In a series of three posts on his Instagram, Sara Sigmundsdottir (@sarasigmunds) told a little about what happened to her during the GAMES of this year.
The first post starts by congratulating at first 5 women who qualified for the final; then explained that the goal was not to justify her bad performance in the first phase, but she wanted to share with everyone what really happened to her.
Index
Sara Sigmundsdottir's injury
For those who missed it, in May of this year the athlete was seriously injured while doing a box jump.
On a normal day of training, Sara accidentally hit her shin against the box and got 12 stitches on her leg! As this happened only a few weeks away from the Rogue Invitational, she did not take the necessary rest and continued to train (finishing in second place in that competition).
However, 8 weeks after the injury was almost completely healed, another incident happened - an infection and a large swelling in her leg. This forced her to have a minor surgery and take lots of antibiotics.
When she was ready to train again, she no longer felt "normal". It was then that her doctor told her that she may have developed a cortisol problem as a result of the infection.
He described the symptoms of primary adrenal insufficiency and she had her life described during that time. A short time later, she took tests and found that her cortisol levels were far too low.
To understand a little more about this topic, we at CrossMag have done some in-depth research:
What does it mean to have low cortisol?
Cortisol, known as the stress hormone, in the world of sports is usually associated with a "bad hormone" because, if in large quantities, it causes catabolism. Its excess leads to reduced GH activity (growth hormone) and testosterone, loss of muscle mass, accumulation of abdominal fat and osteoporosis.
However, it is extremely important for thehomeostasis of the body. It is responsible for controlling stress, reducing inflammation, helps the immune system and keeps blood levels constant cup sugar in the blood and blood pressure. It is thanks to its action that our body is able to respond more adequately and successfully to stressful situations that can threaten its integrity.
For this reason, low cortisol levels are not a good sign. When its production is inadequate, it can lead to conditions such as chronic fatigue with progressive worsening, muscle weakness, muscle and joint pain, dizziness, fever, excessive sweating, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss and hypotension.
Its deficiency can occur due to insufficient production of the adrenal gland (primary adrenal insufficiency - Addison's disease) or from an ectopic secretion of ACTH.
In conclusion…
Good nutrition, adequate rest and periodic training are important factors in maintaining proper cortisol production!
Even if she was not satisfied with the results of the Games, at least Sara is happy to have understood the reason for her discomfort and from now on she can only improve! We hope to see her next year and you?