MANAGING BURNOUT AS A COMPETITIVE RIDER

Text: Ryan Tehini

For the vast majority of competitive athletes, sport is a place of love and enjoyment. Even in the face of stress, anxiety, and defeat, your passion for the sport still drives you to keep competing and keep pushing yourself to do better at every show. But what happens when you no longer feel that way? Does falling out of love with your sport mean that your career has come to an end, and it is time to hang up the reins? More than likely, the answer to this question is no; you are simply reaching a point of burnout.

While you may have heard of burnout in the context of work, it exists equally (if not more so) in the world of sports. Elite athletes push themselves every single day and ask not only a lot of their bodies but also of their minds. If this pressure is unmanaged or the athlete lacks effective coping mechanisms, this relentless trudging towards excellence can lead to athlete burnout.

Causes of burnout

Much like in many other topics in sport psychology, the causes of burnout can typically be broken down into two main categories: external factors and internal factors. External factors usually include things like injuries and physical exhaustion (pervasive amongst riders, as a result of generally having other commitments – such as school or work – along with the significant time commitment of riding). However, while external factors do contribute to burnout, they are seldom defined as the main reason behind athlete burnout; the core of the issue is typically ascribed to internal factors. Internal factors can include high expectations for your ride, placing unrelenting pressure on yourself, as well as the most common reason for burnout amongst athletes – maladaptive perfectionism.

Maladaptive perfectionism in athletes refers to the athlete having unrealistic standards of performance and rigidly abiding by these without any consideration for the unpredictability of the sport. This leaves the athlete unable to cope with changes thrown at them and results in burnout. In riding, maladaptive perfectionism would look like this:

• Returning from an injury and expecting to place first at your first show because you believe anything less would not be acceptable.
• Looking back at a less-than-desirable ride and berating yourself for the performance without taking into account any of the mitigating conditions of the day (such as considering that you just went up a level, or maybe your horse was recently sick, or you didn’t get time for a proper warm-up etc.)
• Rewatching a ride where you placed first, but nonetheless fixating on the minor mistakes you may have made.

The above should give you an indication as to whether or not your perfectionism may lead to burnout. If you find yourself doing any of the above on a consistent basis, you should consider looking out for the warning signs of impending burnout.

Identifying burnout

Burnout is extremely unforgiving, and once an athlete reaches the point of full-blown burnout, it can take months, even years, to recover from it. This is why it is vital to take notice of the warning signs and take early action to prevent reaching that stage. Not all athletes will experience the same symptoms; however, the following are a few of the most common:

• Perpetual fatigue and reduced energy – regardless of whether or not rest has been adequate.
• No longer enjoying things that you used to enjoy (anhedonia).
• An overall reduction in focus and confidence.
• Feelings that the performance and other things simply do not matter.
• Increased level of illness and injury.
• Mood swings that are typically characterised by anger and/or apathy.
• Withdrawal from training.

While the above is not a comprehensive list of burnout symptoms, it should provide you with enough of a window into the type of symptoms that you may see around burnout so that you can identify whether you or someone you know is edging towards it.

Combatting burnout

Once you have identified that you may be presenting with one or more of the above symptoms and are at risk of burning out, it is time to take action. It does not take long for these symptoms to develop into burnout during times of heightened training and performance.

The first step you should take in combatting burnout is to schedule rest periods as actively as you schedule your training days; this doesn’t necessarily have to be a day off from riding, but can include taking your horse on an outride or doing any form of work with them that is not intensive and training focused. Another technique that can be used is to try and remind yourself why you love the sport and then spend some time focusing on those aspects. For example, if you love riding because you love to be outside in the fresh air and you love the time spent with your horse – then take some time to do those things outside of the competitive environment; not only will this help you, but it will help your horse as well.

While the above techniques can be effective, they might not prove enough to prevent (and continue preventing) burnout. If that is the case, the best recommendation I can make is to get in touch with a sports psychologist. We can tailor a stress management and coping mechanism programme to your needs to ensure that you avoid burnout and continue to ride with the same passion and love you always have.

Take home message

Burnout is a harsh reality of competitive sport and is not to be taken lightly. While several elements can ultimately lead to burnout, the key to preventing it is to identify the symptoms early and take relevant steps to ensure that these do not develop any further.