People join the gym year in, year out in the hope that this might be the time that they commit to their fitness programme. Others may decide to experience a whole new sport and others may try to reignite the old flame with the sport that they used to love.
So why is it so hard for people to commit to exercise, is keeping fit just not for them? Are they stuck with their lazy ways, or have they just not found the right sport for them yet?
Speaking to a sports psychologist, Marco De Caro from the University of Lincoln’s squash team suggested that he has found through his research – which the burn out of an athlete, or else your everyday person hitting the gym for their New Year’s resolution, may be due to more than stress.
De Caro said: “You need to really think about your reasons for participating in sport and exercise, you need to want to do it and you need to enjoy it, or else you’ll find it hard to commit.”
“A key reason for athlete’s burnout is a subconscious feeling of sports entrapment. You may feel like you want to go to the gym to get fit and look good but it is really you who wants that, or is it society, or your friends and family want?”
Studies by Thomas D. Raedeke from the University of Colorado revealed that from a sample of swimmers, those whose reasons for participations reflected the sports entrapment theory rather than sport attraction had a much higher burn out rate.
Lincoln squash team’s psychologist said that the results shown by Raedeke support the commitment perspective theory to explain the reasons for an athlete to burnout.
When asked what the best solution would be to avoid burning out and to make this time round of attempting get and maintain a good level of fitness and health, De Caro said:
“Flipside is just what people, who tend to quit exercise need, the options for more types of exercise they people didn’t know about. The usual scenario of people giving up is not because exercise is not for them, nor that they aren’t capable of competing in the sport he or she used to play anymore, it’s because you haven’t found the right sport for the current time in your life, it’s about what you will enjoy in the present, not the past.”
A common problem with those with a new found determination to develop the perfect body is that people expect too much, too quickly. Scheduling your life around your exercise regime to fast track yourself to perfect health is unrealistic and likely to result in athlete’s burnout. The best advice that Marco De Caro and Flipside can give is finding a sport, and enjoying it.
With exercise and a good diet, you’ll find yourself fitter than ever and you might not even notice the hard work you will be putting in. Exercise and sport is a hobby or career, not a chore.