Resilience Wins Games: Finding the Optimal Stress Zone for Student-Athletes

You may have been taught that stress is always bad and should be avoided. But in reality, stress is critical for growth, performance, and being a happy, healthy human. Too much stress can absolutely be a problem, but no stress at all usually means you’re not being challenged and not growing.

Instead of trying to eliminate stress, board-certified family physician and TrueSport Expert, Deborah Gilboa, MD, suggests aiming for the “optimal stress zone,” or the amount of stress that’s manageable and allows you to grow. Here, she explains how stress works for you (and against you), and how to find—and stay in—your own optimal stress zone.

Understand that stress is not the problem

“If you believe that stress is poison, then everything is terrifying,” says Gilboa. Young athletes are often taught to be afraid of stress and to see all change as stressful and bad—but change is inevitable. “If you believe that stress is toxic, then every time you have to navigate change, you feel as though you’re breathing in poison,” she adds. “And if you believe that the very air you breathe is toxic, you cannot bring your best version of yourself.”

Instead of seeing stress as bad, Gilboa wants athletes to look at it as a tool. Even if change is stressful, that doesn’t make it automatically negative. Change can be positive, and even tough changes can help grow your resilience muscles. “We're technically stressed every time we're pushed outside our comfort zone, meaning every time we have to navigate a change, and we have uncertainty or distrust about it, we are stressed,” Gilboa says. “But imagine if your coach never pushed you in practice. What if he never made you run because he knew running stressed you out? That wouldn’t make sense. But that’s how we’ve been taught to deal with stress: to avoid it at all costs.”

Change your lens for viewing stress

Stress isn’t a yes/no emotion; it exists on a range. “Think of stress the way you think of temperature,” says Gilboa. “You can survive outside in below zero temperatures, and you can survive outside when it’s over 100 degrees. You probably feel terrible at either end, but you’ll survive. Stress is like that: there is a wide range of stress that you can live through.”

Within that survivable range, there’s an optimal stress range—just like there’s an ideal temperature range. “There is a more narrow optimal range somewhere in the middle of those temperatures where the temperature is helping you do what you want to do. It's not an obstacle, it's actually an advantage,” says Gilboa. That range is different for everyone: Some people run their fastest when it’s 50 degrees, while others thrive when it’s over 70.

“The same thing is true of stress: You have a narrow optimal range in the middle, where your stresses are keeping you focused on the things that matter most to you, and helping you get towards the life you want, without causing you too much distress,” says Gilboa. Your job is to figure out what that optimal range looks and feels like for you.

Stop seeing yourself as the victim of a villain

“We often have this idea that if you’re stressed, someone else is the villain in your story and they are causing you to be stressed,” says Gilboa. Think about how often you’ve said, “My mom is stressing me out,” or “Coach said something that got me really stressed.”

Gilboa argues that ultimately, no one can “stress you out.” People can do things that contribute to a stressful situation, but they aren’t in complete control of your stress response. That feeling is an internal reaction you can learn to regulate. Realizing that gives you more control over how you respond and how you move forward.

Ask these three questions when you’re feeling stressed

Stressors will pop up often and push the edges of your optimal zone. When you’re stressed about something, Gilboa suggests asking three questions:

1. Is this avoidable or unavoidable?
   It’s easy to assume every stressful situation is unavoidable. If you’re stressed about balancing sport and school, that might feel like something you just have to suffer through. But when you zoom out, you can see that you could quit the team or take a break from organized sport for the semester. That might not be the best choice for you, but knowing you have a choice can lower stress. On the flip side, some stress—like finals week—is unavoidable, and recognizing that can keep you from wasting extra energy fighting what’s going to happen anyway.
2. Is it useful or useless?
   Some stressors can actually be useful, while others are simply draining. If an acquaintance invites you to a party but you need to study and don’t really want to go, it can feel stressful to say no. But that stress is avoidable and useless—there’s no real upside to going. Often, we say “yes” to useless stress because we don’t pause to reflect; a quick check-in could show that “no” is the better choice for staying in your optimal zone.
3. If it’s useful or unavoidable (or both), then what is your goal?
   “If you answer those questions and find that the stress is unavoidable or useful, figure out what your goal is and what the first step is to try and get to that goal,” says Gilboa.

Learn your own early warning signs

Everyone has an optimal stress range, and everyone has unique early warning signs that they’re nearing the upper edge of that range, says Gilboa. Start noticing and listening to yours. Maybe when you’re getting too stressed, you:

• Struggle to fall asleep
• Spend way more time scrolling on social media
• Snap at your sibling
• Forget textbooks or sneakers at home
• Have trouble focusing at practice or on homework

Any of these can happen once in a while, but if they start happening often—or all at once—it’s a signal that you’re outside your optimal zone. Having these warning signs written down makes it easier to check yourself honestly against the list.

Make a list of coping strategies

Once you can spot your early warning signs, the next step is having a plan. Ask yourself: What actually helps to bring you back into your optimal range? Is it talking to a friend? Playing a certain playlist? Exercising even when you don’t feel like it? Eating a snack? Petting your dog? Calling your mom?

Gilboa recommends making this list long and varied, because not every strategy works in every situation. You can’t always listen to music or go for a run, but you can use a simple breathing exercise during a math exam. Keep a running list on your phone so it’s easy to find when you notice your warning signs.

Takeaway

Stop thinking of all stress as bad and start seeing your optimal stress zone as the place where you actually perform your best. Too much stress can be harmful, but too little can stall your growth and performance. Instead of chasing a stress-free life, reframe stress as a chance to grow resilience, meaning the ability to bounce back. Learn your early warning signs that stress is getting too high and build a list of strategies that help bring you back into your optimal range when you need it.

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