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Combat Athlete Mental Health: Tips and Strategies from Olympic Freestyle Wrestler Kelsey Campbell
3 Plays1 year ago
Are you a combat athlete looking to perform at your best while maintaining your mental health? Training and competing at a high level can be physically and mentally grueling. But did you know that taking care of your mental health is just as important as your physical health? In this video, we will explore the experiences of Kelsey Campbell, an Olympic freestyle wrestler who battled a serious injury while competing at the highest level. We'll also be sharing tips and strategies specifically tailored to combat athletes like you on maintaining your mental health and building boundaries to perform at your best. Find our past episodes and tools to navigate through your Matrix on our website WWW.OrganicMatrix.net
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Transcript
Importance of Mental Health in Combat Sports
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Are you a combat athlete looking to perform at your best while maintaining your mental health? Training and competing at a high level can be physically and mentally grueling. I could relate. I used to wrestle in high school and in college, and it is mentally grueling. But did you know that taking care of your mental health is just as important as your physical health? That is not something that I knew when I was training.
Kelsey Campbell's Journey and Challenges
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In this video, we will explore the experiences of Kelsey Campbell, an Olympic freestyle wrestler who battled a serious injury while competing at her highest level. We'll also be sharing tips and strategies specifically tailored to combat athletes, like you, on maintaining your mental health and building boundaries to perform your
Introduction to Our Matrix Mentors
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best. If you know a loved one who's a diehard athlete and they're beating their bodies up,
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I need you to send them this episode. Looking for career advice, personal development tips, or you like listening to inspiring stories? Our Matrix Mentors has you covered. Don't miss out. Look, work our podcast and follow us on social media for a life guide in your pocket. If you have a problem you're struggling to solve,
00:01:25
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Let me know, and I'll find a professional to answer your life questions. On today's episode, we're going to be discussing combat athletes, mental health, and tips and strategies from an Olympic freestyle wrestler, Kelsey Campbell. All athletes can attest to this. We want to see the athletes of today go further than what we've went. And that means we've got to let them know what's up and give them some support because this is the navigator
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And our bodies do what our mind's capacity is to do, and that can really help us with combat sports.
Kelsey Campbell's Impact on Female Wrestling
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If you don't know who Kelsey Campbell is, she is an Olympic freestyle wrestler born in Alaska, and she grew up in Oregon. Kelsey started wrestling during her senior year of high school at a time where it was just taboo for women to wrestle. She started wrestling in high school and college on a men's league.
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and has been setting historical records for women all over the world. Kelsey's participation and contribution are a big part of why female wrestling has expanded to the point it is today. Here's a clip from our episode, Matrix Kelsey Campbell on our podcast, The Organic Matrix.
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Kelsey Campbell's participation and contribution is a big part of why female wrestling is expanding today.
Overcoming Adversity in the Olympics
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Coming up, Kelsey shares with us what it was like for her to navigate through her Olympic experience while battling with a serious injury. That was my first really major injury that
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directly impacted me on a big stage. And it was just super, super lonely. And I even remember one of the coaches at the training center telling me that if I ever felt like I was upset or emotional that, and it's crazy because it wasn't said to me in like, we just want to make sure you're okay.
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It wasn't like that. This coach had said, cause I was upset about the injury. I couldn't like train and no one really knew that I was injured. And he was like, yeah, he basically just said, people shouldn't see you weak in here. You know, that's true. There's a time for that. But like, I don't know that that was like my first Olympic team and
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even like I mean a lot of things they did with us they don't do it that way anymore with the teams now I mean and that's they've made a lot of adjustments with the whole process because I just had like
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a few scenarios like that where it was just very tone deaf and it's like so just if I feel sad make sure I hide okay um but yeah like you know people wanted to talk about it but they don't really want to talk about if it's hard and if it's hard like you should probably leave the room so yeah I mean it was just it came from everywhere like
00:04:48
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I hope you enjoyed that clip from Kelsey Campbell as much as I did. Despite her success, Kelsey faced challenges, including a serious injury that impacted her on the big stage. She described feeling lonely and unsupported during this time, when coaches and teammates were not providing the emotional support she needed. Instead, she was told to hide her emotions and not show weakness, which only made her feel more isolated. If you can relate to feeling isolated and unsupported
00:05:18
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or pressured by a team or a coach, whether you're in collegiate sports or in high school sports. I want you to know that you're not alone. And a lot of us can relate to the struggle of wanting to perform at your best, but having something blocking you from it and not having the guidance or support to actually investigate it and figure out what's going on inside.
Strategies for Preventing Burnout
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Maintaining mental health and building boundaries.
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Kelsey's experience is a reminder of the importance of maintaining your mental health and building boundaries as a combat athlete. Here are some tips and strategies you can use to teach us that. Number one, prioritize self-care. Make sure to take time for yourself, whether that means practicing mindfulness or taking a rest day, or engaging in other activities that bring you joy and relaxation. Number two, seek support.
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Don't be afraid to reach out to a therapist or a coach or a friend. Have an emotional support system. Step number three, set boundaries. Establish clear boundaries for yourself, such as taking time off after competition or setting limits on your training schedule. This can help prevent burnout and allow you to focus on other aspects of your life.
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Oh my goodness, let me tell you, I relate to the burnout. I burned out so hard from my wrestling that I never wanted to go back, even though I have a deep love for the sport. I would say there's more life than that one sport, even though that one sport can satisfy a lot of pillars in our life and our needs. It's just good to have balance. Number four, be kind to yourself.
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Combat sports can be grueling physically and mentally, and it's essential to be kind to yourself and acknowledge your accomplishments along the way. By prioritizing your mental health and building healthy boundaries, you can perform at your best and enjoy the journey as a combat athlete.
Learning and Growth in Sports
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It's not about winning. We all want to win. And sometimes you might have a coach that's like, oh, we have to win. But it's all about the journey. And when you're in the Olympics, you're not wrestling for
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your college coach anymore, you know what I mean? You don't want to peak in high school, get a bunch of injuries. Feel like you're 50 years old by the time you start reaching your Olympic dream. Like, learn, enjoy learning, learn from your losses. Losing is a mindset. You don't have to have it. If you lose a match, you know exactly how you can improve to win your next one.
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So be kind yourself and understand that it's a part of the story of greatness. If we didn't have failures, our lives wouldn't sound so boring. So every time an obstacle hits your way, say, oh, great, another chapter to my book, because that's exactly
Applying Mental Health Strategies in Sports
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what it is. By prioritizing your mental health and building boundaries, you can perform at your best and enjoy the journey as a combat athlete.
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Thanks for watching our video on maintaining mental health and building boundaries as a combat athlete. And by learning from Kelsey Campbell's experience in implementing these tips and strategies, you can set yourself up for success and achieve your goals in combat sports. Remember to prioritize your mental health and always be kind to yourself. Good luck on your journey.
00:08:47
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00:09:10
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We appreciate your support and look forward to continuing to serve our incredible community of Matrix members. Thank you. Find our past episodes and tools to navigate through your Matrix on our website, www.organicmatrix.net. I'll be seeing you on the next download.