WAG How much stress is too much?

[Flipomaniak]

When it comes to a gymnast's life, balancing everything and getting stressed out, in your opinion, when is it too far? When is too much, well too much? I'm reaching my breaking point/:

 

[ShesAMonkey]

I'm so sorry that you are feeling stressed out. It's hard to balance everything: school, family, friends, gym, other activities, etc. I would recommend trying to take a step back in some way. What is stressing you out the most?

 

[teksquad]

I think that if you feel you are at a breaking point, then it is time to talk about it with someone- a coach, a parent, a friend. Please don't keep it to yourself. Try to see clearly what is contributing to the stress. There is probably another way to work schedules, or do things differently, or prioritize. Sometimes, there is just too much going on, and you have to step back somewhere in your life. I hope you are feeling better soon!

 

[my4buffaloes]

I guess you need to figure out why you are at your breaking point. Frequently it is just a temporary thing causing too much stress. Like right now with back to school stuff - I know that piles a lot of extra things into our weeks which makes things more stressful. Have you taken on anything new or has it been slowly building for awhile? I think talking to someone and taking a hard look at everything on your plate will help you realize what can be and/or needs to be cut. Good luck - we have all been there. Realizing you are at this point is half the battle of fixing it.

 

[Gymsanity]

When it comes to a gymnast's life, balancing everything and getting stressed out, in your opinion, when is it too far? When is too much, well too much? I'm reaching my breaking point/:

Welcome to life! How old are you, what level, how long have you been in gym, how many hours a week? The reality is that gym is supposed to be fun, not stressful. I feel kids that get to do such a great activity are the truly lucky ones. They get to come to gym every day, be with their friends, learn cool tricks, defy gravity, be looked up to by mere 'mortals', get strong and healthy, play and learn in a healthy environment, etc. Could be lots worse, as it beats the heck out of the childhood I had growing up! Without knowing the particulars of your situation, it's hard to know exactly what's going on, but parents and coaches are a great place to start. I hope you can get things figured out so that gym becomes your place of relaxation, and not stress. Good luck, and let us know.

 

[wsg13]

I love gymnastics it's like my stress reliever! But recently I have been falling behind in my school work and I am not able to keep up with my homework. About a week ago I had a panic attack it was very scary!! I now have a homework plan and am trying to keep to it but it's hard :-(

 

[profmom]

You are learning some very valuable life skills in asking this question of yourself, and only you can answer it. How do you know when you're under too much stress? Many people have physical and emotional signs that tell them clearly it's time to dial back on something. A few I've experienced or seen:

insomnia
change in eating habits (eating more or less than usual)
intrusive thoughts about things that make you anxious
significant loss of interest in things you usually enjoy
loss of your sense of humor
big uptick in your frustration level with the ordinary pitfalls in life
persistent and recurrent feelings of hopelessness and extreme anxiety
increased (or started) use of drugs (both legal or illegal) or alcohol

If you are experiencing a lot of these things and you're pretty sure it's because you're juggling too much, it's time to sit down and take a hard look at your life. Think about your big priorities for the next year and figure out what needs to stay and what might possibly be able to go in order for you to achieve what you most want to achieve.

It can also be very helpful to talk to a counselor about these kinds of issues. Just as you wouldn't think about "toughing out" a case of strep throat, even though it's a relatively minor illness, you shouldn't feel that you need to drag yourself through an episode of significant anxiety or depression without a helping hand.

Good luck to you -- you're gymnast strong and I know you can figure this out.

 

[iwannacoach]

How was last year. If you look back and feel it was worth the sacrifices you made it should be easy to figure a way to make the coming year a good one. Gymnastics is best done when you scoff at the notion that you've given up too many other things and do it just because you want to enjoy "the life" you and some of your team mates have enjoyed for years. If the past year hasn't left you with a sense of satisfaction and pride, or if you can't find a challenge in the gym that drives you to work hard, then it may be time to say this is your last year and spend the next 8 months doing your best to prove yourself wrong.

 

[Flipomaniak]

Thank you everyone for your responses. To be honest, I don't know what excatly is making me feel overwhelmed... I'm in a constant state of anxiety, insomnia, etc.

 

[Flipomaniak]

Welcome to life! How old are you, what level, how long have you been in gym, how many hours a week? The reality is that gym is supposed to be fun, not stressful. I feel kids that get to do such a great activity are the truly lucky ones. They get to come to gym every day, be with their friends, learn cool tricks, defy gravity, be looked up to by mere 'mortals', get strong and healthy, play and learn in a healthy environment, etc. Could be lots worse, as it beats the heck out of the childhood I had growing up! Without knowing the particulars of your situation, it's hard to know exactly what's going on, but parents and coaches are a great place to start. I hope you can get things figured out so that gym becomes your place of relaxation, and not stress. Good luck, and let us know.

I am 16, level 10 and during summer training was close to 30 hours a week.

 

[Gymsanity]

I am 16, level 10 and during summer training was close to 30 hours a week.

OK, you win, now I'm stressed!! First, let me say congratulations, as all of that (and you) is/are amazing! I know that at 16 you are really starting to get into the 'swing' of your life, and you are trading a lot of other things in your life for gym. The trick is, you have to feel it's a fair trade! I guess a few things to consider would most importantly be, do you still enjoy gym, what would take it's place if you quit, have you reached all your goals, and being L10 at 16 years old makes you a great candidate for college. Would you like to try and get a scholarship? I've never had a girl get one that didn't think it was the greatest thing out there, but yes, it too is pretty stressful. Now that I'm saying it, the word stress and gym seem to come up a lot together!! I hope that you will be able to find someone in your life that can help guide you through this difficult time. Maybe you can set some goals to work towards? State, Nationals, College, etc.? Whatever you choose, I wish you the very best.

 

[stxrdusty]

Too much is too much when you get 2-3 hours of sleep every night typically. I had an average of 3-4 every night my last two years of high school (senior year especially) and trained 21.5 hours a week. Granted I was taking mostly AP and IB classes both years and trying to get into a school with my academics because I knew I wasn't going to get recruited for a college gymnastics team. I spent senior year stressed out the entire time and basically worked as hard as I could, just biding my time until graduation. Even before the year started I was like, "I am so done, I honestly can't do this anymore". I was stressed out about school work, not gym though.

Now that high school's over I can tell you I hated it day-by-day and week-by-week frequently, but overall I enjoyed it. However, I could never, EVER, do it again.

I'd suggest creating a list of goals of what you want, academics, gymnastics, friends-wise etc, and re-evaluating what you're doing in your life. I valued academics and gymnastics, so I focused on that. If you value friends and gymnastics, focus on that. You could still get stressed out by trying to do too much, but at least you're going to enjoy it in the end, or at least I ended up enjoying it.

Your breaking point stress-wise is going to be totally different than someone elses. It depends on how much you're willing to sacrifice for what you want to do.

Whatever you choose to do, good luck!

 

[tasmin]

I think stress can be good for a gymnast, but it must not go too far. If you are loosing too much sleep over it, or not feeling able to eat, its probably time to let something go. One of my friends starting having fainting fits and panick attacks from the pressure... That was definetly too far!!