Introduction
- Too much exercise → ↓ immune system 🛡️ + ↑ negative psychological mood 😔
- Exercise continuum: 🛌 Too little ← Optimal 🏋️ → Too much ❌
- Overtraining = paradox ⚖️: benefits reversed if training is excessive
- Athletes must balance training vs overtraining ⚖️💪
Lecture Sections
- Defining burnout & related terms
- Models of burnout 🧠
- Symptoms & interventions ⚠️
- Recommendations for athletes, coaches, parents 👥
Defining Burnout & Related Terms
- Burnout = syndrome of physical/emotional exhaustion 😫, sport devaluation 😞, reduced athletic accomplishment 🏆❌
- Related terms: overtraining 🏋️♂️, overreaching ⚡, staleness 😓, withdrawal 🚪
Overtraining & Overreaching
- Overtraining → training beyond optimal → maladaptive → staleness & burnout ⚠️
- Overreaching → short-term overtraining, part of normal training ⚡
- Long-term high-intensity overreaching → overtraining ❌
- Staleness → body fails to adapt to training 😔
Models of Burnout
1. Stress Model
- Staleness + overtraining → training stress syndrome ⚡
- If not reversed → withdrawal from sport 🚪
- Burnout = response to chronic stress 😓, leading to withdrawal from sport 🏃♂️❌
2. Investment Model
- Imbalance between costs 💸 and benefits ✅ of sport
- 5 determinants: Reward 🏆, Costs 💸, Satisfaction 😄, Investment ⏳, Alternative 🔄
- Commitment based on enjoyment → enthusiastic participation 🎉
- Commitment based on entrapment → burnout & withdrawal 😔
3. Empowerment Model
- Burnout caused by overly controlling social structure 🏛️
- Occurs when:
- Sport too constraining → athlete seeks liberation 🕊️
- Athlete feels no control over life → seeks liberation 🕊️
Symptoms of Burnout
Physiological Symptoms 💪
- ↑ resting & exercise heart rate ❤️
- ↑ resting systolic blood pressure 🩺
- ↑ muscle soreness & chronic fatigue 😓
- ↑ stress biochemical indicators 🧪
- ↑ sleep loss 🛌
- ↑ colds & respiratory infections 🤧
- ↓ body weight ⚖️
- ↓ maximal aerobic power 🏃♂️💨
- ↓ muscle glycogen 🍽️
- ↓ libido & appetite ❤️❌
Psychological Symptoms 🧠
- ↑ mood disturbances 😔
- ↑ perception of physical, mental, emotional exhaustion 😫
- ↓ self-esteem 😞
- Negative personal interaction (cynicism, impersonal relating 😐)
- Negative reaction to chronic stress 😓
Recommended Intervention
- Self-awareness 👀 → recognize burnout & communicate feelings 💬
- Time off ⏸️ → rest from offending activity 🏖️
- Relaxation strategies 🧘 → cope with stress & reverse burnout 😌
Recommendations for Players 🎽
- Play for yourself 🎯
- Balance sports & life ⚖️
- If not fun → don't do it ❌
- Make practice fun 🎉
- Relax & take time off occasionally 🛌
Recommendations for Coaches 👨🏫
- Cultivate personal involvement with players 🤝
- Establish two-way communication 🗣️
- Utilize player input 💡
- Understand player feelings & perspective 🧠
Recommendations for Parents 👪
- Recognize optimal amount of "pushing" ➡️
- Back off & lessen involvement 🛑
- Reduce importance of winning 🏆❌
- Show support & empathy ❤️
- Don't coach if not the coach 👨🏫❌
- Solicit child's input 🗣️
Summary
This chapter examined burnout in athletes noting that too much exercise decreases immune system and increases negative psychological mood with exercise continuum from too little to optimal to too much where overtraining is a paradox with benefits reversed if training is excessive requiring athletes to balance training versus overtraining, covering four lecture sections (defining burnout and related terms, models of burnout, symptoms and interventions, recommendations for athletes/coaches/parents), defining burnout as syndrome of physical and emotional exhaustion, sport devaluation, and reduced athletic accomplishment with related terms including overtraining (training beyond optimal leading to maladaptive staleness and burnout), overreaching (short-term overtraining part of normal training with long-term high-intensity overreaching leading to overtraining), staleness (body fails to adapt to training), and withdrawal, describing three models of burnout: Stress Model where staleness plus overtraining leads to training stress syndrome and if not reversed leads to withdrawal from sport with burnout as response to chronic stress leading to withdrawal from sport; Investment Model where imbalance between costs and benefits of sport with five determinants (reward, costs, satisfaction, investment, alternative) where commitment based on enjoyment leads to enthusiastic participation while commitment based on entrapment leads to burnout and withdrawal; Empowerment Model where burnout caused by overly controlling social structure occurring when sport too constraining causing athlete to seek liberation or athlete feels no control over life seeking liberation, listing ten physiological symptoms (increased resting and exercise heart rate, increased resting systolic blood pressure, increased muscle soreness and chronic fatigue, increased stress biochemical indicators, increased sleep loss, increased colds and respiratory infections, decreased body weight, decreased maximal aerobic power, decreased muscle glycogen, decreased libido and appetite) and five psychological symptoms (increased mood disturbances, increased perception of physical/mental/emotional exhaustion, decreased self-esteem, negative personal interaction including cynicism and impersonal relating, negative reaction to chronic stress), recommending three interventions (self-awareness to recognize burnout and communicate feelings, time off to rest from offending activity, relaxation strategies to cope with stress and reverse burnout), providing recommendations for players (play for yourself, balance sports and life, if not fun don't do it, make practice fun, relax and take time off occasionally), recommendations for coaches (cultivate personal involvement with players, establish two-way communication, utilize player input, understand player feelings and perspective), and recommendations for parents (recognize optimal amount of pushing, back off and lessen involvement, reduce importance of winning, show support and empathy, don't coach if not the coach, solicit child's input).