Burnout

Burnout is “a physical, emotional, and social withdrawal from a formerly enjoyable sport activity (Weinberg & Gould, 2015). Burnout is more psychological; overtraining is physical (Peterson, 2005). Burnout is not depression. Depression is pervasive while burnout is activity-specific (DeFreese, Raedeke, & Smith, 2015). Burnout can occur in athletes, coaches, teachers, counselors, and other helping professionals (Weinberg & Gould, 2015).

Burnout occurs as a result of chronic stress (a perceived or actual imbalance between what is expected of an athlete physically, psychologically, and socially and his or her response capabilities) and motivational orientation and changes in the athlete (Weinberg & Gould, 2015).

Sources of Stress That Can Cause Burnout and Overtraining (Peterson, 2005)

Note that in this chart, training could be any area of performance training. You could be working on a hobby or this could be related to your work. Take your school performance for example. When you “train” you are working through assignments and courses. If you take too many course or courses that are too difficult, you can physically exhaust your body. Add to this, the lack of sleep and poor nutrition college students often experience. You could burnout quite easily.

Burnout can be identified by these keys (DeFreese, Raedeke, & Smith, 2015):

1. Exhaustion (physical and emotional) 2. Low feelings (low personal accomplishment, low self-esteem, failure, and depression) 3. Depersonalization and devaluation

How can it decrease performance?

Burnout is not drop out (DeFreese, Raedeke, & Smith, 2015). However, burnout can, when accompanied by other factors, can result in dropout (Weinberg & Gould, 2015). Since burnout is a physical, emotional, and social withdrawal from an activity, it would be unlikely that this mindset would in any way improve performance (Weinberg & Gould, 2015).

How can it improve performance?

Burnout does not improve performance. Prevention (Weinberg & Gould, 2015) is key; recovering from burnout is a separate set of strategies.

Strategies to Pivot

Strategy 1: Monitor overall life stress- Remember that even bad nutrition can impact your overall response to stressors. How you handle these stressors can impact if you burnout or not.

Strategy 2: Watch training volumes- While this is sport-specific advice, it also applies to many other areas of life. Training volume is how much work you do in one session. Usually, it is calculated by multiplying reps by sets by weight lifted. Imagine you did three sets of 8 reps lifting 10 pounds. You can calculate your training volume at 3 * 8 * 10 → 240. If you increased this the next day to 10 sets, your training volume would be 300 (3*10*10). You could have also changed your training volume by increasing the weight you lifted instead of increasing the reps (3 sets * 8 reps * 15 pounds → 360). This might seem unrelated, but it is important! Little changes in your training volume can add up over time. Consider how you track your training volume. Do you just study until you are finished? Do you set timers? Do you have a plan like you would when you go to the gym? Doing so can help you see how much time you are putting into your training.

Strategy 3: Schedule recovery times- Even when you are training for a performance (or in the middle of the semester), you still need to schedule recovery times. Your body (and brain) need breaks. Some people tend to find time to recover. Others need to schedule it. What is recovery for you? Recovery doesn’t have to be just relaxing. It can be active. In your workout program, you can have active recovery days when you do an easy workout or something different. Perhaps recovery is going for a hike, taking a quick day trip somewhere, or reading a book in a quiet spot. Whatever recovery is for you, schedule it...even when you are busy!

Strategy 4: Periodize training- Sport psychologists and coaches often use a periodization technique for athlete training. It looks like this chart to the right. Notice that athletes don’t show up to preseason practice and just jump right into hardcore workouts. (I know...this is what usually happens in real life, though.) They build up to the season. The macrocycles are usually the months and the microcycles are usually weeks. So, each week the challenge increases slightly. You don’t have to make this chart, but how can you periodize your training for whatever goal you are pursuing?

Training Questions

Using your mental performance log, answer these questions. Remember that the more thought and effort you put into them, the more you'll get from the experience.

1. Has burnout ever impacted your performance? Why or why not? 2. Now that you know some ways to modify burnout, what could you have done to prevent burnout from interfering with your performance? 3. How can you prevent burnout in the future? 4. How do you monitor your life stress and training volumes? 5. What is recovery for you? Do you schedule it?