In this interview with Jill Colangelo, ALM, Riley discusses the intersection between athlete identity and resting and taking time to rest and recover in the offseason.
From the YouTube Description:
“Some of us make every excuse in the book about why we want to or need to keep training throughout the year. Dr. Nickols tells us what’s really going on in people’s heads and why listening to insecurities and fears will never make us better athletes if we can’t take time to rest! A great conversation for any time of year, but especially now!
1:20 – Why don’t athletes want to take time off/Offseason
4:40 – Psychological reasons to keep going eventually lead to poor performance
7:10 – Unraveling assumptions
10:40 – Body Image and fear-based reasons to not stop training
15:00 – Feeling vulnerable leads to reactive training plans
16:00 – Athlete Identity vs. the Offseason
22:00 – Athlete body type stereotypes vs. rest
25:40 – Do you want to look a certain way or perform a certain way?
27:25 – Do people come to endurance sport to deal with their baggage?
30:00 – Red flags: how do we know we’re in trouble?
Jill Colangelo, ALM is a recent graduate of Harvard Extension School who researches the relationship between mental health and ultra-endurance sport. On Jill’s website she states, “Athletes do not have difficulty recognizing and receiving care for physiological concerns. They should have the same success in having mental health concerns be recognized and treated.”
Trying to find a counselor who understands the unique mental, physical, and emotional needs of an athlete? The sport psychologists at Mind Body Endurance can help.