How to Help Athletes Get the Mental Rest Needed to Perform Well and Stay Healthy

Abstract Mental rest appears critical to sustained high performance in sports and other human performance contexts. We draw on the developing science of mental rest to provide a useful guide for practitioners about how athletes and other performers can obtain the mental rest they need. We describe why mental rest is important for recovery and skill learning in athletes and how athletes obtain mental rest by engaging in sleep and resting while awake, known as wakeful resting. We also provide strategies that enable athletes to obtain more sleep and wakeful resting, and present tools for monitoring athletes’ mental rest.