Matthew Mace

How to Improve Mental Health for Athletes

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A guide for athletes and coaches.

Mental health is finally beginning to get the attention it deserves. And that includes the athlete population. With the introduction of sports psychologists and other team members, the industry — as a whole — is moving in the right direction.

We’ve had Gracie Gold speak out about her eating disorder, anxiety, and depression, Michael Phelps openly discuss his battle with depression, and Naomi Osaka speak about her struggles with depression after withdrawing from the 2021 French open tournament.

But there’s still more that needs to be done. And whether you’re a coach or an athlete, there are things you can do — and this article will detail them.

How mental health affects performance 

Poor mental health might lead to various performance blocks, including lapses in focus and concentration, mental blocks, poor recovery and sleep in training and competition, and a higher risk of injuries.

Athletes may also experience physical shaking, tight muscles, and feel more pressure, stress, and anxiety than usual.

Why do athletes struggle with mental health? 

From time to time, we all struggle with mental health. It’s a part of human nature. Athletes are no different — they can suffer from anxiety, depression, eating disorders, OCD, and many other conditions. 

Unlike others, elite athletes are also exposed to public scrutiny — they perform on the world stage, and are no doubt influenced by people’s opinions, comments, and criticism. This also has consequences, perhaps contributing to poor mental health, too.

Risk factors for mental ill health in athletes

Research indicates that athletes experience comparable rates of mental ill-health (e.g. depression, PTSD, and sleep disorders), but are also at risk of athlete-specific risk indicators for ill mental health, such as [4]:

  • Sports injury and concussion
  • Performance failure
  • Overtraining
  • Individual sports are typically higher risk than team sports
  • Negative major life events
  • Low social support
  • Impaired sleep quality

Athletes are perhaps more at risk due to the increased demands, including travel, training demands, coach-athlete relationships, and exposure to unfamiliar training environments. Moreover, elite athletes who are injured or approaching retirement may also experience performance difficulty [5].

Why is there a stigma around mental health in athletes? 

The stigma around talking about mental health — and seeking treatment — is not only prevalent in athletes, but throughout human history [1].

One study found that NCAA Division 1 athletes were more at risk of public stigma than their non-athlete peers [2]. 

But why is this the case?

Athletes want to appear mentally tough and do not want to show weakness. Often, athletes fear that seeking help will result in a loss of playing team, or may even jeopardise their career or contract.

And at the college level, the compounded stress of school and elite sports only makes things worse. Athletes are more likely to encounter burnout, and may struggle with mental health issues. Once again, not speaking up because they risk not being selected for their team or sport.

What can coaches do to help athlete mental health?

Sports coaches play a pivotal role in athlete mental health — they can:

  • Increase education and awareness of mental health
  • Reduce the stigma and promote early help-seeking
  • Focus on overall athlete development (not just physical)

Let’s break these down in more detail.

Increase education and awareness of mental health issues

Coaches can increase education and awareness of mental health by hosting workshops, speaking engagements, and working with sports psychologists.

It’s not just athletes who should know how to recognise the signs of early-onset mental health issues. 

Programs and further information should be offered to the athlete’s family and friends to help recognize potential symptoms and risks, and encourage the athlete to seek help before a particular struggle were to spiral out of control. 

Reduce the stigma and promote early help-seeking 

Many people don’t talk about their mental health. However, athletes, as previously discussed, may be at a greater risk of not speaking out.

So to combat this, coaches and other sports organisations that work closely with the athletes should focus on reducing the stigma through education and awareness. Furthermore, there should be a support system in place for early help-seeking — that includes multiple ways to ask for help [4].

While not in a professional sense, at grassroots level, this could be as simple as athletes maintaining a good relationship with their coaches and knowing they can ask for help, whether in-person after training, or via text, provided this is appropriate (as a very basic example).

Focus on overall athlete development (not just physical)

For years, the focus on the athletes has been physical. And that made sense! 

But these days, coaches and other staff should focus on overall athlete development from a more holistic perspective. That includes sports psychology, mental skills training, education around mental health, and so on.

Check in with your athletes, perhaps add a non-invasive screening method, and focus on more than just the physiology and physical skills training.

How can athletes manage their mental health? 

Although coaches and coaching staff play a pivotal role in the mental health of athletes, ultimately, it comes down to the athlete to implement changes, practice self-care, and better manage their mental health.

So if you’re an athlete, what can you do?

  • Surround yourself with a good support network
  • Set effective (but achievable) goals
  • Talk to someone if needed
  • Reduce overall stress (and talk to someone if the stress gets too much)

Surround yourself with a good support network

Depression and other mental health issues might be a higher risk for athletes who partake in individual sports instead of team sports [6].

If that’s you, it’s even more important to surround yourself with a good support network — these people will become your teammates.

That could be a good coach, a friend, family members, and so on. You want people that you can talk to when needed — and they will listen — and you want people who provide more positive outcomes than negative ones in your life.

Set effective (but achievable) goals

Most athletes know the importance of goal setting, so we won’t dive into the specifics in this blog post. However, it’s essential to use effective goal setting principles for the best results.

Where mental health is concerned, goals should be challenging but achievable. 

Yes, your goals should be difficult, but they shouldn’t be so challenging that you can’t achieve them, only to be upset when you don’t achieve what you set out to achieve.

You can use tried and tested goal setting methods to do so, i.e. short and long-term goals, specific goals, and a feedback system that helps you understand your progress [3].

Related: 6 Tips For Achieving Your Fitness Goals 

Talk to someone if needed

Athletes should always have someone to talk to if needed, even if it’s to discuss something as simple as a training session that didn’t go quite to plan, or to run through their goals for the remainder of the year.

Equally though, coaches (and other staff) should be available to talk to. An open line of communication is essential to protect mental health — and reach out for help if needed.

Reduce overall stress

Athletes experience stress — whether that’s during training, competition, or the day-to-day.

In particular, though, many people forget the additional stressors student-athletes face. A Division 1 athlete, for example, often trains very similar hours to a professional athlete, but also attends classes, and seminars, and has other educational demands.

It’s not just the attendance that’s required, it’s the additional work writing papers, researching, and other tasks — it’s like having two full-time jobs.

If possible, student-athletes should speak to their teachers when needed to explain the situation if they’re struggling to balance the two. And if possible, coaches and teachers should be aware of their demands and provide leniency where possible.

Student athlete mental wellness should be a top priority. 

Reducing stress will lessen the risk of burnout and injury, and should provide better balance in the day-to-day. 

The Mindset Recovery collection on the Rewire app includes sessions dedicated specially to help athletes reduce stress, try our free 4 minute guided stress relief session. 

FAQs

What is the most common mental health issue for athletes?

Anxiety is thought to be one of the most common mental health issues in athletes. Depression, disordered eating, stress, sleeping disorders, and overtraining are also common.

How do athletes take care of their mental health?

Athletes should surround themselves with a good support network, set realistic goals, and reduce overall stress. They can also work with a psychologist or a mental health professional to take better care of their mental health.

Including Rewire Fitness sessions into an athlete’s routine is another way to improve mental health. With just 5-10 minutes of every day use, the average rewire user reports a 70% reduction in stress, 30% increase in focus, and a 30% increase in readiness to perform. Try the app for free today. 

Coaching athletes and looking to help them take care of their mental health? Find out how Rewire can help your team’s wellbeing by booking a consultation with us today. 

References:

  1. Bauman, N.J., 2016. The stigma of mental health in athletes: are mental toughness and mental health seen as contradictory in elite sport?. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50(3), pp.135-136. 
  2. Kaier, E., Cromer, L.D., Johnson, M.D., Strunk, K. and Davis, J.L., 2015. Perceptions of mental illness stigma: Comparisons of athletes to nonathlete peers. Journal of College Student Development, 56(7), pp.735-739. 
  3. Locke, E.A. and Latham, G.P., 1985. The application of goal setting to sports. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 7(3), pp.205-222.
  4. Purcell, R., Gwyther, K. and Rice, S.M., 2019. Mental health in elite athletes: increased awareness requires an early intervention framework to respond to athlete needs. Sports medicine-open, 5(1), p.46.
  5. Rice, S.M., Purcell, R., De Silva, S., Mawren, D., McGorry, P.D. and Parker, A.G., 2016. The mental health of elite athletes: A narrative systematic review. Sports medicine, 46, pp.1333-1353.
  6. Schaal, K., Tafflet, M., Nassif, H., Thibault, V., Pichard, C., Alcotte, M., Guillet, T., El Helou, N., Berthelot, G., Simon, S. and Toussaint, J.F., 2011. Psychological balance in high level athletes: gender-based differences and sport-specific patterns. PloS one, 6(5), p.e19007.
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Matthew Mace

4 Powerful Ways To Prioritise Mental Health In Athletes

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Get the basics right, and you’ll set yourself up for success.

Question: Victoria Pendleton, Gracie Gold, Michael Phelps, Naomi Osaka, Mary Cain, and Tyson Fury… what do these athletes have in common? And we’re not talking about the success they’ve had in their careers.

Answer: Each of these athletes has opened up about their struggles with mental health. 

Mental health in sports has become increasingly talked about in recent years. And with the intense pressure elite athletes face, combined with the scrutiny from the public and press, and not to mention internal and external expectations, it’s a recipe for some dark times.

But the more people talk about mental health, the easier it is to set up the right systems to combat it. 

Here’s how to prioritise mental health as an athlete. 

Key takeaways:

  1. Prioritise rest, sleep, and recovery
  2. Find a team or coach that supports you
  3. Surround yourself with the right support team
  4. Know when to take a step back

Prioritise rest, sleep, and recovery

You already know the importance of sleep, especially as an athlete. 

When we sleep, the body recovers. It’s how our muscles repair and adaptations are made — it’s how we improve.

Think of it like this: each day, you write yourself a check for the hard work you put in (training and nutrition). However, the check is only useful if you cash it in. The bank is sleep — you take your checks, cash them in, and reap the benefits.

If you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re not only at an increased risk of injury, but you might be sacrificing your mental health.

For example, Mind mentioned that those who have trouble sleeping might feel more anxious, depressed, or even suicidal. You may also lack the energy to train and compete. And perhaps, you’ll feel lonely and isolated and not want to train with your team.

Prioritise getting quality sleep and rest each night. If you struggle with sleep, you might want to look at your sleep hygiene — that’s those healthy habits that set you up for sleep success.

Good sleep hygiene habits include:

  • Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
  • Get sunlight exposure as early as you can in the day to set your circadian rhythm
  • Avoid caffeine after 2 pm 
  • Limit screen usage in the hours leading up to sleep

You can also check out the Rewire mindset recovery sessions, designed to promote rest, relaxation, and better sleep.

Find a team or coach that supports you 

As an athlete, you likely have a coach.

For most, it’s peanut butter and jelly — one does not work quite as well without the other.

Whether you’re a long-distance runner, javelin thrower, professional basketball player, or tennis player, a coach guides your training and provides mentorship. 

And while sometimes there isn’t too much choice, if you can choose, try to find a coach that supports you.

Let’s use the Mary Cain example: she was the fastest girl in America until she joined Nike. Until she wasn’t. To cut a long story short, the coaching relationship was far from a match made in heaven.

According to Cain, the coaching team did not listen to her needs. They told her she needed to become thinner, and thinner, to become faster, as mentioned in a video for the New York Times.

Over time, she fell into a system where weight loss was encouraged to an unhealthy extent. Ultimately, this wreaked havoc on her mental health and even led to suicidal thoughts.

While it’s easy to say, “choose your coach wisely,” it can be challenging to do in person. But if you can get a coach that works with you and supports you, then you’ve ticked one of the big boxes.

Surround yourself with the right support team

Your coach is your main mentor, but alongside working with a coach who supports you, try to find other athletes who stand in your corner.

It helps to have a support team behind you. That can include athletes, coaches, coaching staff, and friends and family.

But more importantly, work on surrounding yourself with the right people. 

Talking to other athletes is an excellent place to start. You have a lot in common, likely encounter the same problems, and you understand the intense pressure of sport.

You don’t need to build a supportive team and network overnight, but you should be intentional about it.

Know when to take a step back

Professional Greek Olympic runner, Alexi Pappas, suffered from depression following the Olympic games—she wasn’t ready for what happened after she achieved her dream.

Now a major advocate for mental health, Pappas was told that her depression was a “scratch on her brain.” This helped her visualise her injury, and know that it did affect her but that it could be fixed.

Pappas stands behind this statement and emphasises mental health as a legitimate bodily need. She goes on to say, “…if you’re unable to compete because you’re risking your body, then don’t compete.”

A great example of this is professional tennis player, Naomi Osaka, who withdrew from the French Open back in 2021 for mental health reasons. As athletes, we need to know when to take a step back, and not to feel ashamed about it. It should be as essential as eating, drinking, and breathing — prioritise mental health the best you can.

Related: Naomi Osaka: Mental Health Journey.

Use Rewire to optimise recovery

Keeping tabs on your mental health, checking in with yourself, and optimising recovery can prove challenging. But you can use the daily Rewire readiness platform to track physical, cognitive, and emotional states. 

Based on your holistic readiness score, Rewire’s engine generates tailored recovery sessions designed to address your unique needs such as reducing stress, improving sleep, or achieving a more relaxed state.

The app also integrates with Strava, OURA, and other platforms to provide you with a holistic view of your health, training, and recovery status. 

While it’s impossible for us to know how you’re feeling, prioritising time for yourself each day and assessing your readiness score is a great place to start when it comes to putting your mental health first as an athlete.

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Matthew Mace

How to Recognise Burnout in Youth Sports

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Here’s how to recognise burnout to prevent a mix of physical and emotional stressors. 

Burnout in youth sports might just be more common than we think — with young athletes wanting to be professional football players, gymnasts, swimmers, runners, and everything in between, it can be difficult to find the line between “hard work” and “overtraining.” 

So, it likely comes as no surprise that it’s very common for young athletes to specialise in one given sport from an early age. Besides, it makes the most sense if they want to turn professional, right? Kind of — more on this below.

Whether that’s gymnastics, swimming, tennis, or running, for example, the physical and emotional costs of specialising in one sport are often quite large. Early sport specialisation requires increased training hours and may expose youth athletes to increased social isolation, including less time with family, increased stress and anxiety, and the big one: burnout.

Yep, burnout — hello again, old friend. 

But understanding burnout in youth sports is not as simple as reducing the time or dedication spent towards one given sport — it’s much more complicated than that. For instance, other factors may result in burnout, including increased school demands, a lack of recovery, success from an early age, low self-esteem, the list goes… These burnout risks are taken from Gustaffson and colleagues — although less is known about burnout and youth sport, we should still take these into consideration.  

So, this blog post will highlight what we do know — we’ll provide a quick burnout definition, we’ll touch on early sport specialisation, how to prevent burnout in youth athletes, and how to recognise the signs of burnout sooner rather than later.

What is burnout in youth sports?

We’ve covered athlete burnout in previous blog posts, but before we discuss how to recognise the signs of burnout — and how to prevent it — we need to provide a quick definition.

Burnout is often described as a lasting experience of physical and emotional exhaustion. 

For example, youth athletes who encounter burnout may feel unmotivated to train and are likely to experience a reduced sense of self-accomplishment. And most notably, the physical and emotional drain may lead to the young athlete quitting and withdrawing from their sport, as suggested by a 2007 study.

Early sport specialisation vs. early sport diversification 

Let’s start with what is thought to be the biggest risk factor for burnout in youth athletes…

Early sport specialisation involves a youth athlete focusing — or as instructed by a coach — on one sport. The two main sports culprits that come to mind are swimming and gymnastics. Although, it can be virtually any sport out there, from tennis to ping pong. 

The main problem, however, is the risk factors that come with specialising in one sport. And yes, you guessed it correctly, burnout is a part of it.

Anyways, risk factors of early sport specialisation may include:

  • Excessive training 
  • Balancing school/work demands becomes difficult and energy draining 
  • Lack of recovery between training sessions
  • Social constraints 

These risk factors are taken from the integrated model of athlete burnout. Other risk factors around various personality, coping, and environmental factors exist, too. But the above factors appear the most relevant for youth sports.

So, this poses the question: should youth athletes specialise from a young age, or should they play a mix of sports (sport diversification)?

Well, this debate has been going on for years. But researchers have provided guidelines to prevent overtraining and burnout. These guidelines are as follows:  

  • Keep workouts interesting — add games and keep it fun.
  • Allow at least 1 to 2 days a week for rest — participation in other activities is allowed.
  • Add longer scheduled breaks from training every 2 to 3 months — focus on other activities or cross-train to prevent a loss of skill and/or conditioning.
  • Teach athletes wellness and how to be in tune with their bodies — this will help reduce overtraining and the risk of injury. The Rewire app has numerous mindset recovery sessions that can help young athletes sleep better, improve focus and concentration, and even enhance recovery. 

A few tips on how to recognise burnout 

Burnout and overtraining go hand in hand. And although the research on youth athlete burnout is not as well publicised, we can take research from the adult population to help recognise common overtraining and burnout signs, as suggested in a study by the National Library of Medicine.  

Overtraining and burnout signs to look out for include:

  • A loss of appetite 
  • Muscle soreness 
  • Difficulty sleeping/sleep disturbances
  • Muscle twitches
  • Decreased motivation
  • A lack of concentration
  • Decreased self-confidence 
  • Common colds, sniffles, and coughs

These are a few of the main signs of overtraining in athletes. Recognising these early and introducing rest, recovery, and a period of less intense training is one of the best ways to reduce the risk of burnout and overtraining syndrome. 

To summarise  

Increasing awareness of the risk factors associated with burnout and overtraining in youth sports is key to preventing burnout. 

Coaches, parents, teachers, and others should have an understanding of what causes burnout to reduce the risk. Also, those in a coaching position should strive to keep workouts fun and interesting, allow a minimum of 1 to 2 days of rest a week, and should schedule longer breaks from training every 2 to 3 months — perhaps during seasonal holidays, to further reduce the risk of burnout.

And finally, the argument against early sport specialisation should not be ignored. 

If a young athlete does not want to specialise in one sport, then they shouldn’t exclusively focus on that one sport. Instead, coaches, parents, and teachers may wish to consider encouraging multiple sport participation. Sport diversification keeps things fun and interesting, and may lead to enhanced skill development. And all the while potentially reducing the risk of burnout.

If you’re interested in reading more about burnout, you can read our blog post on athletic burnout and stress.

If you’re a coach reading this, check out Rewire for Teams – our platform that helps coaches train their athletes more effectively by prioritising mental wellness and preventing burnout. Book a free consultation here. 

References:

Brenner, J.S. and Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2007. Overuse injuries, overtraining, and burnout in child and adolescent athletes. Pediatrics, 119(6), pp.1242-1245.

DiFiori, J.P., Benjamin, H.J., Brenner, J.S., Gregory, A., Jayanthi, N., Landry, G.L. and Luke, A., 2014. Overuse injuries and burnout in youth sports: a position statement from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. British journal of sports medicine, 48(4), pp.287-288.

Gustafsson, H., Kenttä, G. and Hassmén, P., 2011. Athlete burnout: An integrated model and future research directions. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 4(1), pp.3-24.

Gustafsson, Henrik. “Burnout in competitive and elite athletes.” PhD diss., Örebro universitetsbibliotek, 2007.
Winsley, R. and Matos, N., 2011. Overtraining and elite young athletes. The elite young athlete, 56, pp.97-105.

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Matthew Mace

5 Ways to Prevent Athlete Burnout in 2023

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Understand how to prevent athlete burnout to stay motivated and reduce your risk of injury.

One minute, you’re enjoying training more than ever, and the next, you can’t focus, you don’t want to head out for that training session, and you feel as if that short-lived motivation has been zapped out of your system. So, what happened?

You could be experiencing early signs of athlete burnout — often described as a prolonged experience of physical and emotional exhaustion [4]. Knowing how to recognise and prevent athlete burnout is key — the more you know, the easier it is to stop burnout in its tracks, stopping you from experiencing more severe symptoms and perhaps even an increased risk of picking up an injury.

In this blog post, we’ll provide you with 5 ways to prevent athlete burnout — helping you stay motivated and focused on your training. 

What causes athlete burnout?

Before we dive into how to prevent athlete burnout, we first need to understand what causes athlete burnout.

We’ll give you the CliffNotes version — but if you want to find out more about the causes and how to overcome burnout, you can listen to our podcast with Joe Fuggle, a former Elite GB athlete.

The research surrounding athlete burnout is somewhat conflicting. Some researchers say burnout is caused by the inability to effectively cope with psychosocial stress involved with training and competition [3]. 

On the other hand, others suggest athlete burnout is caused by a mix of factors, including entrapment (high investment, low alternative attractiveness), antecedents (school/work demands, a lack of recovery), and personality and coping factors (low social support, lack of coping skills [5].

Athlete burnout is more complex than it initially appears… but knowing how to prevent it can keep those feelings of decreased motivation and drive at bay.

How to prevent athlete burnout 

Okay, now that you know what it is, let’s discuss how to prevent athlete burnout — after all, that’s why you’re here…

  1. Maintain variety and keep it fun 
  2. Monitor your training load and know the burnout signs 
  3. Prioritise getting quality sleep 
  4. Introduce scheduled periods of rest
  5. Use Rewire to reduce stress and lessen your risk of burnout

1) Maintain Variety and Keep it Fun

Dr Ralph Richards, a former swim coach and sports scientist at the Australian Institute of Sport, mentioned the importance of providing variety in workouts to reduce mental fatigue [6]. This is also a great way to keep your workouts and training fun and interesting.

If you’re a runner, that could mean switching up a session to include some fartlek work (unstructured speed training). A cyclist could add short sweet spot efforts in their weekly long ride. And a swimmer could combine short and long repetitions for a little variety.

Ultimately, if you can keep things interesting, fun, and even slightly unpredictable, you’re more likely to enjoy training. 

So, don’t be afraid to switch things up from time to time — this is also a great reminder for coaches and an excellent tool for keeping youth athletes motivated.

2) Monitor your training load and know the burnout signs 

You wouldn’t run a marathon without former training — so avoid taking the same approach with your training.

Progressive overload is key. Don’t jump in the deep end before learning to swim in the shallow waters.

Gradually increase your training demands over time, allowing your body to adapt and recover without increasing your risk of injury and burnout. 

You should also monitor your training load — note down each session, including what the workout comprised of, how you felt, and any other relevant notes. It also helps to track your recovery to improve your awareness of how your body adapts and responds to increased training loads.

You should also familiarise yourself with the symptoms of overtraining and burnout — the sooner you recognise these, the easier it is to dial back your training, prioritising recovery and preventing a more serious risk of burnout and physical injury.

Symptoms of overtraining and burnout may include [8,5]:

  • A loss of appetite
  • Muscle soreness & muscle twitches
  • A decrease in motivation and focus during training
  • Frustration over a lack of results
  • Increased stress
  • Mood disturbances
  • A lack of control
  • You find yourself getting sick easier (e.g., colds, sniffles, and coughs)

3) Prioritise getting quality sleep

You likely already know the importance of a good night’s rest, especially if you exercise regularly or compete at a high level — sleep is essential to recovery. 

Increased training loads, whether that means increasing your weekly mileage, adding more intensity, or adding an extra weights session, increase your risk of fatigue, injury, and overtraining.

But more importantly, an increased training load combined with inadequate rest (including sleep) could serve as a risk factor and an indicator of over-reaching and overtraining syndrome [7]. 

And for those unaware, overtraining syndrome is often associated with athlete burnout.

Ensure you get plenty of quality sleep to lessen the risk of over-reaching (the point before overtraining and burnout). 

4) Introduce scheduled periods of rest

Professional athletes take breaks during their season and once their competitive season is over. 

For example, Formula One drivers have a summer break midseason and a longer break before the next season begins. Road cyclists take a few weeks off in the winter before the next year of competition begins. And football players have anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks off training each year.

For elite athletes, these scheduled periods of rest are not only a time to physically recover from any niggles, pains, or injuries, but it’s also a time to mentally recover and prepare for the next season.

Competing and training at the highest level is physically, emotionally, and mentally demanding.

Even if you’re not a professional athlete, introducing your own off-season into your training can help you recover. It’s a time to switch off, mentally recharge, and assess your goals going forward. Moreover, if you train for countless hours, then it’s time to spend doing other things you enjoy — whether visiting family and friends or just sitting on the sofa catching up on the latest Netflix thriller.

You can also use periodisation in your training — add 1 week of less intense training every 1 to 3 months to reduce your risk of burnout.  

5) Use Rewire to reduce stress and lessen your risk of burnout

The relationship between stress and burnout has been studied extensively — some research [1] suggests stress causes burnout, and other work [2] proposes the opposite: stress is a burnout symptom. 

Nevertheless, we all experience stress — whether you’re a professional athlete, you run marathons, you participate in ultra-endurance cycling events, or perhaps you enjoy a parkrun on the weekends.

But I’m sure we can all agree that reducing stress is not a bad thing…

You can start using the Rewire Fitness app today for free to help reduce stress, improve your mental fitness, and reduce your risk of burnout.

FAQs

What causes athlete burnout?

There are many possible causes, but minimising stress, prioritising rest, and keeping training fun are great ways to reduce the risk. 

How do athletes recover from burnout?

Rest is key to recovering from athlete burnout. Athletes often need time away from their sport to rejuvenate and recover.

How to prevent burnout?

Keep training fun, monitor your training load, prioritise quality sleep, use periodisation in your training, and use the Rewire app to prevent athlete burnout.

References:

ACSM_CMS. 2022. News Detail. [online] Available at: <https://www.acsm.org/news-detail/2021/08/09/the-american-college-of-sports-medicine-statement-on-mental-health-challenges-for-athletes#:~:text=Professional%20and%20elite%20athletes%20also,%2C%20depression%20and%2For%20anxiety> [Accessed 20 December 2022].

Coakley, J., 1992. Burnout among adolescent athletes: A personal failure or social problem?. Sociology of sport journal, 9(3), pp.271-285.

Eklund, R.C. and DeFreese, J.D., 2015. Athlete burnout: What we know, what we could know, and how we can find out more. International Journal of Applied Sports Sciences, 27(2), pp.63-75.

Gustafsson, H., 2007. Burnout in competitive and elite athletes (Doctoral dissertation, Örebro universitetsbibliotek). 

Gustafsson, H., Kenttä, G. and Hassmén, P., 2011. Athlete burnout: An integrated model and future research directions. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 4(1), pp.3-24.

https://memberdesq.sportstg.com/assets/console/customitem/attachments/burnout-rrichards.pdf 

Lastella, M., Vincent, G.E., Duffield, R., Roach, G.D., Halson, S.L., Heales, L.J. and Sargent, C., 2018. Can sleep be used as an indicator of overreaching and overtraining in athletes?. Frontiers in physiology, p.436.

Winsley, R. and Matos, N., 2011. Overtraining and elite young athletes. The elite young athlete, 56, pp.97-105.

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Matthew Mace

What Is The Purpose of Being Mentally Fit

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The purpose of mental fitness is to achieve a state of well-being, feeling calmer and more prepared to tackle a mix of life’s responsibilities and challenges. 

Being mentally fit does not mean achieving a high IQ test score or being able to read a book a day. Mental fitness is a lot more holistic — it’s less about one thing and instead a mix of components and exercises that create a healthy mind.

This blog post will explain more about the purpose of mental fitness — we’ll discuss what it means to be mentally fit, the benefits, a few exercises to get started, and more.

What does it mean to be mentally fit?

Physical fitness relates to how the body looks and functions. If you exercise regularly, you improve your health and reduce your risk of disease. If you lift weights, you’ll build bigger and stronger muscles. If you run or cycle long distances, you’ll better develop your cardiovascular system.

But what about mental fitness? While exercise improves physical fitness, it also improves mental fitness. When we exercise, our brain produces and releases endorphins — also known as “feel-good hormones.” It’s why you feel happy after exercise, and it’s likely one of the reasons you keep going back — whether you realise it or not.

The purpose of being mentally fit is similar to that of physical fitness — to improve the function of your brain and how you think, feel, and react to the world around you. And while that may seem somewhat far-fetched, it’s actually rather straightforward.

What are the benefits of mental fitness? 

As you likely already know, there are many benefits to focusing on mental fitness.

For example, benefits include:

  • Increased presence and focus
  • Improved sleep quality and quantity 
  • Increased resilience 
  • The ability to be more present
  • Build confidence
  • Improved cognitive function 
  • Build new skills 

Unsurprisingly, the benefits are centred around how we think, feel, and interact with various situations.

For more benefits, you can check out our mental fitness training guide for beginners.

Mental fitness training — a few exercises to get started

If you want to get bigger muscles, you go to the gym and lift weights. But if you want to train your mind, you need to adopt a different approach.

As previously mentioned, your mental fitness is made up of several components. For example, this could include how much sleep you get, how stressed you are, whether or not you exercise regularly, your immediate environment, and so forth. 

There are, of course, plenty of exercises you can do to get started:

  • Regular exercise
  • Practice mindfulness
  • Do mind games
  • Read
  • Increase awareness and reduce stress with journaling 

Regular exercise

Let’s start with a more obvious one: regular exercise.

The CDC states that adults need 150-minutes of exercise each week. Ideally, this should also include two days of muscle-strengthening activity. We recommend splitting the 150-minutes throughout the week — 30 minutes a day, five days a week, or something similar to best suit your schedule.

Exercise releases endorphins — these make you feel good, can elevate your mood, and improve your outlook on a certain situation or even life, in general.

Regular exercise should be a part of your mental fitness routine — it’s easy to do, it’s super rewarding, and you’ll feel great physically and mentally for doing it. 

Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness and meditation often go hand in hand, but you can do one without the other — meditation is not the only form of mindfulness.

Despite this, many people find that meditation helps them achieve a more calm state of mind and improves focus and concentration.

But you can exercise mindfulness in different ways — it could be a short walk, perhaps creating a list of things you’re grateful for, gardening, cooking, or performing another hobby that you find rewarding.

We’re all different — you may enjoy yoga or meditation, or you might find that noting down your thoughts and tracking your goals in a notebook works best for you. You can also try our Rewire mindset recovery sessions, or, if you prefer, our open recovery post-workout deep mind and body session. And if guided sessions are more your thing, click here to give one a go! 

Do mind games

There are loads of mind games that help reduce stress and improve cognitive performance and function. For example, it could be something as simple as a crossword puzzle, sudoku, or a game of chess.

Alongside traditional games, there are also reaction tests and other brain-stimulating tests and activities that increase cognitive function and focus. We recommend trying a mix of Rewire neuro-training sessions, designed to temporarily increase mental fatigue, and build long-term mental fitness. If you’re reading on mobile, click here to try a 3 minute neuro-training session.

Read

Regular reading keeps the mind healthy — it stimulates the mind, reduces stress, improves knowledge, and facilitates better focus and concentration. 

Also, reading may keep the brain active, potentially slowing the onset of dementia in Alzheimer’s disease by up to five years, as found in a 2021 study. 

Increase awareness and reduce stress with journaling 

Journaling can be as simple as writing down your thoughts for a few minutes each day. But writing down how you feel can increase awareness, contributing to better mental fitness and reduced stress.

It’s a basic practice, but many people find it useful to note their thoughts on paper, almost clearing their heads and sharing the responsibility. 

Mental fitness is a holistic practice 

Mental fitness is a lot more holistic than you might think. Improving your mental fitness is not as simple as going for a run, playing a game of chess, reading a book, or performing reaction tests.

Instead, it’s a mix of several activities — there is no finish line, and you must constantly perform these activities to ensure optimal mental fitness.

To get started with your mental fitness journey, we recommend using the Rewire daily readiness assessment. The short 90-second assessment looks at your unique needs day-to-day, recommending specific neuro-training and mindset-recovery protocols to set yourself up for success.  

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References:

Ciomag, V. and Zamfir, M.V., 2016. The Benefit of Physical Exercises of our Own Body and Health. Univers Strategic, (2), p.26.

Horowitz, S., 2010. Health benefits of meditation: What the newest research shows. Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 16(4), pp.223-228.

Wilson, R.S., Wang, T., Yu, L., Grodstein, F., Bennett, D.A. and Boyle, P.A., 2021. Cognitive activity and onset age of incident Alzheimer disease dementia. Neurology, 97(9), pp.e922-e929.

Winter-Hébert, L., 2019. 10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day. lifehack. org, Retrieved, pp.22-4.