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Physiological Reserve

How much capacity remains beyond everyday needs?

Physiological reserve generally refers to capacity a system can call on beyond ordinary demands. Different organs and functions have their own reserves; these should not be treated as one universal “body battery”.

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01

Capacity beyond everyday demand

Physical-resilience research discusses physiological reserve as capacity that may contribute to a response to a stressor. Reserve is one part of this account, not a direct observation of recovery itself.[1]

02

Capacity and performance

Available capacity and what happens after a disturbance are related questions. The distinction helps explain why reserve and resilience are not interchangeable terms.[1]

03

Avoid the single-battery metaphor

This project does not calculate a whole-body reserve score. A useful account needs to identify the system, the task and the measurement, rather than infer reserve from a general feeling of energy.

Reserve and resilience are related. Reserve concerns available capacity; resilience also concerns performance after a disturbance.
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Features

Recovery Is Not Rest

What does it actually mean to recover? From stopping an activity to observing how function changes over time.

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Core reading

  1. Physical Resilience in Older Adults: Systematic Review and Development of an Emerging Construct ↗

    Heather E. Whitson · Wei Duan-Porter · Kenneth E. Schmader · Miriam C. Morey · Harvey J. Cohen · Cathleen S. Colón-Emeric
    The Journals of Gerontology: Series A · 2016

    Study record & citations
  2. Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators ↗

    Bruce S. McEwen
    New England Journal of Medicine · 1998

    Study record & citations
Editorial & review record
Content typeScientific concept
Last updatedv0.1 · Editorial draft

An author and scientific reviewer have not yet been appointed. Names and dates will be published when the work is completed.

Founded and supported by Resilio.

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Where to go next.

RecoveryRegaining capacity after a disturbance.ResilienceThe capacity to adapt and recover in the face of change.Allostatic LoadRepeated adaptation may carry a cost.

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FoundationsLoadFoundationsAllostasisFoundationsAllostatic LoadFoundationsRecoveryFoundationsPhysiological ReserveFoundationsResilienceFeaturesAllostatic Load: The Hidden Cost of AdaptationFeaturesRecovery Is Not RestMethods & projectEvidence grading & methodsMethods & projectEditorial & scientific standardsMethods & projectAbout the projectResearch · 1993Stress and the individual. Mechanisms leading to diseaseResearch · 1998Protective and damaging effects of stress mediatorsResearch · 2003The cumulative cost of additional wakefulness: dose-response effects on neurobehavioral functions and sleep physiology from chronic sleep restriction and total sleep deprivationResearch · 2010Greater cardiovascular responses to laboratory mental stress are associated with poor subsequent cardiovascular risk status: a meta-analysis of prospective evidenceResearch · 2011Stress- and Allostasis-Induced Brain PlasticityResearch · 2012Allostasis: a model of predictive regulationResearch · 2015Recovery from job stress: The stressor-detachment model as an integrative frameworkResearch · 2016Physical Resilience in Older Adults: Systematic Review and Development of an Emerging ConstructResearch · 2017A Meta-Analysis on Antecedents and Outcomes of Detachment from WorkResearch · 2018Recovery and Performance in Sport: Consensus StatementResearch · 2022Allostatic Load Measurement: A Systematic Review of Reviews, Database Inventory, and Considerations for Neighborhood Research