The Challenge of Managing Stress Versus Distress

Being aware of factors that contribute to stress that can lead to “distress” is the first step in optimizing an athlete's environment for optimal training and performance. Distress is the body's inability to successfully cope with external stressors. Whether from a physical perspective of “too much too soon” or nonfunctional overreaching in a conditioning program or from environmental challenges of heat or from psychological challenges related to depression, awareness, assessment, and actions are needed to ensure an athlete's health and wellness. Factors such as nutritional deficiencies and reduced recovery between sessions may increase overall stress possibly leading to overreaching, overtraining, and overuse. Because of the highly individual responses to both training and outside stressors, individualization of programs, monitoring, and interventions are needed. Ultimately, managing athlete stress is a “team approach.”
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Inside the Box Source Type: research