What I found interesting is that all of have different personality types. Type A are the competitive type which means they do more than they should and hard driving. Type B is the person who lives the moment they are in and is relaxed at things. Type D is stressed and worried about things. Type D has very low confidence and lots of anxiety. Coaches and leaders have to talk to them kindly so their pressure level does not go up. All of the personality types were very interesting.
D for downer, right? All joking aside, yoga appears to be the perfect exercise for introverts. Have referred several patients who don't like large gyms with lots of equipment and lively classes. They keep going and find just the right amount of "social contact."
Type Z, doesn't play well with other types.
Is there a type C?
Math is not a competitive sport - but many math students exhibit distress, lack confidence in their ability, and are reluctant to seek help. Johnson County Community College has been proactive in empathetically reaching out to these students with a course in Learning Strategies for Math, academic counselors trained in assisting students with "lack of math confidence" - and math coaches!
Our coaches work with individual students to examine their study habits and collaboratively develop strategies for improvement. Results have been astounding.
Mary Rack
Professor Emeritus, Mathematics and Learning Strategies
Math Coach
2
so the "d" categorization is temporary? what total nonsense; anyone that has done any level of athletics knows that with 2 outs and the winning run on 3rd base, the batter is going to feel anxiety, if the batter whiffs they will be "distressed". this is the sum of the research??? what nonsense.
at some point the as the top 5% progress through the food chain; i.e. higher competition they will become the "d" athlete. the "d" categorization is not an identity, its a situational condition.
the key is to find the sport that you love and enjoy regardless of the situation/outcome. does lebron become a "d" athlete if he loses the championship? i vote no.
one of the reasons i love hiking: i always win.
3
The advice to ask a coach for help is not helpful if the coach has not read this study. My experience with school physical education is that the people who teach it are not people skilled. Their typical approach to any problem is to hit it harder or yell at it. I ride a bike now. Not in races and alone.
3
One reason people like chess is that you get to play every position, every role, from pawn to queen. There’s room for all your personalities.
1
So the study started with a questionnaire for both male and female athletes and then "ran the men through...."? Poor reporting or a poorly done study?
So, Type D are often pessimistic and gloomy ... did anyone else notice the irony of this article, basically telling them there's something wrong with them? That's not going to make them feel better is it.
4
Who is selected to coach? Run gyms? Lead corporate and city fitness programs? Weight loss programs?
Typically, the top 5% responder/achiever.
Our corporate leader is under 5% body fat, always has been, hates food that grows, and spouts the latest psuedo-science about causal links between mind-body. She gets to tell people who have struggled with weight since age 5 what to do. Really? When I see this happening to my workplace colleagues, I nearly go apoplectic.
I suspect the sports/gym/food world could learn a lot by actually studying non-responders, Type Ds, and others rather than building everything they do around the 5% of 50 year olds who run marathons once a month and are underweight (but don’t report that their docs say they are underweight).
Resentful? You bet. It’s high school all over — the jocks get to tell us. Still. Bullying follows any truth-telling in this zone of life.
And now, gee whiz, some athletes are different? Gosh, I’m shocked. Come on, NYT, investigate this, rather than just reporting a small-study finding that merely suggests the topic below the surface. Did you miss the real news peg? Millions participate in marathons and extreme sports. Out of a total world population of?
4
I was always the slowest, weakest, least coordinated kid in gym class, but in my 50s joined Crossfit. No need to know my left foot from my right. No moving in unison as is the case in most aerobics classes. No direct competition with others. Constant supervision and encouragement from coaches and classmates. Now we have a seperate “masters” class for Crossfitters over 50 years old.
1
Half the issue is Type D's being forced into competitive athletics, if and when it isn't their thing. I'm severely Type D and would have loved yoga or pilates classes, instead of sports in school. Competition is not the point of being physically active!
15
I was lucky. My college cross-country coach (I was an untalented walk-on) noted my frustration at my inability to gain speed, regardless of how hard I worked. He told me to stop worrying about my speed and suggested training for a marathon since I loved distance running. Almost 40 years later, I am still running and loving it. I mostly run for pleasure, train for a half or full marathon once or twice per decade, and have managed to collect three age group medals over the course of 8 marathons - two in college, and one last year in the 50-55 age group, to my great surprise. My coach is still running (and teaching) in his 80's, and I hope to do the same.
My son started ski racing in elementary school and running cross-country in middle school. I am most proud of his "most inspirational" award in XC and "best team spirit" awards in skiing. Like me, he'll never be an Olympian or college-level champion, but he has learned that the enjoyment of participating in a sport or activity doesn't require competitive success.
14
Maybe we shouldn't emphasize competition in physical activity for children. Physical education and youth sports are all geared to being the best, but once you're an adult you are free to choose physical activities that aren't competitive: dance, rock climbing, hiking, yoga, etc.
Solitary physical activity just for the joy of movement seems to be a foreign concept to naturally athletic types who want to shoehorn the "D types," i.e. nonconformists ("weirdos") into their very limited systems.
Also, here's a tip, if someone is not initially good at something, maybe you shouldn't yell at them? Blaming someone for feeling bad when they are being pressured and criticized sounds like victim blaming to me.
18
There are great athletic endeavors for us "Type D" folks. I thought I was completely inept when it came to any physical activity -- clumsy and pathetic especially when others were involved (team sports, dancing, etc). When gas prices soared I thought I'd get a bike to commute, with a voice in the back of my head telling me it would end up being a clothes rack before too long. I got an inexpensive mountain bike and outfitted it for commuting, and because I felt so ignorant about biking I took a local course on bike safety, rules and riding in traffic. I learned how to take care of flats and maintain the bike so I'd be self-sufficient. Over time and miles I gained confidence, eventually getting a road bike, training for and completing 100 and 200 mile events. The thing is, I needed to start at my own pace, to learn enough to feel proficient, to practice and put hours and miles in before I realized it was something I'd become pretty good at. I think there are many athletic activities that are geared (pardon to pun) to type D folks -- more solitary, challenging oneself and building skill rather than competing against (and feeling judged by) others. And as one builds proficiency, one also gains confidence to try more "distressing" activities.
26
There are other ways to look at this. Don't put the cart in front of the horse. When I was a kid, I wanted to compete in sports at school. But I would get out of breath. I would be left behind, and the coaches would look at me, but wouldn't do anything. Over time, I learned to avoid competitive sports, and got used to being sedentary instead. As an adult, I later learned that I had been suffering from sports-induced asthma, which was not treated because it was not diagnosed. Adults around me who should have been aware that I had a problem, the only ones who could have got it and helped me, were asleep on the job. Is it any wonder that I learned to become rebellious? If authority could not make safe place for me, why should I listen to them? Is it any wonder that any encounter with athletics worries me now? ...Maybe this is how D-type traits are formed.
20
Mmm. Seems to me that if you're an athlete you don't fit the type D profile since you're not sedentary to begin with.
The advice given at the end, ask for help, seems about as useful as telling a depressed person to cheer up.
23
Yoga is perfect for the type "d" personality. Quiet, introspective, illuminating, if done with the right teachers and in the appropriate setting. It cultivates grace, acceptance, balance, coordination and strength, whether as an adjunct to other forms of athleticism, or a stand alone mind/ body practice. Personally I'd suggest avoiding hot yoga though, that's seems to be a type "a" field day environment.
23
I am most certainly Eeyore like when it comes to physical activity. I am a not naturally graceful or athletic. Most competitive sports are not fun for me. But time has taught me to accept my gifts do not lie in this area. Asking for help isn’t going to make me better. Been there done that. I have many other areas of my life where I can excel without struggle. I accept those gifts for what they are. And I try to incorporate movement into my life in ways that don’t make me feel judged. This premise seems to blame someone who just isn’t athletic for having a bad attitude. I have seen plenty of people who can’t draw or paint just accept their lack of skill and not work to improve. No one judges that as a Type D effort. Physical activity comes in many forms. Finding something that doesn’t stress you out and make you feel like a failure is key to mental peace.
39
The relationship between athletic ineptitude and self-defeating attitudes is probably bi-directional.
It may be a stretch to say that bad experiences in sports and PE could actually bring about a life-long struggle with self-esteem. However, having been a physically inept child myself, I can attest to the impact of years of being shouted at, called names, and excluded in the games of childhood.
PE was for me a ritual of humiliation. I could not understand why I couldn't do what appeared so effortless in others. By the 1970's, teachers had begun to shelter late readers and writers from public exposure and ridicule. But there was no shelter for a child who "ran like a duck," could not throw or catch a ball, could not touch her toes, and bumped into things.
As an adult I cried in the bathroom the first several times I went to a gym. I have managed to find a few non-competative physical activities that I love. But my self-esteem and confidence are admittedly fragile in spite of my many strengths and successes outside of the sports realm.
Physical education must not humiliate children out of the joy of movement and participation. The impact is life-long.
51
I had similarly humiliating experiences with PE while growing up. Running or any activity with great exertion caused my chest to pound and leave me breathless. I resigned myself to fast-paced walking for exercise as an adult because I continued to have the same chest-pounding, breathless response when I attempted anything more. I always assumed I just wasn’t very athletic but a relatively rare congenital heart defect called Myocardial Bridging was diagnosed in my early fifties after I experienced symptoms of a heart attack. The main coronary arteries of my heart grew through my heart muscles instead of resting on top of my heart, and my heart had essentially squeezed the life out of them. I was fortunate that emergency bypass surgery saved my life but, knowing that even many cardiologists are woefully uninformed about the risks of Myocardial Bridging, I often wonder how often this condition contributes to the premature death of young athletes.
3
The more severe the stress in early childhood, the larger the amygdala. The amygdala (left and right) is a part of the brain’s limbic system.
A bigger amygdala makes people more sensitive to stress and threats.
Those with higher amygdala activity have a greater risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease.
Type D people should let check their amygdala. Metiation can help to reduce the size of the amygdala.
8
How do you suggest people get their amygdala checked? That isn't a standard test, and no neurologist is going to run tests based on your hunch.
And meditation cannot reduce the size of any organ; that is pseudoscience balderdash of the obvious kind.
I swim. If the coach notices a flaw in my technique, I'll get feedback, which I always appreciate, when I finish the interval. To have the coach unmotivated to tell me when I'm swimming incorrectly because I have a negative attitude means I will take much longer to improve.
4
Great conclusion-to ask for help. Unfortunately, the study did not address this solution. OMG, common sense applied without any proof.
4
Yes! NYT: Please do not report solutions as though they are evidence-based, especially within the framework of an empirical study. This is highly misleading. It occurs far too frequently in health journalism, and in this column. For all we know, "asking for help" may prove empirically to be a completely ineffective solution for this problem and population.