this week, HMES 2270 touched on sport injury.

stress is one of the major causes of sport injuries. stress can result from anxiety prior to competition; it can arise from the pressure to perform optimally during the game and it can also arise from issues within athletes. it leads to muscle tension, coordination interference which then causes distraction and cognitive appraisal (perception of threat). so, when athletes are under stress, they are prone to get mildly or severely injured.

i actually experienced all of these today.

i was stress due to personal reasons. i have not been communicating with Arifin for a while, i understand he is busy over there and i don't blame him, so i was trying to be stronger and more positive day by day but today, i couldn't lift myself up. when i cycled to uni, a huge human traffic like always. usually i could maneuver between these obstacles. but today, when i was cycling with my usual speed, i felt off my bike. my left knee was bleeding and i have swimming class in 10 minutes. here, my stress level was narrowing my visual perception.

when i arrived at the swimming pool, i didn't perform well. my muscles started to tense up and my techniques were terribly disrupted. immediately after that class, i had one hour lecture. i was experiencing an increased distractibility; my hearing sense was blocked and concentration slowly deteriorated.

after lunch i had two more hours of lecture. i survived but my muscles started to ache. i forgot to take pre and post sport-related supplements. i was so distracted that i skipped it, as a result my body aches.

despite all the misfortune, i am amazed to physically and physiologically experience the power of stress.