How Life Stress May Increase Trail Running Injury Risk

In this article, I’ll explore how life stress (stressors outside of the sport) may increase the risk of injury during trail running. Many dismiss the idea that unrelating life stressors may impact sport performance, but it’s important to note that the body doesn’t hugely differentiate between stressors, whether they be physical (after an intense training session) or psychological (a work deadline). I’ll be using the stress injury model (Williams and Andersen, 1998) as a guide to help explain the relationship between stress and sport injury before explaining how life stress may specifically increase trail running injury risk.

Petter Engdahl'S ankle twist at UTMB's CCC in 2022. Image by Peignee Vertical.

The model begins with a sport situation that could be deemed stressful. For trail runners, this could be a highly competitive event or an event containing technical terrain in which the athlete has little experience covering. The model then mentions the athlete’s cognitive appraisal. Simply, this is whether the athlete views the sporting situation as a challenge (eustress - performance enhancing, no increases risk of injury) or a threat (distress - performance diminishing/increased injury risk). Whether the athlete views the sporting situation as a challenge or a threat is mediated by numerous factors, including their personality (does the athlete have trait anxiety in which they’re more likely to perceive situations as a threat?), their history of stressors (is the athlete currently dealing with any other stressful situations outside of the sport?) and coping resources/interventions (does the athlete have access to any techniques to reduce distress if it does arise?). 

As mentioned, the above factors can impact the athlete’s cognitive appraisal. Therefore, an athlete with trait anxiety, balancing non-sporting stressors and without access to coping resources is likely to view the upcoming sporting situation as a threat, which increases distress. According to the model, large amounts of distress can cause both physiological and attentional changes which can increase the risk of injury. According to Andersen and Williams (1998) the primary physiological change as a result of stress is an increase in muscle tension which in-turn can negatively effect coordination. The attentional changes are related to a reduced peripheral vision (more specifically a narrowing of the periphery) and an increased focus on task irrelevant objects, or an increased distractibility from task relevant objects. 

The stress-injury-model (Williams and Andersen, 1998)

Increased muscle tension can be detrimental to both trail running performance and injury risk due to the importance of coordination when descending technical terrain. Poor levels of coordination while attempting to overcome rocky terrain may increase the risk of an ankle sprain or simply a fall. Secondly, a reduced peripheral vision may not directly increase trail running injury risk as there’s very little in a trail runners peripheral vision that may be vital to their performance. Generally, everything that must be focused on during trail running is in the central vision. On unmarked courses, like in fell races, peripheral vision may become more necessary due to the importance of choosing the most suitable route of descent, and with a reduced peripheral vision an athlete may miss optimal route choices. A narrowing of the peripheral vision may impact an athlete descending sharp switch-backs, as the athlete will be less aware of what’s around the corner, but this is an extremely niche example. Generally, a reduced peripheral vision may not be too ineffective on marked courses. However, an increased distractibility towards task irrelevant cues has potential to be damaging. An athlete with decreased awareness of task relevant cues may not notice technical obstacles while swiftly descending a single-track, while an increased attentional focus towards task irrelevant cues may get distracted by potential supporters along the course, diverting their attention away from the course, both of which can easily cause an ankle sprain, fall, or worse. 

Ultimately, this model is a theory, but there’s fair amounts of research supporting the link between injury risk and general life stress. A review of the research by Williams and Scherzer (2006) found that athlete’s dealing with high stress are two to five times more likely to receive an injury compared to athletes with low stress. In addition, they found a correlation between increasing life stress and increasing injury risk (the more stress, the higher the injury risk). For optimal performance, either limiting or managing unnecessary stress is extremely important. Limiting stress, especially for non-professional athletes, is more difficult in practise than in theory, and thus the importance of coping strategies becomes increasingly vital. 

The management of stressors is something I value highly and is emphasised within my coaching due to the health and performance-related benefits. There are numerous interventions available, self-talk, breathing techniques or imagery can be impactful, all of which will be discussed in a future post, either through an article or social media post (@TomasBlackRun).

References

Williams, J. M., & Andersen, M. B. (1998). Psychosocial antecedents of sport injury: Review and critique of the stress and injury model. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 10(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413209808406375

Williams, J. M. and Scherzer, C. B. (2006) ‘Injury risk and rehabilitation: Psychological considerations’, in Williams, J. M. (ed) Applied Sport Psychology – Personal Growth to Peak Performance, London, McGraw-Hill, pp. 565–94.