For most sports, races and training sessions, fatigue is unavoidable.

But the better we can understand fatigue. And learn how to deal with it. The better we can perform.

I’m fascinated by it. See Rugby 7s gets you pretty familiar with fatigue.

And I’d seriously cook.

So tools to deal with it better, I’m all ears…

Firstly, it’s important to know.

Fatigue is both physical and mental.

Physically it’s the failure of a body system.

Mentally it’s the perception of pain.

The two overlap and interact.

But the brain quits before the body.

See the brain wants to keep the body in balance (known as homeostasis).

It wants to keep things like body temperature, fluid balance and other body functions at these safe limits.

So when we do something that causes imbalance (like exercise), our brain subconsciously sends pain signals to get us to stop. Trynna bring the body back into balance.

It’s a protective mechanism. A super important (and powerful) function. It wants to keep us safe. Otherwise we could literally run ourselves to death.

But the brain is a bit of a hypochondriac.

When it says stop or slow down. It’s not the reality. Our bodies are capable of more.

It’s why when we do stop, we feel better straight away.

As we return to homeostasis, the brain pulls the pain signals.

The Navy Seals call it the 40% rule. That when you think you’re done. You’re really only 40% done.

So how do we deal with it?

Well, all these brain signals are happening on a subconscious level.

But we can override them with our conscious mind.

So every hard training and competition is a battle between our subconscious and conscious minds.

The best in the world are better at winning that battle.

It’s not to say that a 150kg lump could win the Olympic marathon if they were a mental samurai.

Of course training the body is important. But we also need to train the mind.

And understanding fatigue is the first step to overriding it...

When it gets tough, knowing that the brain is a bit of a hypochondriac is helpful.

We don’t have to listen to it.

We’re absolutely cooked.

But we’re not gonna die.

Note: The pain of effort is different to the pain of injury. Smart to listen to your pain signals when it’s the latter.

Same with long-term fatigue. Listen to the bod, or say g’day to burnout.