Balancing Athletics & Exams - A Guide for Teenagers

BY ANNABEL GORDON

For a lot of athletes approaching those exam years where school becomes more important, it is easy to feel inundated with information and, if not careful, athletes can easily burn themselves out.

I gained valuable insight into the challenge of approaching the coming year after doing one GCSE a year early along with a lot of mocks. As a 16-year-old revising for my GCSEs, I feel that organisation is more important than ever before. It can be hard to balance training with revision as well as daily life, especially for teenage athletes facing constant pressure to perform in both athletics and academics.

However, everyone's situation and goals are different. Everyone is hoping for a different grade in their exam or to reach a different competition or personal best, so no advice would be the same, but by showing you what works for me, I hope this article helps you figure out the best approach for you.

Continuing athletics training during exams

Keeping up training can be hard for a variety of factors, such as living far away or having other commitments, so adding the stress of revision can make it difficult for athletes to commit to a schedule.

It is important to find a way to fit training into your life that works for you, whilst still giving yourself recovery time. A lot of athletes have a perception that if you're training, you're not revising, which means you don't have time to train. I had this misconception last year.

Spaced repetition

However, I was taught that the best scientifically proven revision method is spaced repetition, so giving yourself a healthy break to socialise and distance yourself from your studies is more beneficial than you think and will help you in the long term.

For my exams last year, I chose not to go to training the evening before exams and to relax and go over a few last things at home. However, I had friends who came away with grade 9s as well and went to training the night before, so you should think about what works for you unless you already have an established pre-exam routine (this also depends on your days of training and the days of your exams).

Be the student-athlete you want to be

Others I know who have completed GCSEs, A levels, or even university, all continued to go to the track throughout their studies as they saw it as a break away from revision, which they all said largely benefitted them. It can be hard to compartmentalise athletics, revision, and life. However, by creating the correct balance for you, you can create the most successful athlete lifestyle for yourself and fulfil your true potential.

I used to look at people who were achieving what I wanted to achieve, and try and match my approach to theirs, but I quickly realised that your program and week doesn't look the same as any other person’s, so comparing what you do to others doesn't work. You need to create a specific plan to organise yourself in your exam year, to achieve the grades you want and also your athletics performance goals.

Strategies to balance athletics training and exams

There are a number of strategies I have used in the past year to maintain my training alongside my studies.

1. Weekly Planner: Personally, I find a weekly timetable is the best way to organise myself. Timetables are often planned poorly because people feel they have to fill all available time. I start by putting in my training and filling in revision slots where I can, making sure there is also space for down-time. If you feel after a while that the timetable isn't working, rethink and talk about it until you find something that works for you. It might be a little bit of trial and error.
2. Home Training: I prepare some home training sessions for if I can't make it to training but still want to do something small at home. I like to go for runs around my area, as I find this relaxing, but you might prefer a core workout or drills at home. It's a good idea to talk to your coaches about home training because they may already have ideas.
3. Efficient Revision: For my GCSEs and mocks last year, I used revision apps and flashcards in the car on the way to athletics as active recall, which is a great thing to do if you do not walk or drive yourself.

How to plan your exam year schedule

The other element that needs planning for these hard academic years is the yearly schedule, and this is where the most successful students and athletes are the most organised ones. Planning your year means considering your goals, competitions you want to get to, or standards you want to achieve because it is always good to have something to aim for. For example, my aim this year is to get a certain standard for a competition.

Before the exam season, talk with your coaches about your plans because they may advise you to focus on a specific competition or target, and they can adapt your training to help you, including those all-important home training sessions for when it’s too much to get to the track.

Choosing athletics competitions

It can be hard to decide how to approach a competition season in an important academic year.

Personally, I prefer to do earlier competitions where I can get standards or scores on the board so I can be selected for bigger competitions after my exams in the summer. On the other hand, I know other athletes that have different things which work for them.

I suggest having a rough plan of what you want to achieve, but it may be that you decide what you want to do closer to the times of competitions. Your coaches will have an idea of what they want you to achieve realistically, as they have had athletes in your position before. They also know where your priorities are, so I cannot stress how important it is to communicate your thoughts with your coaches.

Managing school pressure as an athlete

If your school is anything like mine, it's not just exams to worry about. There are constant mocks, tests, and after-school lessons. It's really hard to not feel overwhelmed by all the information coming your way.

This year, I've tried to consider when my mocks are as well as my GCSEs. In my summer mocks and around my November mocks, I continued to train normally and just missed a few sessions where I needed to if I felt I was behind on revision. If you have already had a set of mocks for your upcoming exams, it would be beneficial to reflect on how you approached them and what to do differently next time. On the other hand, if your mocks are soon, it's the perfect time to start thinking about how you will get organised.

It is also important to still spend time with family, go out with friends, or relax. I have seen a lot of athletes, including myself, burn themselves out by training and revising at every possible moment, which is not beneficial at all.

Why you must NOT overdo it!

Last year when I took my first GCSE, I was determined to get a 9. However, by putting so much pressure on myself to achieve it, there were times I found it hard to keep up with everything around me.

Fortunately, my hard work paid off, but the combined stress left me with a few tough competitions at the end of the season. On the positive side, I am now a far more organised athlete as a result, and approaching my GCSEs this year I am determined to get the balance right. On reflection, here are the things I wish I had done differently:

• Made a weekly timetable and been more organised.
• Gone to training more. I didn't understand the element of flexibility that comes with athletics. Being a more individual sport, athletics is focused on your own needs and development, so missing a session or doing it a different day will not impact your performance much.
• Carrying on with athletics during exams does have its benefits and is extremely good for your mental health and keeping healthy physically as well as stimulating the brain. It also gets you out of the house, which might be the break you need to do some better revision.

A successful athlete is a successful person

Successful teenage athletes are the ones who show the most will to succeed. It's about constant improvement and a winning mindset.

Athletics can help build up someone's mindset and confidence drastically, which goes hand in hand with academics. If you can throw a javelin standard or clear a high jump PB, your goals get bigger and bigger, as well as your confidence. Athletics constantly grows transferable skills that you can use in all aspects of life.

It is also important to remember everyone in your year of athletics is in the same position as you, which I sometimes admittedly forget. Everyone is in the same dilemma of how to balance training and competing with revising, so it is most likely that different people will peak or compete at different times. But some advice a coach told me is that athletics is always here for you. That can be interpreted in many ways.

Wherever in your life you are, athletics will always be there for you to come back to, but also that athletics is more about the development of you and your confidence and developing your individual pathway.

The top-level athletes we admire have all taken exams and would have all gone through the same processes as us. The most valuable thing to take from the fact you have to balance athletics with your life and academics is that it shows your dedication. It shows your willpower to succeed in all areas of life, and that is what builds a successful teenage athlete.

Conquer 2025 as a student-athlete

Finally, try to relax where you can and think about how you are going to tackle 2025 to the best of your ability. We are all capable of achieving our goals; it’s just creating the right path to get there. Have a great New Year and good luck with your upcoming season.

About Annabel Gordon

Annabel is an U17 athlete who specialises in javelin throw, but also competes in multi-events and discus throw from time to time!

As part of her role with us as a blogger, Annabel's content will largely be for other athletes around her age who are in school or are just starting to think about other opportunities alongside their athletics, such as college or sixth form!

Instagram: @annabel.athletics