Nutritional Strategies to Mitigate Muscle Loss During Rehabilitation After Sports Injuries: A Narrative Review

Vollständiger Abstract

Worum geht es in dieser Arbeit?

Sports injuries frequently involve periods of reduced activity, immobilization, or unloading that accelerate skeletal muscle loss and delay functional recovery. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on nutritional strategies to attenuate muscle loss during sports injury rehabilitation using a muscle-centered, phase-informed, and evidence-hierarchical perspective. Current evidence regarding energy availability, protein and amino acid strategies, creatine, and omega-3 fatty acids was qualitatively synthesized alongside current understanding of disuse atrophy, anabolic resistance, injury-related metabolic alterations, and progressive rehabilitation loading. Current evidence suggests that adequate energy availability and sufficient total protein intake represent the primary nutritional priorities for preserving skeletal muscle during rehabilitation. Within this foundation, optimized protein distribution, timing, and selective use of essential amino acids or leucine-enriched approaches may provide additional benefit, whereas creatine and omega-3 fatty acids should be considered context-dependent adjunctive strategies. Because direct evidence in injured athletic populations remains limited, practical recommendations require integration of rehabilitation studies, translational disuse models, and mechanistic evidence. Overall, effective rehabilitation nutrition should be individualized according to rehabilitation phase and integrated with progressive mechanical loading to support muscle preservation, neuromuscular recovery, functional performance, and return-to-sport readiness. The proposed phase-informed and evidence-hierarchical framework provides practical guidance for clinicians while identifying priorities for future rehabilitation nutrition research.