One of the many challenges of being an endurance athlete is the chance of burnout. As endurance athletes, we push ourselves to be the best we can be and sometimes we push ourselves too far. To avoid athletic burnout as an endurance athlete, it’s important to understand what can cause burnout and how to avoid it.
Athletic burnout affects your mental, emotional, and physical state. It is defined as “a state of mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion caused by overwork or overstress.” As an endurance athlete, you are most prone to athletic burnout when you work too hard, too long, too intensely, and are extremely dedicated to the sport.
To avoid athletic burnout you need balance and realistic goals. With the help of an endurance coach and effectively tracking your sessions and races, you can keep yourself in check and avoid burnout by following these tactics that we share with all of our athletes.
2. Just like your training has scheduled breaks such as recovery days, recovery weeks, and rest weeks we need to be sure to take time in our day for a break as well.
3. Change your training environment, such as a different pool, or a new virtual route on your trainer, or hit the trail for a recovery run.
4. Focus on micro-goals that lead to the macro goal.
5. Give yourself an honest check-in with your life balance. Are you making time for family and friends? Are you getting proper rest?
As a coach, I often find that if an athlete is going to experience signs of burnout, they will feel it about ¾ through their race season or near the peak training for an “A” event. Understanding the warning signs and how to avoid/overcome burnout is crucial to our success.
-Coach Tyler
Check out our 3 best practices for how to manage a missed triathlon training session, so that the next time you need to miss a workout, you’re not overworking yourself to “make up for it.” It will help you work smarter, not harder. Also, learn more about our online triathlon coaching services to help guide your training while minimizing burnout.
Carly and Tyler Guggemos built Organic Coaching in 2014 with a simple philosophy that works. The idea is to take what you have and grow it to get faster, fitter and stronger. And to do it with the time you have – not the time you wish you had.
For athletes who are ready to take their training to the next level while still thriving and succeeding in their professional and family life.
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