How chronic stress is derailing student athlete recovery and 3 things we can do to improve it.

A 5 minute read...with a Freebie at the end.

If you grew up playing sports like I did, ‘recovery’ meant a weak attempt at stretching after practice. We might remember circle up together on the gym floor and make a haphazard attempt to reach our toes. It wasn’t pretty.?

Today, recovery is more talked about as we have begun to recognize its impact on athlete health and wellness and injury prevention. In some more elite programs it might include some yoga, rolling sessions and an emphasis on sleep. It certainly is better now than it used to be.?

But the truth is we are still just scratching the surface of the importance of recovery for student athletes growing up in today’s fast paced world.?

Because it’s not just sport they are recovering from.?

If you are reading this then you probably know that I talk a lot about student athletes, health and nutrition.?

If you enjoy this kind of conversation, follow along at Diane Johnson

Now, usually I would talk about recovery in relation to nutrition, which is also a huge piece that is not considered enough. Today however, I’m going somewhere different with this article (even though all of this stuff actually works together).?

It’s been 13 years now that I’ve been helping student athletes understand and use nutrition and I can confidently tell you that student athletes are some of the busiest, hardest working and most STRESSED OUT people that I know.?

(Head over to GUTS: Evolving Student Athlete Nutrition if you want to see how we are helping student athletes with their use and understanding of nutrition).

A busy student athlete's schedule can easily be as hectic as some top executives in the business world. The challenge for student athletes is that they don't yet have all the tools they need to thrive in that kind of busy lifestyle. Between school, sport, work and other activities, many are running from dusk till dawn. At the same time they are in the midst of the rapid stages of growth and development with their body’s changing so fast it's hard for them to develop any kind of stress management or self care strategies. Time management is still something that they are learning and they don't have the luxury of a team of assistants working to help them get everything done.

Add to this the pressures that they feel to perform well in school and sport, relationships, social dynamics, constant stimulation from technology and loads of comparison and self-criticism, what you have here is a recipe for disease.

It's CHRONIC STRESS.?

In addition to increasing the likelihood of health issues down the road, the chronic stress that so many student athletes are experiencing can specifically have a significant negative impact on their ability to recover and can increase their risk of injury in several ways.?

1) Chronic stress can impair the immune system, making student-athletes more vulnerable to illness and injury. In a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researchers found that "student-athletes who experience high levels of stress have a greater incidence of injury and illness and experience longer recovery times" (Hanton et al., 2005).

2) Student-athletes who experience chronic stress may have trouble sleeping, which can impair their recovery and increase their risk of injury. According to a study published in the Journal of Athletic Training, "student-athletes who reported high levels of stress had poorer sleep quality and quantity, which may increase their risk for injury and impair their recovery following injury" (Mah et al., 2019).

3) Chronic stress can lead to reduced motivation and focus among student-athletes, which can negatively impact their performance and increase their risk of injury. According to a study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences, "athletes experiencing high levels of stress report lower levels of motivation and difficulty focusing, which may increase their risk for injury" (Nicholls et al., 2009). When student-athletes are distracted or unmotivated, they may not perform at their best, which can increase their risk of making mistakes or getting injured.

(If you are a student athlete who has struggled with chronic stress and you have a story to share, email me at [email protected]. I'd love to hear your story).

What lies in store for these young athletes down the road when they are chronically stressed as teens and young adults?

• Isn’t sport supposed to be a place that teaches healthy living??
• Recovery requires a relaxed state.
• How are they supposed to ‘recover’ when they are constantly feeling stressed?

Here’s my take on it.?

Most chronic stress starts and ends in the mind.

Student athletes create a lot of stress. They worry about the future and they dwell on the past. These are what we call perceived stressors because in fact, there is no true physical threat in the moment.?

In fact, our brains are so wired to keep us safe, that they can’t recognize the difference between a real threat or a perceived one. The same cascade of hormones take place in the body when any threat is experienced. The same critical body systems needed for resting and digesting (AND RECOVERY) shut down while blood is pushed out of vital organs into the extremities and pressure in the system goes up.?

So when we think of recovery for student athletes, it isn’t just their muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons that we should be focussed on. We must turn our attention to their minds. Because if the mind is resting and relaxed, the body will switch into recovery mode on its own. On the other hand, if the mind is worried, no amount of rolling will relax the nervous system enough for true recovery to take place.?

(Like I said before, usually I talk more about nutrition. If you want to hear my take on recovery with more of a nutrition focus, check out this webinar I hosted a few months back. 4 Keys to Reducing Student Athlete Injury with Nutrition)

Here are 3 critical recovery strategies that belong as foundational pieces in any recovery process or program for student athletes.?

KEEP READING...you are almost to the FREEBIE, which will help you with all of what I'm about to talk about.

1) Mindfulness

This word is becoming almost cliche now-a-days, which to me is really just an indication of how? badly we need it in our lives.?

What being mindful really means is simply ‘choosing to pay attention to something in the moment, on purpose and without judgment.’

(Every try mindful eating? It's one of my favorite ways to introduce mindfulness. Email me at [email protected] for a mindful eating exercise you can share with your atheltes.)

The irony here is that student athletes will know mindfulness well and will have experienced it any time they were hyper focussed in sport. Like when they are skating hard to get to a puck at the end of the ice or when they are in the air ready to attack a volleyball or when they are sprinting to the finish line in a race. In these moments, when nothing else enters their mind, they are already being mindful. They just don’t realize?they are doing it on purpose.??

We can use moments like these to help athletes understand that they already have the capacity to be mindful. If they can do it in a moment in sport, they will be able to extrapolate it into other areas of their life.?

With practice they will be able to use mindfulness to recognize when their thoughts are creating stress. They’ll be able to notice this without judgment and gently guide their thoughts in a new, more calm and positive direction.?

Away from stress.

Mindfulness is one way to drastically reduce chronic stress and improve recovery in sport and life settings.?

(Keep reading until the end of this article for some great activities you can build in to help your athletes practice mindfulness.)

2) Stillness

Student athletes today can find it extremely challenging to be still simply because they NEVER are for more than a few minutes. It feels completely foreign to them. Specifically, this has changed a lot since cell phones became a thing. Every student athlete has a cell phone that dings every few seconds or minutes and they have not learned the ability to choose to react. They just do.?

Part of reducing stress and enhancing recovery is giving the body a chance to be still. It’s that REST and digest piece. And after constant stimulation and movement in body and mind, it can take some time for our bodies to recognize that, yes, this is indeed a time to rest.?The longer we are still, the more our body trusts it can switch into recovery mode.

Because stillness can feel so foreign, it can take student athletes some time to ENJOY stillness. You can help them be more comfortable with it by simply giving them time and space to lie down on the floor at the end of practice. Keep talking to them as your voice will keep them grounded and will provide reassurance to those who feel particularly uncomfortable doing nothing. You can even incorporate some gentle movements of the arms and legs while they rest on the backs that will be soothing for those who are not used to being still.?

With practice, student athletes will look forward to these moments of stillness will and are likely to buy in when you explain the benefits and importance of this piece for recovery.?

(Check out the freebie at the end for some more ways you can incorporate stillness as a recovery tool).

3) Self-Compassion?

This is a critical part of recovery for student athletes because it helps them to handle setbacks, injuries and mistakes in a healthy way instead of in a way that causes them additional stress, anxiety and self criticism. We already discussed the amount of pressure that student athletes experience both from themselves and from others. These thoughts and feelings will trigger the stress response and shut down any hope of recovery. Learning self-compassion can help to counteract these negative effects by fostering a kind and understanding attitude towards themselves.?

(If you want to see more about how GUTS uses curiosity as a way to encourage self-compassion, go here.)

In order for student athletes to start practicing more self compassion they must first be aware of the thoughts and feelings that are coming up for them. This is where the mindfulness piece comes in as it will assist them in simply noticing their thoughts. Then with practice, if they realize that they are being self-critical, they can stop the thought and change it to something more positive.?

For example, how many student athletes have you heard say, “I can’t do this!” They don’t even recognize the way in which this statement is harmful to them. However, as they learn to be more mindful?and self compassionate, they can change thoughts like these to, “I’m just learning this.” It may not seem like much, but the cascade of internal events that follow these thoughts is dramatically different. One initiates a stress response white the other allows for feelings of reassurance, resilience and safety. Which is where recovery will take place.?

More and more, student athletes are calling our for a more holistic experience in sport. They are recognizing that their feelings of fatigue, overwhelm and living with pain and injuries are not what they want.

It's this holistic picture of recovery that can give them more of what they are looking for. And not only will it help improve their physical and mental health while they are competing, but these strategies will support them for the rest of their lives.

Now for the FREEBIE

If you are looking for creative, engaging and simple ways to introduce mindfulness, stillness and self-compassion to student athletes, this is for you.

The Enhancing Recovery through Mindful Activities document includes 7 different activities that we have used again and again over the years to both introduce and develop mindfulness practices with student atheltes.

It's free.

It's easier than you think.

It will 100% help them.

And it might even help you too.

Go ahead and grab it.

And if you like it, then check out The Coaches Easy Nutrition Playbook which will help you (as the Coach) build nutrition into your sport program in a way that inspires curiosity (instead of dread) in your athletes.

Whenever you are ready, there are a few other ways I can help you.

• Our 6 week interactive nutrition program teaches student athletes to understand and use nutrition so they feel great, reduce injuries, and perform their best. Our next cohort begins on May 1st and is available for individuals and teams. Email me at diane@gutsathletenutrition to register.?
• If you are a Coach who knows your student athletes need help with eating but is unsure how to manage this without adding huge costs to your program, check out?The Coaches Easy Nutrition Playbook.?It is just like it sounds and will show you how to help your athletes with their nutrition.
• If you are a sport program director and want to provide your student athletes with a more holistic sport experience that includes nutrition, check out GUTS?here.
• And make sure you follow along?here?on LinkedIn for weekly tips on how we are changing the student athlete experience with nutrition.

Until next week.

~ Diane

References:

Hanton, S., Mellalieu, S. D., & Hall, R. (2005). Self-confidence and anxiety interpretation: A qualitative investigation. Journal of Sports Sciences, 23(9), 935-950.

Mah, C. D., Kezirian, E. J., Marcello, B. M., Dement, W. C., & Burschtin, O. E. (2019). Poor sleep quality and quantity in collegiate student-athletes: A pilot study involving circadian measures. Journal of Athletic Training, 54(6), 685-691.

Nicholls, A. R., Polman, R. C., Levy, A. R., & Backhouse, S. H. (2009). Mental toughness, optimism, pessimism, and coping among athletes. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(7), 725-730.