Mental Health: How To Look After Yourself

Cover Image Credit @WorldRowing

Rowing is not merely a leisure activity or hobby but a passion and an opportunity for self-betterment. The bonds created at our clubs and schools are distinct from what anyone at home could offer. As we face these tough months ahead, the need for our community and the type of support it offers has never been more evident, though we must adapt how our community functions.

The Mental Health Foundation reinforces what most of us already know about the positive effects of exercise. They also claim that research has shown that low-intensity aerobic exercise was the best type of exercise for creating a positive mood and upon completing a training session, our self-esteem and self-worth improves greatly. As no-doubt we will struggle to find value in ourselves, from sitting at home for entire weeks on end, the satisfaction achieved after a session could be our main source of fulfilment.

Mental Health is a broad term, with many different challenges coming under the same title. Although exercise is no miracle cure, the escapism that many people feel during it can be mind-saving. The muscle tension that your body is under during feelings of stress and anxiety is physically demanding. Releasing this tension through movement helps to alleviate the somatic and then subsequently the cognitive symptoms of stress.

For me, knowing that I am not alone in this is comfort in its self but it is vital that the tight relationships formed with peers, coaches and friends are not lost. Although a quick message can offer some support, the loneliness that many of us will face over the Summer can not be suppressed by a few words over Snapchat. Something as simple as hearing your friend’s voices and seeing their faces over video call can make all the difference and certainly help to bridge the isolation. After all, crew-mates really do see you during your highest highs and some of your lowest lows; they’re the people that sit with you in the tensest situations and motivate you when it is most needed.

Many rowing teams operate the same routine week in week out for terms at a time. For my squad, we have always completed a 30 minute at rate 20 every Monday morning. Although it may not be necessary to burn ourselves out with strenuous ergs every day, setting aside the same amount of time that you would usually spend training should help. Exercise can set you up for the day especially when there’s a risk of feeling claustrophobic in a house full of people. Similarly, it offers a release at the end of a challenging day and can burn enough energy so that we should sleep easier at night. For the more competitive squads, maintaining competition between each other with erg scores and sessions completed could be the motivation to keep going and help to retain a sense of normality. Ultimately, we all need some consistency or routine to force us out of bed in a morning- even just to travel to the living room for a bodyweight circuit. Although there is no need to wake at the crack of dawn, finding the best time to do things for you will be key to staying well.

The ‘Help Guide‘ has highlighted the difference that goal setting can make to success. Many junior rowers function in elite training schedules, whereby improvement on your 2k time is the ultimate goal. Yet during this unprecedented period of isolation, even the strongest of athletes will respond differently to the huge shift in lifestyle. Some will persist with these goals yet for others getting up and out for a 20-minute run will be enough. No matter how large or small your daily goal will be; from going on an hour-long walk to punching out a UT1 erg, as long as we’re doing something, it is better than doing nothing. Due to the uncertainty ahead, long term goals are difficult to create but perhaps sitting down on a Sunday to create goals for the week ahead should encourage motivation.

“…the loneliness that many of us will face over the Summer can not be suppressed by a few words over Snapchat…”

As I mentioned earlier, evidence suggests that it is longer, more aerobic sessions that improve our mood the most. Perhaps because this allows us sufficient time to release any upset in a cathartic manner and then to clear our heads. The point of aerobic exercise is that it is low intensity- this means it should take a minimum of half an hour but you should be able to comfortably speak during the exercise- though not sing. A run would be ideal- especially for those of us who are incapable of sitting on an erg without wanting to push ourselves to the limit.

Every day complete is another day closer to the end of isolation. Let’s use our time to decide what we’re going to do when this is all over. From a whole-club circuit to a club regatta. And then, of course, a squad night out or a meal with our coaches and families. You could start to plan what you want to do next year- if you’re a J17/18 this could include researching universities with the right rowing programme for you.

In Summary, 5 top tips:

1. Check up on your friends, ring them, video call them, a message during this isolation will not suffice
2. Create a routine
3. Low-intensity, longer sessions
4. Set goals
5. Plan what you are going to do when this is over

Never again shall we take a chat while we’re hanging around the boathouse or in the changing room, for granted again. If one thing is for sure though, it is that at some point this will all be over. And in seasons to come we will be back at Holme Pierrepoint, at Strathclyde Park and charging down our home stretches of river once again. Until then, we shall hold onto these thoughts, in the knowledge that many of our best days, regattas and PBs are still to come.

The Northerner

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TheNortherner

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