Guest column by Petter Kukkonen: Everyday life should take overload into account - just like elite sports

The debt caused by overloading the body eventually has to be paid. After a two-minute all-out sprint, the oxygen debt is repaid by sitting next to the track, cursing the moment of one’s birth. Such momentary exhaustion is quickly dealt with, and life goes on.

But long-term debts accumulate when we wear ourselves out in the crossfire of work, daily life, and hobbies. The giant leap of technology has not created for us a carefree life like that of the wealthy in ancient times. And what about one of capitalism’s promises, more free time once wealth reaches a certain point? That thesis feels like a utopia.

We humans strain, get overloaded, and become tired. Recovery is necessary so we do not break down our bodies. Our bodies were not designed to make us millionaires or to pole vault six meters.

Tuning the body

In elite sports, the body is accustomed to being tuned to its limits. In the world of music, Luciano Pavarotti tuned his voice, but at the same time, the virtuoso obsessively made sure he wouldn’t catch a cold or damage his voice in any way. Protecting the throat was a matter of survival in his world. And of course—good food.

In sports, the body (and mind) is an instrument that is fine-tuned until it is time to recover. Progress always takes place during rest, not during exertion. Once fatigue subsides, adjustments are made a little differently, probing the limits of breaking down.

Meeting the human face to face

A coach meets the team at breakfast. Signs of fatigue show in the athlete’s posture, the color of their nose tip, and in their behavior. If there is cause for concern, the day’s training is adjusted to match the body’s condition, sometimes it means jumping back into bed and continuing to sleep. Training is continuously tailored at the individual level, even though there is a training camp or competition program designed for the entire team. There’s no room for foolish decisions, though they still occur. Why? Because that is life.

The support staff monitor daily training sessions, health, and heart rate variability, among other things. The key is to act proactively. This means the coach and the expert team assisting them must know the overall picture of training and the athletes’ history.

A coach knows that some can endure more load due to their genetics and training background, while others tolerate less. One athlete can handle the high intensity of training, another’s body shuts down to low gear and gets sick. Each individual must find their own way of pushing their limits.

The mental game

From a psychological perspective, it is interesting that certain types of people repeat the mistakes characteristic to them. A fragile moment in winter sports is the beginning of the competition season, when pressure to succeed piles up and the darkness drains energy. At the threshold of the season, an athlete may choose an extra workout instead of rest, or replace securing sufficient energy intake with dieting. The mind wants more power, but the result is a disaster.

Overthinking, the so-called “mental game,” or simply obsessing, drives the body into overdrive much like the exhaustion caused by heavy work. The psyche is sometimes an invisible enemy and therefore a particularly unpleasant opponent. A coach must be able to assess the combined load of both physical and mental strain.

Layers of history

A person is the sum of their history, or a prisoner of it, depending on how you see it. Genetics influence behavior and personality more strongly than we may want to admit. Playing the game of life long enough, people become set in their ways, for better or worse. This is a troubling phenomenon when faced with change. Whether it is values, thought patterns, or addictions built over the years, turning the sled around is difficult.

The body is stubborn, always seeking to maintain balance. If you try to gain weight, the body resists. If losing weight seems timely, the body resists that too, at least at first. Quitting smoking rarely succeeds without tears. What about starting exercise or a demanding job after a long break? Eventually, someone succeeds. Why?

So that everyday reality doesn’t tip in the wrong direction, we must learn to adjust three different dials: work, hobbies, and daily life with family. When work subjects us to intense pressure, we must dare to turn down the other two dials, and vice versa. We recover from short bursts of overload over the weekend, but prolonged pressure may require a full reset. And in that situation, cursing by the track won’t help, unlike after a short sprint.

Petter Kukkonen is a coach, writer, and entrepreneur living in Jyväskylä, Finland. During his coaching career, he has led both the Finnish and Estonian national Nordic combined teams, as well as being the coach of Eero Hirvonen. In addition, Kukkonen has worked as a commentator for YLE. He reflects on phenomena at the intersection of sports and societal issues.