In the sports, it often happens that teams hit the wall. They stop scoring, they stop moving fast and it even looks like they all of a sudden give up. This article is to understand why this happens and how we minimise the risk of it happening. The phenomenon known as “hitting the wall” is when athletes suddenly become extremely fatigued and mentally tried.
Fatigue is one of the most common complaint from athletes. Fatigue in athletes is problematic as it may affect training and competitive performance. Hitting the wall usually comes at the moment where there is most pressure on the athlete. For instants, it comes mostly in the last kilometres of a race or the last 20 minutes of a game.
When we look at the problem scientifically, then it starts right when depletion of the body’s energy stores happens. That is why fuelling strategies both before and during the competition has a huge impact on not “Hitting the wall.” Even studies show that athletes describe the feeling of “hitting the wall” as the same feeling as when studied athletes hit low sugar levels in muscles.
With this knowledge in mind, we can conclude that the biggest reason of “hitting the wall” happens in professional sports are based on how well these athletes fuel before a game. The food choice has a major impact on athletes performance and the outcome of a game or race.
The athletes with low sugar levels in muscles is the biggest loser. This is because, that carbohydrates (such as blood glucose and muscle glycogen) has the advantage of generating more ATP per volume of oxygen (O2). ATP is Adenosine Triphosphate, which is a chemical that provides energy for movement and exercises.
This is why athletes are recommended, in order to maximise glycogen stores, should always consume a high carbohydrate diet.
Men are more likely to “hit the wall”
A study showed that 28% of male runners hit the wall compared with 17% of female runners. Which means that men are more likely to hit the mental or physical barrier. It was also fund that men would run slower for longer time after “hitting the wall”, when comparing them with the female wall hitters.
These results make sense. when it comes to what we eat, men and women really are different according to scientific research. Men were significantly more likely to eat meat and poultry products. Low carbohydrate foods. Women, on the other hand were more likely to eat vegetables, fruits and sprouts. Foods with higher carbohydrates, fiber and nutritional values.
Mental fatigue during competition
Mental fatigue will of course have negative effects on physical activity. A good night sleep will help on lowering the risk of mentally “hitting the wall” later on of the day. But the biggest reason is linked to the food we eat. Once more the conclusion is that athletes should be on a high carbohydrate diet.
Glucose (carbohydrates, a form of sugar) is the primary source of energy for every cell in the body. Because the brain is so rich in nerve cells (neurons) it is the most energy-demanding organ, using one-half of all the sugar energy in the body.
So… All brain activity is linked to sugar. Brain functions such as thinking, memory, and learning are closely linked to glucose levels and how efficiently the brain uses this fuel source. All this means, that running low on fuel as an athlete will make you hit the wall mentally. Athletes will therefore make more bad choices and do more mistakes.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6628334/
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0251513
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6628334/