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A Simple Tip For When You're Stressed
This is a fantastic tip from Touch For Health to help you when you're stressed, angry, anxious or upset. Try holding your frontal eminences. These are bumps on your forehead that many people hold instinctively when they're upset.
For those of you...
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Life After Gymnastics - Is There One?
Gymnastics Olympics Champions From 1988-2004 Here are the men’s and women’s all-around champions from the last five Olympic Games -- these are just brief biographies, but they surely give you an idea of your gymnast’s potential. 2004 Paul Hamm,...
Stabilizing the Core to Eliminate Low-Back Pain
Stabilizing the Core to Eliminate Low-Back Pain By Rich Lauro MAT, MES, PRS This is the first article of a series of articles to follow. In this article I will be addressing one of the main core stabilizing muscles of the lumbar spine and its role...
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CHICAGO (July 2005) – The Westin Chicago River North, located on the bank of the Chicago River in the heart of the business and theater district, announced that it is now offering local memberships to its WestinWORKOUT Powered by Reebok® health...
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Athlete Burnout
This past month, as high schools and colleges kicked off their fall sports schedule, newspapers and magazines are reporting athletes calling it quits, and dropping out of sports that they perform well in. It happens every year at this time. The notable stories are the ones where an all-star quits mid-season citing that he is tired and doesn't enjoy the grind any longer (this at age 17). The stories rarely mention the guys who quit week after week who trudge on the sidelines.
So what does athlete burnout look like?
Much like burnout in the general public, athletes experience similar psychological symptoms: sleep disturbance, lack of confidence, irritability, exhaustion, anger and hostility. Physical symptoms might include: Elevated blood pressure, unexplained weight loss, and gastrointestinal disorders.
The symptoms will build until the athlete's performance deteriorates, his/her motivation has plummeted, or until he/she quits participating altogether.
There are unique qualities about competitive athletes that make them more susceptible to burnout. First, many athletes are perfectionists and demand continued improvement from themselves and their teammates, adding to their personal stress. Second, many athletes are people-pleasers; they like to be admired and like to be noticed, and will do whatever it takes to make this happen. They often do this at the expense of their own personal needs. It is exhausting to please people day in and day out.
My earlier research discovered links between burnout and intrinsic motivation. The more intrinsically motivated an individual, the less likely they
will suffer from burnout. Participating in sports for extrinsic awards and adulation rather than for the pure joy of the sport can contribute to the burnout syndrome.
Further, a key to understanding intrinsic motivation is to look at the relationship between the challenges and skills of the athlete. If the athlete's skills are greater than the challenges, boredom may arise; if the challenges are greater than the skills, anxiety may ensue. In either case, burnout is a possibility.
How do you prevent burnout in athletes? Here are several hints:
Emphasize intrinsic qualities of the sport- health and fitness, mental health, and personal satisfaction are great reasons for being involved in athletics.
Keep a balance between the challenges and skills by watching pace of instruction and improvement. Good coaching recognizes the need for skill appropriate challenges.
Vary experiences and workouts to avoid monotony.
Athletics are part of a balanced life- make sure there is a life outside of sports.
Provide for adequate rest and relaxation-it is a necessary antidote to the feelings of burnout.
About The Author:
Mike Stanton-Rich is "The Leisure Guy." Armed with a Ph.D. in Leisure Studies and years studying stress and burnout, he writes regular articles and features about enhancing work and leisure. Catch his latest at: http://www.theleisureguy.com
Copyright Mike Stanton-Rich - http://www.theleisureguy.com
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