Athlete Perspective: How to manage social media during competition

SIRC’s Athlete Perspective series provides insight and recommendations on key issues from an athlete’s perspective. The collection of blogs and SIRCuit articles profiles Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes and taps into their lived experience. While social media can have many positive uses for athletes, such as interacting with fans, creating a brand, and providing value for sponsors,...Read more

We Need to Talk about Mental Health

Life as a high-level athlete has its ups and downs. There is success and failure, stress, pressure, endless doubts, injuries, days where you are surrounded by people and others where you are completely by yourself. It’s a train of emotions, one after the other, almost simultaneously. It can be too much to process. In the past year, many athletes and international celebrities have united their...Read more

Marginal Gains Reconsidered: How Sport Organizations Hold the Key to Boosting Sport Performance

The concept of marginal gains has caused many professional and amateur teams to chase every tiny gain available relating to nutrition, physiology, psychology, technology, and strength and conditioning. As a result, in the past decade sport has taken a huge step forward through innovation, much of it driven by partnerships with external experts with world-leading expertise in related areas that...Read more

Breaking the Silence: Championing Psychological Help-Seeking in Sport

Sometimes it seems like athletes have magical powers. As they plunge in the water and soar in the air, it can feel as though they are invincible. Their physical superiority, focused demeanour, and competitive spirit often radiate confidence and strength, influencing us to believe that they possess superhuman qualities. While they experience the throes of victory and the despairs of loss, we must...Read more

Destressing the Workplace

Just about everyone who has held a job has felt a degree of anxiousness or stress about it at some point. In fact, there are times when stress provides us with the energy and motivation to meet or exceed expectations. The pressure can help us rise to the occasion and meet challenges, goals and/or deadlines. However, when stress goes beyond this and causes exhaustion, frustration, dissatisfaction...Read more

Adjusting to Life After Sport - Easing the path for athletes in transition

High performance athletes typically make a lot of sacrifices for their sport in all areas including family, education, finances, and sometimes even their bodies. Their lives are usually jam-packed with strict routines, intense training and busy competition schedules with the ongoing aim of achieving their dreams. With their social lives, support systems and even off-times focused on their sport...Read more

Often overlooked – The psychological impact of an ACL injury

An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is one of the most common and yet one of the most devastating injuries an athlete can sustain. There is plenty of research on ACL injuries and the methods for treatment are well documented; usually when an athlete sustains this type of injury, their physical recovery is addressed well and thoroughly, and many recover enough to return to their sport...Read more

Improve your mental health by walking in nature

Our mental well-being is an important aspect of general health. Having a good social support group, being physically active, joining a community group or having a hobby can influence our mental well-being. Combining any of these options can offer a multidimensional approach to coping with mental illness . A recent study published in the Journal of Ecopsychology looked at nature walks in a group...Read more

Sport and Mental Health

Athletes are often perceived by the public to be fitter, healthier and happier than others. In fact, athletes are not immune from mental health issues, and can struggle just like the rest of us. Along with the stigma attached to mental health, especially in the sporting world where mental toughness is as valued as physical toughness, it can be difficult for athletes to seek help. That's why SIRC...Read more

Children less fit than their parents

Cardiovascular endurance exercise helps strengthen your heart so that it is able to transport oxygen to your organs and muscles. The heart is the most important muscle in the human body. With proper diet and regular exercise, cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke can be minimized. A person’s heart health is a good indicator of their overall health. But are our children as...Read more