accumulates and recovery time is curtailed, the balance between muscle breakdown and repair tilts towards a more catabolic state, potentially compromising tissue recovery and leaving players more susceptible to injury. Consequently, injury risk tends to rise during congested fixture periods. A recent systematic review of professional football reported significantly higher match injury incidence when players had fewer than 4 days of rest between games.2 Similarly, research on elite footballers found that those with higher match workloads and long travel commitments had increased odds of injury, reinforcing concerns that insufficient recovery is a key contributor to injuries in back-to-back competitions.3 These findings provide strong evidence that the ‘playing through’ mentality of tournament sport must be balanced with effective recovery strategies to protect athletes’ health.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Worcester, Worcester, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Christopher James Holland"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Kirsten Wing"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Musculoskeletal health in condensed tournament schedules: a sports therapy perspective",
  "uid": "3066cdd1-61d8-58a4-853e-f1358e166a55"
}