Il Burnout phenomenon consists of a particular condition of extreme stress, that the athlete experiences when he feels an imbalance between the demands of the environment and the resources he has available.
Why is this syndrome still so little known and underestimated in sports? Let's find out together!
Index
What is burnout?
Il the term burnout arises in the work context, in reference to all those professions that involve contacts with other people, such as the health and education professions, but in recent years it has also been applied to other areas, such as sports.
Burnout in athletes is characterized by:
- Physical and psychological exhaustion
- Reduction of the sense of accomplishment
- Reduction of performance and devaluation towards sport
- athletes, especially agonists, are subjected to continuous psycho-physical stress due to competitions, of overtraining, of competitions, of judgments and they need constant energy and resources to cope with all this.
Sports burnout syndrome causes
The burnout syndrome can occur at any age and for any type of sport you practice; the most common causes are:
- Coach, teammates and family: the athlete must maintain a good relationship with all the people who revolve around him; otherwise, the risk of burnout is very high.
If the parents or the coach have too many demands and put pressure, if the companions tend to exclude and underestimate, if the friends and relatives do not give the right support, it is really easy to face burnout for the athlete. - Athlete personality: the genetic predisposition and the character of the athlete affect the chances of developing burnout; subjects with weaker, suggestible and touchy characters are more likely to develop stress, as well as highly perfectionist subjects, who if they do not achieve the desired results feel excessive discomfort
- Career: the sporting career is strongly linked to age and has a much shorter duration than the standard working professions, so it is necessary to try to reach high levels in a short time; this obviously can be a source of great stress for athletes
- Accidents: In all sports, athletes are constantly at risk of suffering injuries that could cause a long hiatus from their career or a permanent stop.
Sports burnout protective factors
To prevent burnout, there are guidelines that athletes, family members and coaches should follow:
- Making training fun and challenging: regardless of the athlete's age, the moment of training should never be experienced with stress and anxiety; it is the task of the coach or athletic trainer, together with the athlete, to create a favorable environment for training, stimulating and fun
- Teaching awareness of your body's signals: the coach must know how to teach the athlete to manage rests and understand when he can push harder or when a break is needed; in addition, the athlete must always inform his coach of any signal the physical communicates to him, from injuries to psychological discomfort
- Proper Problem Management: the athlete must maintain a good relationship with family members, teammates and the coach; in case of relational problems it is good to talk about it and try to contact external figures such as psychologists for extra help
- Focus on personal improvement rather than results.
Have you ever experienced Burnout Syndrome? Let us know in the comments!