Objective: This review aims to identify, appraise, and synthesize studies reporting the relationship between mindfulness and athlete burnout and the effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on athlete burnout. Methods: Studies were identified through searching six electronic databases using combinations of three groups of keywords and manual search. Two independent reviewers screened the searched studies, extracted data of the included studies, and assessed the study quality. The extracted data were synthesized qualitatively and quantitatively. Results: Ten studies consisting of two controlled trials, six surveys, and two interview studies met the inclusion criteria. The two controlled trials had weak methodological quality, and the remaining studies were of moderate to high research quality. Results of controlled trials and interview research generally showed that MBIs had positive effects in burnout prevention. Meta-analytic results indicated a negative association between mindfulness and burnout. Conclusions: There is some evidence showing that mindfulness was negatively associated with athlete burnout. However, given the small number of interventions and qualitative studies, there is limited evidence on whether MBIs are useful in preventing athlete burnout. More studies are needed to corroborate these findings.

Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) as a psychological treatment is adopted in the sports field, but its effect during competition has not been explored. This study investigated the acute effect of a brief MBI on athletes’ cognitive function after a 45-min, lab-based soccer protocol. In a single-blind randomized counter-balanced crossover design, 17 male soccer players completed two main trials—an MBI trial and a control trial. The MBI trial was provided with a brief MBI after 45-min exercise; the control trial was instead assigned a travel-related audio to listen to at that time. In each main trial, cognitive function (i.e., Stroop task for inhibition; Corsi-block tapping task for working memory), salivary cortisol, blood lactate and mental fatigue were measured at baseline (pretest) and after the intervention (posttest). The cerebral oxygenation status was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy during the cognitive function test. The brief MBI improved working memory performance in terms of both reaction time (pre vs. post, P = 0.02, d = 0.71) and accuracy (pre vs. post, P = 0.009, d = 0.58), supported by eliciting increased oxyhemoglobin concentration in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Whereas a slightly better cognitive performance for MBI trial than control trial at posttest (P = 0.37, d = 0.32) accompanied by a lower oxyhemoglobin concentration. A lower mental fatigue level (P = 0.05, d = 0.6) and lower cortisol concentration (P = 0.04, d = 0.65) were observed in the MBI trial than in the control trial after the intervention at posttest. The decreased cortisol concentration correlated with increased inhibition performance in the MBI trial. The acute effect of MBI on athletes’ mental fatigue and cortisol concentration was detected, and the beneficial effect on working memory was preliminarily supported. In general, MBI is recommended to be adopted at half-time of a soccer game.

Background: This field experiment investigated the acute effects of brief mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) coupled with carbohydrate (CHO) intake on players’ recovery from half-time break in a simulated soccer competition. Methods: In a single-blinded randomized crossover experiment, 14 male players received 3 treatments (Control: non-carbohydrate solution + travelling introduction audio; CHO: CHO–electrolyte solution + travelling introduction audio; and CHO_M: CHO–electrolyte solution + MBI) during simulated half-time breaks. Vertical jump, sprint performance, mindfulness level, rate of perceived exertion, muscle pain, mental fatigue, blood glucose, and lactate were measured immediately before, during, and after the exercise. Results: (1) MBI significantly increased participants’ mindfulness level (Control vs. CHO_M, p < 0.01; CHO vs. CHO_M, p < 0.01) and decreased mental fatigue for CHO_M condition (pre vs. post, p < 0.01); (2) participants in the CHO_M condition performed better in the repeated sprint tests than in the Control and CHO condition (Control vs. CHO_M, p = 0.02; CHO vs. CHO_M, p = 0.02). Conclusion: Findings of this study provide preliminary evidence of the positive effect of MBI coupled with CHO ingestion on athletes’ recovery from fatigue in the early stage of the second half of a game.

Cognitive function is essential for most behaviors of daily living and is a critical component in assessing the quality of life. Mounting prospective evidence supports the use of isometric handgrip exercise (IHE) as a small muscle mass practice to promote health-related outcomes in clinical and healthy populations. The aim of the present review was to systematically investigate whether IHE is effective in improving the cognitive function of adults (aged ≥18 years). Studies were identified by searching five databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, PsychINFO, and Web of Science). Eight out of 767 studies met the inclusion criteria, including three types of studies: 1) acute effect for IHE with various intensity protocols (n = 4); 2) acute effect for IHE with one set exhaustion protocol (n = 2); and 3) chronic effect of IHE on cognitive function (n = 2). To assess the methodological quality of studies, the PEDro scale was used (mean score = 6.75). The evidence on whether IHE exerts acute positive effects on cognitive performance is currently rather inconclusive. However, a trend was discernible that implementing IHE can generate a beneficial chronic effect on cognitive function, although the results should be interpreted with caution. The clinical relevance of IHE as a time-efficient type of physical exercise to improve cognitive function warrants further investigation. Methodology and safety considerations were discussed.Systematic Review Registration: (https://osf.io/gbzp9).