Can Self-Care Lead to Better Sport Performance?

 

Self-care is often misunderstood, and in the sports community, it can be viewed as lazy or as a way to justify obsessive behaviors. In reality, self-care should be about finding and intentionally practicing experiences that make you feel renewed.

Here, Dr. Melissa Streno, TrueSport Expert and licensed clinical psychologist, explains exactly what self-care is, and how you can harness its power to boost your physical and emotional health while also meeting your athletic goals.

What Is Self-Care?

Self-care is essential for athletes—especially athletes with busy lives. "When I talk about self-care with athletes, I explain that it's essentially self-maintenance," Streno explains. "Self-care is what enables us to keep going at our fullest capacity, makes us feel good, and makes life feel a little easier. It helps boost our mood and contributes to many of our health or fitness goals. It's the act of taking time for yourself and finding activities that help you slow down, rest, recharge, and reconnect. When you practice self-care, you're slowing down and checking in with yourself."

But How Can Self-Care Help Me as an Athlete?

"When we're training, there is often a risk of over-training or overuse," says Streno. "Intentional self-care that revolves around slowing down your body and brain can help you avoid these issues. You need to give your body and your brain a break on a regular basis through a self-care practice, and that helps you come back stronger and helps you recover faster. It also helps you be a better teammate and be able to better connect with your fellow athletes and coaches from a healthier, happier place."

What Isn't Self-Care?

Unfortunately, self-care can be used to justify obsessive eating, training, and recovery behaviors—especially for athletes who are trying to perform at a high level, says Streno. Too much emphasis on "healthy" self-care, especially around physical health, can actually ruin the enjoyment of those activities and even lead to harmful behaviors.

Self-care can also be misused as a way to skip out on commitments you've made to yourself and others. Streno notes that when your solo self-care is causing you to miss out on time with friends and family, that can be a sign that you've taken it too far. Yes, sometimes, you truly do need to step back from commitments and take a break, and boundary setting can be a form of self-care.  But in those cases, it’s important to determine how you can avoid that happening again in the future.

Finally, self-care doesn't have to be expensive. Too often, Streno hears people say they can't afford self-care, but there are many free versions of self-care. Instead of booking a professional massage, for instance, your self-care could be spending 15 minutes stretching or using a foam roller.