Sporty Spice

From the time you were little, you've probably heard all about how important exercise is and how beneficial participating in sports can be. However, in recent months we've seen statements from high performing professional athletes like Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles about the impact playing sports can have on mental health. With the Tokyo Olympics coming up, we thought we'd talk about how sports can be contributing to your stress. Here we go!

We're first consulting Ohio University, and an article they posted about this topic in January 2020. They started by acknowledging the benefits of exercise for stressed out teens, finding that low stress levels and regular exercise were often correlated. In addition, when 850 high-school athletes participating in sports such as basketball and soccer were asked about their mental health, they often reported healthier mental states than non-athletes.

These effects were rarely temporary, with the researchers finding that students aged 12-17 who chose to partake in sports teams were often able to avoid poor mental health for up to four years after turning 17. We at shakeoffstress wanted to include these positive findings, as the intent of this article is not by any means to discourage you from getting some exercise or joining a sports team. With that said, let's get into the less positive findings by Ohio University.

As much as regular exercise and sports team may help to relieve stress, they can also generate some stress of their own. In terms of physical stress, one study found that being at-bat in baseball was correlated with a heart rate of about 170 beats per minute. Just for reference, a normal resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. 1 in 5 soccer players reported feeling elevated stress before and after games, with the stress intensifying after a loss.

In general, 50% of student athletes said they experienced high levels of stress. Burnout was also common among teenage student athletes, with 30-50% of athletes saying they experienced symptoms of this frustrating mental state. It was more commonly found in teens who chose to play more than one sport.

The next article we found is from Psychology Today. They included a study from Dr. Julie Simon and Dr. Rainer Martens conducted on a group of boys aged 9-14. All of the boys were assigned to different stress-inducing events, including academic tests, individual sports, team sports, and participating in a music contest. The music contest was found to be the most stressful for the boys, with academic tests coming in second place.

The one sport that ranked higher on the stress scale than academic testing was wrestling, one of the individual sports the boys were asked to participate in. This was a common trend, with higher levels of stress associated with individual sports than team sports. However, there were a couple boys who experienced elevated stress when asked to partake in any sport, whether it was as an individual or part of a team.

How do you figure out if sports are causing you stress? Psychology Today writes that abnormal sleep patterns, frequent low performance in sports practices and competitions, wanting to quit or avoid sports, and a low appetite could be indicators of sports induced stress. In addition, skin problems, headaches, and an upset stomach could be physical indications of this type of stress.

This third article is pulled from NCBI, and focuses on older teens that are part of sports teams in college. They started on explaining how burnout manifests in athletes. Burnout sparks from "situational demands," such as difficulty balancing sports/school, pressure from coaches or parents, or performance expectations. Next burnout progresses to "cognitive appraisal," which is when student-athletes begin to become aware of these situational demands and try to determine their ability to meet the demands and what will happen if they fail to do so.

If an athlete realizes that it is not possible for them to meet the situational demands and that they will have to face the consequences associated with that, negative mental health is often triggered. This could manifest both physically and mentally. The final stage of burnout is burnout itself, when an athlete no longer wants to participate in sports, performs poorly, or undergoes behavioral changes.

The main triggers of burnout were high expectations, overexertion, and lack of recovery time according to a 2008 Swedish study. 15 New Zealand rugby players said that injuries, expectations surrounding time spent practicing, and the team dynamic were the main stressors associated with their burnout. Stress was associated with 43% of cases of burnout.

Our last article is from NCBI as well. One 2019 study included in this article revolved around 173 high performing alpine skiers. After gathering data, the researchers found that the skiers' stress was often associated with a negative mood, sleepiness, abnormal sleep, goals, and performance expectations. The biggest source of this stress? The skiers most commonly reported time management.

Pressure from sports was also associated with students viewing their academics as support for their athletic career in some cases. As a result, prioritizing sports over academics became more common. When schools require a certain academic record to continue playing sports and keep academic scholarships, occurrences of mental health disorders in student-athletes become more common. In addition, injuries and illnesses can be frequent if stress is left untreated for an extended period of time.

Sports can be incredibly beneficial, but that doesn't mean that they can't contribute to your stress. Ohio University reinforces the positives of playing sports, but also warns that sports can contribute to burnout and impact both mental and physical health. Our next article from Psychology Today writes that music contests and academic tests are often more stressful for teens than team or individual sports, but that high levels of stress associated with participating in any sports are not uncommon. Our two NCBI articles focus on burnout, and how stress stemming from sports can manifest. In addition, the second NCBI article writes that balancing academics and athletics can generate additional stress.

We here at shakeoffstress enjoy participating in school sports, but know how stressful they can be at times. From now on, when we're feeling overwhelmed, we'll try to slow down for a second instead of ignoring what our bodies are trying to tell us. We here at shakeoffstress hope this article was informative and gave you some information about how to shake off stress stemming from sports. Thanks for reading :-)

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