My Top 5 Training Mistakes

I have been training consistently for over 15 years now. 

From athletics to a career in Special Operations, hunting in the mountains, building muscle, longevity and the list goes on.

I’ve had many different training goals over the years and here are my top 5 mistakes I made throughout that time:

1. Ego lifting - When you first start lifting, you can build strength relatively quickly. Your body is “fresh” to the stimulus which means the gains will be more rapid. 

In my case, due to impatience and competitiveness, I tried stacking on the weight too quickly without prioritizing the ability to safely do the movements I was competing in. This led to my first round of injuries sustained and taught me an important lesson:

The biggest strength gains come from incremental improvements in the short-term paired with long-term consistency. If you get hurt from trying to rush the process, you will prolong it immensely. 

2. Not having a structured progression - For quite a while I just did all the workouts I could find. The more the better, right? 

Well, this led to plateaus and a whole lot of frustration. I didn’t understand that with ALL this effort and training I’m putting in, I can’t seem to see improvements, how is this possible?

The truth is, we can get away with this in the beginner stages. Virtually any activity is better than no activity during this time, but as we progress performance wise, it becomes more important to have a structure to impose specific stress and allow for the adaptations to take place. 

3. Too much high-intensity conditioning - I believed that the only way to improve your cardio and overall performance was to crush yourself with every session. 

If I could start over again I would include MUCH more aerobic (zone 1 & 2) training. This not only supports your endurance capacity, but recoverability, which has a positive impact on ALL your training, including lifting. However, this is one of the systems that takes the longest to really develop and due to me focusing too much on high-intensity conditioning with each session, I was “behind” in this for many years.

4. Not eating enough - When you first start tracking calories that are tailored to your goals, you’ll likely find that you just aren’t eating enough (or you’re eating way too much). 

I was no different. When I first started tracking I was eating a ton of carbohydrates but about half of the protein I needed to see the gains I was looking for. Nutrition is one of the most important factors when it comes to performance and those that are serious about it, put in the effort.

5. Not prioritizing mobility/pre-hab work - For years, I only focused on the training and over time I started to develop mobility issues and muscular imbalances. 

This one is my most recent mistake which I’ve really started to prioritize over the last 4 years and likely could have avoided many injuries during my Special Forces career had I taken this more seriously.

Mobility does not mean just stretching, although that can help, but strengthening the areas that lead to tightness in the first place. 

For me, it was my hips. While I had spent years lifting, running and rucking, I still developed some instability in my hips which led to tightness, lack of mobility and injuries associated with it. Strengthening these pesky little muscles has helped immensely in my overall quality of life and performance. 

If you’ve trained long enough, you will look back and realize you could have streamlined things by avoiding these common mistakes. The good news is, you can learn from mine and get a head start on your performance by reverse engineering them. 

P.S. We run a coaching program with myself, two other Green Berets and a strength coach who works with the 75th Ranger Regiment and has experience with two NFL franchises.

We specialize in providing you a custom blueprint to see long-term success and increases in performance. If you’re interested in getting started, book a free consultation here.

Hope you have a great weekend and let’s set ourselves up for success!

Jon