Stress: How does it impact performance?

stress: how does it impact performance?

Ask anyone who has coached endurance athletes for even a short period of time how much life stress impacts performance, and you will consistently hear that this sometimes hard-to-describe and define concept can have a really big impact on how we perform. This study from 2014 is a great one, showing just how impactful stress is on physical performance. The paper looked at how psychological stress in college students impacted their ability to perform and their perception of fatigue:

In the study, high levels of stress were related to several days longer return to baseline sensations of fatigue, soreness and readiness to perform.

The study also showed that perceived energy, and isometric force output were also reduced during periods of high stress.

During periods of the highest stress, some of these negatives persisted up to 4 days longer than periods of normal stress.

So how does this help you?

During periods of higher life stress, if you can reduce training stress – or adjust training by allowing more recovery between your most challenging workouts, you can reduce the odds of overreaching and keep on track to your goals.

If you have a planned big training period, work to build that training phase into points of the year that you anticipate lower life stress.

Stay adaptable—if you feel stress building, look for ways to mitigate that/reduce it, allowing you to get more out of your training and less fatigue overall. This is a time to remember that LESS IS MORE!

-Will

Reference: Chronic psychological stress impairs recovery of muscular function and somatic sensations over a 96-hour period

Will Kirousis, MS, CSCS, CISSN
Tri-Hard | Director
USA Cycling Certified Coach

USA Triathlon Certified Coach
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

Certified Sports Nutritionist

508.633.2708 | will@tri-hard.com | www.tri-hard.com | @willkirousis