1 + 1 (doesn’t always) = 2
Today’s topic of discussion involves a caring coach inquiring about an athlete who is over one year post-op from a lower body injury that typically takes a minimum of ~1 year before they can begin to feel “normal” again . This particular athlete spent their first year post-op focusing on rehab and strengthening, now another year later they are stronger than ever and fully participating in practice, lift, and games.
The questions asked included the following:
Why do they look “gassed” during practice but their results in the weight room are great?
The weight room is a heavily controlled environment. In this particular setting and program, their movement patterns are primarily frontal and sagittal plane movements that are controlled and methodical. Any assessment done would be considered a “test” for the athlete which encourages the athlete to attempt their best for each trial with appropriate rest times in between. They are able to stop and start whenever they want.
Practice is a dynamic, less controlled environment with more external and dynamic factors. Such factors include: other athletes on the playing surface, a projectile object, sport specific coaches with demands and expectations, the requirement of coordinated multi-planar movements in conjunction with change in direction, altered level of confidence due to comeback status, the list goes on…
Why are they getting 7.5 hours of sleep consistently but still look fatigued?
Number of hours of sleep is not a linear correlation to quality of sleep. Everyone’s system requires different demands to function at an optimal level. One person may be able to function with 7.5 hours whereas another may require 9 hours of sleep. Additionally, a better assessment of sleep would include the following questions: how did you sleep, was your sleep uninterrupted, did you feel well rested, did you wake up in the middle of the night, etc.
What else can we do to make sure we are setting them up for success?
The reality of this question is tough and would require sacrifice or compromise that most people wouldn’t consider or don’t have the luxury of being able to consider. No one is perfect, and the typical student athlete is most certainly far from it when it comes to being able to “do all the right things”. From the get go, they are not set up to succeed, they will be consistently challenged to survive and perform in some of the toughest conditions. How can that be possible? In the same way that multitasking is not efficient, being a student athlete means you will only ever be adequate from a holistic view. Student Athletes are sleep deprived, overworked, energy deficient individuals constantly striving to perform in high stress environments while still trying to have fun and make friends.
Let’s ask ourselves:
How many student athletes are getting an optimal number of hours of sleep necessary for their body to repair and recover from their studies and training? In addition to that, how many hours of their sleep is un-interrupted and leaves them waking feeling well rested?
How many student athletes are able to maintain an optimal state of fuel and hydration based on their energy expenditure from physical and mental demands of being a student and athlete? How much should they be eating to prevent an energy deficit? Not only that, what is the quality of the fuel they are consuming? Are they running on Dunkin or are they running on a healthy serving of your daily macros plus anything supplemental they may need from possible deficits?
How many student athlete are able to down regulate their nervous system on demand so that their body can actually repair and recover rather than being in fight or flight mode?
They wake up in the morning needing to get to class. Before that even happens, they need to get their bums out of bed, get ready, and eat breakfast. Between dashing from their multiple classes , they may have meetings with professors or coaches for office hours or meetings to discuss their progress in their most recent test, practice, or game. Let’s also remember they have lift 2-3x a week - sometimes before their 8am, practice which is 1.5 to 3 hours long 4x a week while they are in-season, plus skills or individuals which is another 1 hour 1-2x per week…. Let’s not forget they need to eat, shower, and shit when they find the time. Since they are in school, once they get home from practice and dinner, they have more work to do… And if they aren’t doing well, had a poor experience in academics/athletics/personal arena then they might be ruminating about it or its circling in their brain. Add in the fact that they are likely on their phone or computer looking at emails, connecting with friends and family, and doing work - their brains are fried by the time they can get some shut eye… Student athletes are also blessed with mountains of meetings and events they must attend at various times of the year. For the most part, they usually occur at the beginning of the school year or semester - but all of these meetings and events that occur within athletics or their sport also eat into their day… So when coaches ask what they could do to help their athletes succeed - sometimes the answer is as simple as do less so that THEY have more time to eat, sleep, and enjoy being in college.
In a nutshell:
The typical student-athlete, as glorious as it may appear on the surface, is actually downtrodden with tasks, responsibilities, and expectations beyond that of your average student. They are doing everything they can to perform well academically and athletically while still attempting to be an engaged member of society, of their communities, of their family, and of their friend groups. They are overworked, overtired, and if it looks like they are doing everything right - they are probably doing their very best. Instead of asking what more they could do to help themselves - have we asked, “how much is too much?” or if we are noticing that adding to their load isn’t resulting in benefits - then maybe we should consider subtracting some things to allow them room to repair, recover, and grow.
The highest commodity is time. Whatever you can subtract to help them add an extra hour of time back into the day - could potentially make all the difference in filling their cup.
