Athletic Burnouts

Athletes around the world compete in their favored sport of sports for a plethora of reasons. Their motivation to grind everyday for months, or even years on end is often known, but in almost every case there are reasons that are not known, but they are there, and impossible to explain.

When athletes work hard everyday for months on end it can have a serious toll on the mental strength on an athlete. When things aren’t necessarily going to plan during training, or if an injury occurs that sidelines the athlete for a week or more, it is easy for an individual to start doubting their abilities to the point where they dread their workouts fearing completing a workout under par. This escalates to the point where the athlete dreads doing anything that has to do with their sport.

This terrifying event is called the burnout. Millions of athletes around the around the globe each year face the challenges of overcoming, or being stopped in their tracks by a burnout. Athletes who experience a burnout phase have often been competing in their favored sports for many years. From someone who swam for ten years of their life starting in kindergarten, things can get old. For example Michael Jordan, who quit the game of basketball for two years after experiencing a burnout. Many athletes reach a plateau in their careers where they seem to not be getting any stronger, faster, or better. This can cause the athlete to think they have done everything they can do in their “favored” sport.

Another common feeling, or in this case event contributing to burning out is injury. Almost every athlete in their pro, or amateur career experiences an injury that sits them out of the sport they love for weeks or more. This can be very spirit breaking, especially when the athlete experiences the same injury more than once and when the athlete sees the effect on their performance when they finally return to competition. Recurring injuries can have a major toll on the athlete’s mind and they can begin to believe that because of the constant pain that they are not meant to play that sport. Along with their belief, another reason why injury causes burnout is that when the athlete is on the sidelines for weeks at a time they often do not want to be there. They don’t want to watch their teammates play and have fun doing something they at this point, used to love.

Burnout is a serious issue in many athletes of any age. The symptoms and events that cause burnout can set in at anytime and often unsuspectedly. You can reverse the symptoms of the dreaded burnout, though. When you feel yourself not enjoying the sport as much think back to why you first started playing the sport, why you fell in love with at one point in time, and why you are falling out of love with the sport. When you think about these things it often restores the feeling of competitiveness and love that you once had. And if that plan of action does not work, take a break. In many cases your body and your mind just needs time to rest and recover. When your physical and mental health has recovered, you have realized what your life is like without your sports, and more often than not you want to come back.

It is true, athletes can learn to hate their sports after years and years of working hard everyday. When this happens it can be a terrible feeling, but with the right strategies you can reverse the process and fall back in love with something you once couldn’t imagine yourself not doing.