Sports Demands and Stress Management in Athletics

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Causes of Stress for Athletes
Effects of Demands (stress) to an athlete
Importance of stress management
References

Introduction

The demands of an athlete both professional and family life causes stress and anxiety. Therefore, we can not talk of the effects of demands without stress and it is effect. Mental health can also be another issue to be looked at while defining the cause’s demands. we can define stress in many ways. Stress is a harmful physical and emotional response that occur to and individual when the requirements of an activity exceed the capabilities and needs of the individual. ( www.ilo.org).As a matter of fact every individual is affected by anxiety, which is the reaction of an individual when he encounters stress. A great amount of stress can affect the performance of an athlete because he lacks concentration in what he is doing. Pre-competition anxiety has been the great important focus when researching about athletics.

It can also be defined as “the emotional, cognitive, behavioral and physiological reaction to aversive and noxious aspects of work, work environments and work organizations. It is a state characterized by high levels of arousal and distress and often by feelings of not coping.” (www.tcd.ie). from this definition demands can be related with

In relation to sports and specifically athletics it can be defined as a physiological reaction to aversive and noxious aspects of athletics and environments i.e. excessive pressures or the demands placed on them.

It is clear to everyone that you have to be mentally fit for you to be an athletic performer, you must be stress free, you must be a positive thinker, you must be aiming high at all times and even setup goals that you must achieve in life. All this attribute to mental health that one must bear. Therefore, when you see this, alongside other factors then you should be to point out that one could be optimistic athletic performer because this is the major requirements.

A good performing athlete has higher mental resistance and his performance is not affected by his mind. He is resistant to any change, when his mind is disturbed, he continues with his activities well up to the end. He is frank and does not hide anything, even if he realizes any point of weakness; he points it out and tries to improve it.

The athlete must be in good health, he should be free from diseases all the time, he should have a good physical composition and be physically fit because the activities he is involved in are demanding and requires someone to be strong enough to be able to succeed.

Causes of Stress for Athletes

There are different types of stress that affect different athletes from different lifestyles. This can be subdivided into two that is personal and situational.

Here are some of the personal causes of stress
1. Cognitive anxiety, which includes worry, and uncertainty,
2. Somatic anxiety this includes movement changes in the perceived physiological stimulation
3. Behavioral anxiety this involves peoples behaviors.
Situational is related to the events and uncertainty. An athlete may feel burdened when entering into real action

Effects of Demands (stress) to an athlete

The physiological reaction athletes to threats or pressure prepare them for intense physical activity of athletic. This can be observed through changes of the heartbeat and inhalation pace. In the body, there will be diversion of more blood to the muscles than to other organs. The result is the release of adrenaline raising levels of glucose and free fatty acids in the blood stream to provide greater energy (www.personal.psu.edu )

Importance of stress management

Stress can be positive or negative. Under normal circumstances, athletes should be able to find new balances and responses in their reactions to events. Such a stress cannot be said to be negative, as it will act as a motivational factor. “A moderate level of stress can be an important motivational factor and can be instrumental in achieving a dynamic adaptation to new situations. If health is considered as a dynamic equilibrium, stress is part of it. There is no health without interaction with other people and with the environment. Only excesses of stress are pathological.” (International labor organization)

In athletics, therefore stress normal and necessary. What should be avoided is intense, continuous or repeated which a person is unable to cope with, or if support is lacking, stress then becomes a negative phenomenon, which can lead to physical illness and psychological disorders. In a work context, it often results in inadequate adaptation to situations, people, and failure to perform at an optimal level. (International labor organization)

References

Dik B. (2004); measures of career interest; John Willey.

Doraten B. (1999); cross country runners and track and field athletes.

International labor organization (2007). Web.

Pendergrass L. (1999); Examination of the concurrent validity of scores from the CISS for student-athlete college major selection; counseling and development.

Penn state, stress management. Web.

Summers J. (2004); sports psychology: theory application and issues; Chichester.

Weinberg R.S (2003/2007); foundations of sports and exercise psychology.

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Sports Demands and Stress Management in Athletics

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