No pain, no gain? Recovery and strenuousness of physical activity.

The present study aimed to advance insight in the role of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) in the recovery process, by focusing on the strenuousness of LTPA. It was proposed that-compared with less strenuous LTPA-more strenuous LTPA would show stronger positive relationships with recovery through higher levels of mental disengagement from stressors resulting from more strenuous LTPA. This hypothesis was examined in two studies, in which...