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FEB 21, 2020
Love of the Game Rigorous practice schedules cause fatigue, athletes compare journeys in sports ANGELA QIAN STORY
RAY MO PHOTOS
W
ith two hours of lacrosse practice after school and up to three games throughout the week combined with a rigorous academic course load, Caroline Ramsey, lacrosse player and senior, said she feels overworked 100% of the time. “(You know you’ve reached your limit when) your body starts to break down. You start getting injured; little things will just make you exhausted,” she said. “I probably get to that point too often. I tend to work myself right up to that edge all the time, and it’s not exactly healthy.” Even off-season, Ramsey said she trains around two and one-half hours a day, working on speed, agility, conditioning and weight training. According to new research, this could affect her off the field. In a recent study of triathletes published in the Current Biology journal, researchers evaluated overtraining syndrome, a form of burnout defined as an unexplained performance drop associated with intense fatigue. In the study, athletes increased their weekly training by 40%. After three weeks, they were more likely than the control group to choose immediate gratification over long-term rewards. Brain scans of these athletes also revealed decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain responsible for decision-making. “You get to a point where you’re having to do so many things that you get so exhausted that making decisions is hard,” Ramsey said. “You will take the easiest way out just to get it over with, just because you’re too tired to think about the consequences, too tired to
MAKING MOVES: Lacrosse Head Coach Brandon Burke gives orders to senior Caroline Ramsey as she navigates her way through her teammate during practice on Saturday morning. “You get to a point where you’re having to do so many things that you get so exhausted that making decisions is hard,” Ramsey said.
S P EA K U P ! Despite all of the hard practices and the long hours, what keeps you playing your sport? “My love for the game keeps me playing. I’ve always grown up with sports, it’s always been in my house. That love has been instilled in me from a young age and that’s what keeps me going.”
Senior Christian Williams “I think definitely my teammates and coaches keep me going because we’re like a giant family and it’s good to have that support system behind me.”
Junior Riley Pennington ASHWIN PRASAD, JACKIE HUR SPEAK-UPS, PHOTOS
