The Mindset Of A Champion Blog » Sports Injuries

Symptoms Of Overtraining

Dr Marc Dussault — Sat, 29 May 2010 01:42:14 +0000

In a previous post, I discussed how much you should train and introduced the concept of overtraining with Olympic training anecdotes. I got quite a bit of feedback with one common question: How can I tell if I’m over training? From The Sport Psych Handbook, here are the physical and psychological symptoms you should look out for. Over course if you see these symptoms in your training partner(s) – let them know!

Overtraining - Don't do it!

Physical Symptoms Of Overtraining

Elevated heart rate
Weight loss
Muscle pain or soreness
Elevated resting blood pressure
Gastrointestinal disturbance
Delayed recovery from exertion
Loss or decrease in appetite
Severe fatigue
Overuse injuries
Disturbed sleep patterns
Immune systems deficits

Psychological Symptoms Of Overtraining

Loss of self-confidence
Drowsiness and apathy
Irritability
Emotional/Motivational changes
Sadness
Anxiety
Anger/hostility
Confusion
Concentration difficulties
Boredom

MasterMind Your Way To Injury Recovery

Dr Marc Dussault — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 02:31:53 +0000

The MasterMind concept is one that most people make much more complicated than it needs to be. In my book on MasterMind Groups, I distill them to their core essence, ethos and principles, but y’know what? It’s even simpler than that – take this example for instance…

One of my squash partners inadvertently stepped on my foot a few weeks ago and it’s been sore ever since. As a MasterMind aficionado, I am constantly leveraging people around me and telling people things like this. Two days ago, I mentioned it to the ‘unoffocial’ President of my fan club [ ] and he mentioned I should take anti-inflammatories… DUH!!!

Since I am anti-drugs and pharmaceuticals – I don’t automatically go to that solution when I have an ache or pain… I prefer the natural healing alternative, but in this case, it makes sense to ACCELERATE the process by reducing the INFLAMMATION and reduce the discomfort since NOT playing is not an option (more on that in a subsquent post).

So there you go – Ask people for help – talk about your problems, challenges, injuries… see what happens when the people around you contribute to FINDING A SOLUTION FOR YOU!

Injured? Stop Playing!

Dr Marc Dussault — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:17:56 +0000

If you’re injured and play on, you’re not taking into consideration that your body will compensate for it and potentially cause another injury. I recently hurt my foot – one of my squash partners stepped on it and bruised it. I kept playing on, figuring it’ll heal… Which it is – BUT one day, when I played for two hours FULL-ON, I risked pulling my groin muscle because my body was over-compensating for my sore foot.

Not a smart thing to do. I won’t make that mistake again.

Lesson learned.

When injured – cross train or just rest. Even champions need to heal their wounds from battle. In fact, in contact sports like Rugby – the #1 problem is getting players to REST… To let their bodies heal themselves.

A champion can be disciplined enough to control his/her ego and the desire to go back on the court…

Serious Athletes BEWARE!

Dr Marc Dussault — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:16:57 +0000

In the March issue of Men’s Health Magazine, I came across this interesting statistic of injuries for every 1,000 hours of training. This is something to be aware of. The stats don’t lie. SOMEONE is going to get hurt – it’s inevitable… Of course the exponential mindset is SOMEONE will get hurt – hopefully SOMEONE ELSE!

A famous joke illustrates this philosophy:

Two guys are in the forest and come across a bear. One of them says “#$#%$ we have to out-run the bear!” The other, with an exponential mindset says “No, I just have to out-run you!”

Sport Injury Statistics For Every 1,000 Hours Played

I’ve done a little math for you. 1,000 hours is more or less 1 hour, 3 times a week = every 6 years.

How often do you play your sport?

I post this not to scare you, just as something to keep in mind.

Play well, play safe!