ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on domestic and international travel in athletes to highlight both the consequences of travel on performance and recovery, whilst outlining strategies to ensure optimal post-flight performance. Short-haul domestic and international air travel is one of a myriad of factors purported to affect match outcome and the tendency for teams to perform better at home compared to away. Current data on the performance capacity and timeline of recovery for athletes following long-haul travel is mixed and confusing. The demands of long-haul transmeridian air travel, combined with the detrimental consequences of jet lag, may induce adverse physiological, perceptual and sleep responses and in turn suppress physical performance. Travel is an unavoidable stress for many high-performance athletes, whether it consists of regular short-haul or occasional long-haul travel. Accordingly, the ability to tolerate and recover from air travel is potentially important for ensuing training or competition success.
