^{Photo by football wife}

Athletes spend most of their time exercising or exhaustively training for their sports. Due to this, athletes’ mental health is often forgotten.

Approximately, athletes train 30 hours weekly to guarantee they’d stay healthy and fit to play during competitions. These training hours are on top of their academics or other responsibilities in life, requiring athletes to have discipline, determination, and hard work above simply being passionate about sports. With all these responsibilities they constantly have to juggle, these individuals are typically perceived as having strong personalities others would look up to.

But Their Lives Aren’t That Perfect

While athletes are constantly required to exercise, an activity well-known to positively influence one’s mentality, this doesn’t mean that athletes’ mental health is immune from stressors. In fact, according to the American College of Sports Medicine, 35% of elite athletes are struggling with poor mental health and conditions like burnout, anxiety, and depression. This shows that stress may often triumph over exercise, and even the strongest population can suffer from its consequences.

Stan Lee once wrote, “With great power comes great responsibility.” His words don’t only refer to Spider-Man but, perhaps, to athletes, as well.

Although relatively healthier, athletes shouldn’t think they’re spared from downtime because their routines require them to be physically fit. With everything on their hands, from career achievements to performance, they are under loads of pressure. Hence, their coaches should occasionally check their athletes’ mental health and allow them time to rest. Above everything else, this also means that society shouldn’t put these individuals on a pedestal and acknowledge that they aren’t some real-life indestructible superheroes.

They will also bend and break.

Protecting Athletes’ Mental Health

While they may still be perceived as strong individuals, athletes have gradually shed their unbreakable image. Numerous athletes have stepped up to speak about this topic, and books have opened discussions about athletes’ mental health. In The 70-30 Split on Coaching Psychology, author and coach Gerald Brence perfectly blends the concepts of coaching, psychology, and motivation. These might seem like entirely separate and unique ideas. But if coaches want to achieve or create a perfect method to toughen up and train their teams, this method is the most effective.

People can associate this 70-30 principle with numerous things. But regarding athletic success, this principle means that while athletes default to action, they should leave space to optimize. This 70-30 principle means athletes can spend 70% of their time and strength on training, while 30% should be spent on other endeavors that can influence their mental health. This includes rest and other relaxing hobbies that help stray their minds away from athletic pressure.

Achieving this split can take time and effort. After all, most athletes only know when to stop when they see themselves physically deteriorating. Runners won’t stop running unless they see blisters on their feet. Boxers won’t stop punching until they’re pooling in blood. Brawns are typically rewarded in sports. Athletes often have blurred perceptions of when they should stop and recognize they’re over-trained.

However, when it comes to athletes’ mental health, the breaking point is all-or-nothing. Most of the time, it won’t be noticeable until it’s too late.

Athletes’ Mental Recovery

Some common distress signs athletes should look out for are dread associated with practice, anxiety, and fatigue. These often spring up whenever they’re on the field or training, finding themselves disliking the activity, unlike before. Athletes should acknowledge that it’s time to step back when any of these happen. While it can be frightening, opening themselves to the idea of talking to their coaches or sports psychologists is an excellent idea. This allows them to focus on recovery and not get sidetracked and decline.

On this road to recovery, athletes’ coaches play a massive role in supporting them. They can positively influence their perception and see they won’t lose their passion for sports. Every athlete’s motivation might differ from one person to the other. But it’s a no-brainer that coaches must emphasize positivity, highlighting their athletes’ performance and efforts instead of their mistakes.

Coaches can read more from Gerald Brence’s book: The 70-30 Split to learn more about the psychology of motivating athletes.