The Culture of Overuse: Lessons from Farming and Sports

“You don’t break overnight. You break over years.”

Last year, Warren had a full hip replacement.

Not because of one bad hit. Not because of an accident. But because of years of overuse—years of training through pain, years of being told that toughness meant ignoring his body.

It wasn’t just the intense training of professional hockey in his teens and twenties. It was the mindset drilled into him from a young age—that real athletes push through, ignore pain, and never stop moving.

And now I wonder—where else do we see this?

Because if you swap out hockey rinks for hayfields, this same culture of overuse exists in farming, too.

What Sports and Farming Have in Common

On the surface, sports and farming seem worlds apart.

One is about competition, performance, and winning.

The other is about survival, persistence, and producing.

But underneath? The mentality is the same.

🏒 Minor sports push kids to train like pros before their bodies are ready.

🚜 Farming pushes people to keep going, no matter what their bodies tell them.

🏒 Athletes are told to “suck it up” and play through injuries.

🚜 Farmers are told to “just get through the season” no matter the cost.

🏒 Sports glorify year-round training, even when rest is needed.

🚜 Farming never truly has an off-season.

Both industries demand everything you’ve got. Both reward overwork. Both pride themselves on endurance.

And yet, in both worlds, we’re seeing the long-term costs.

For athletes? Chronic injuries, surgeries, and bodies that break down too soon.

For farmers? Burnout, mental health struggles, and physical wear-and-tear that can’t be undone.

The truth is: resilience isn’t just about pushing through. It’s about knowing how to last.

Are We Teaching Resilience or Burnout?

We talk a lot about mental toughness in minor sports. About pushing through, about never quitting, about grinding harder than the competition.

And sure, some of that has value. But when ignoring pain becomes a badge of honor, we’re not teaching resilience.

We’re teaching kids to override the signals that protect them.

And what happens when those kids grow up? They take that same mindset into their jobs—whether that’s farming, construction, first responders, or anything that demands endurance.

They push through exhaustion.

They ignore chronic pain.

They grind until something gives.

And eventually, it does.

Because toughness isn’t ignoring pain—it’s knowing how to last.

Resilience Means Playing the Long Game

Warren trained like a short-game athlete. With the best coaching and technology that was available at the time. His body had other plans. We know better now.

True resilience—the kind that keeps kids in sports and adults in the workforce—isn’t about grinding harder. It’s about longevity.

It’s about knowing how to recover, how to listen to the body, and how to train in a way that supports sustainability—not just short-term performance.

Because you don’t feel depletion right away. But you will feel it eventually.

So the question is: Are we training kids to last? Or just training them to break down later?

This Doesn’t Just Happen in Sports—It Happens in Farming, Too

Warren took his athlete mindset straight into farming life.

And farmers? They’re some of the toughest, hardest-working people out there.

But they also push through exhaustion. They also override what their bodies are telling them. They also live in a culture where stopping isn’t an option.

At first, it works. You can get by on youth, adrenaline, and momentum. But eventually, something gives. Maybe it’s a hip. Maybe it’s the land. Maybe it’s a body that just can’t push any further.

We talk about regenerating soil—but what about regenerating ourselves?

The best long-game players—whether in sports or farming—know how to stay in it without burning out.

The Problem With “Toughness”

The problem isn’t that sports and farming are demanding. That’s a given.

The problem is that we’ve mistaken toughness for longevity.

• Toughness says: “Ignore the pain, push through, do more.”

• Longevity says: “Pay attention, take care of yourself, build endurance that actually lasts.”

Toughness gets you through the day. Longevity gets you through a lifetime.

So why aren’t we teaching longevity instead of just pushing harder?

Because rest isn’t rewarded. Recovery doesn’t get medals. Sustainability isn’t exciting.

But it’s necessary.

What Needs to Change?

Both sports and farming need to rethink what resilience actually means.

In Minor Sports:

🏒 Stop glorifying overuse.

Skipping recovery isn’t discipline—it’s a recipe for long-term damage.

🏒 Re-evaluate year-round training.

Kids need varied movement and off-seasons to develop properly.

🏒 Teach athletes to listen to pain, not push through it.

If we train kids to override their body’s signals, we’re setting them up for future breakdowns.

In Farming:

🚜 Recognize that resilience isn’t just about working harder.

True resilience means staying in the game for the long haul.

🚜 Name the resilience strategies farmers already use.

Seasonal rhythms, micro-breaks, and community connection aren’t luxuries—they’re survival tools.

🚜 Reframe what strength looks like.

Strength isn’t just grinding through the pain—it’s knowing how to protect yourself from burnout.

Because true resilience isn’t just about getting through another season. It’s about still being strong and able in 10, 20, 30 years.

The Future of Resilience: Can We Do This Differently?

We don’t need more grit. We already have it.

What we need is to protect that resilience—so we don’t burn it out before we’re ready to quit.

💬 What do you think? Have you experienced this “culture of overuse” in sports, farming, or another field? How do we shift the mindset from short-term toughness to long-term sustainability?