Planning and executing an effective training plan is great. What matters is that you must have well-balanced and specific training programs for you to get the most out of your body.

While implementing your training plan is good, fixing problems in your routine can also leave space for more progress.

If something in your training schedule is hurting you or you are not doing something that you should, then you must fix those errors. Doing so can make a positive impact on your results.

Here are 10 of the most common training mistakes that athletes usually make. This list will make you aware of what you may or may not be doing properly today and adjust it.

Training hard for a long time

A common blunder that athletes make is to consider a session futile if it isn’t hard. As a result, most of their training fall in the same ‘moderately hard’ category. One must avoid this kind of workout as it provides very little fitness on your workout investment.

Plus, the ‘moderately hard’ category also causes high lethargy issues, which in turn, make the person unable to properly train themselves in a structured manner.

Hard training makes the athletes unable to train at a lower intensity, which is necessary to reap several physiological benefits.

High-intensity training has its own importance. But you will only reach that level if you try to push every session.

Performing non-functional exercises

Performing bench presses when you can’t even do a push-up, focusing on bicep curls instead of pull-ups, going for leg pressing and not front squatting – These are some of the incorrect exercises athletes (especially beginners) performed in the zeal to become the ultimate sports master.

Athletes must remember that it is how power exercises should be performed that matters and not simply “numbers” they can put up on the record boards.

Try to leverage free weight exercises over machines, seek balanced ratios in the upper body pushing and pulling muscles, first perform single-limb exercises instead of dual-limb, etc.

Keep evolving, and for that to happen, you need to pick the workout that best describes your present body condition and goals.

Poor post-workout nutrition

Nutrition post-activity is crucial for proper regeneration and recovery.

There is a metabolic window opened for up to 45 minutes post-activity. If you don’t consume proper nutrition in this time frame, your recovery will be slower.

Consult a well-qualified sports nutritionist. If there is a worst-case scenario, eat a meal with a full band of quality fat, protein blend and higher glycemic index carbohydrates.

Training too easy

There are chances that you have never trained hard enough. Of course, in a planned and organized way.

High-intensity workouts, such as anaerobic capacity training and VO2 max and neuromuscular power workouts in some instances, are vital to accomplishing awesome results in your performance.

These are short, fast, highly active and fun interval training workouts that must be properly scheduled.

In addition, running pace zones and swimming can be undertaken as they will be much more representative of the targeted intensity levels to be reached.

Uncertain goals

It is vital to make clear-cut goals and expectations, based on your performance metrics such as pacing, power and heart rate.

The more fact-based they are, the better. Once your objectives are defined and you know where your fitness improvements must come from, then you can easily decide your training plan and structure and better measure your progress.

Absence of training periodization

In any stamina training, one must include an element of differentiation throughout the year.

Doing everything all over the year instead of following specific training phases will only provide restricted benefits in fitness.

For instance, in triathlon, the winter offseason must be used to build solid base fitness and strength before you progress on to a more race-specific programme in the spring.

Poor form

One can only achieve their fullest athletic potential if their physiological and mechanical efficiency is at their best.

Hence, it is crucial to work on your technique to ensure your muscles are activating at the proper intensity and in the correct order with the correct range of motion.

Working on speed and not on endurance

There’s no point in biking, swimming or running faster if you are unable to maintain these speeds due to a low muscular endurance. So the real question is whether you should work on endurance, speed, muscular endurance or a combination?

An effective and easy way to know this is to understand your pace regression rates. For example, how much does your running pace slow down with the increase as the distance increases?
To know it, perform a simple running test. Run for either 800 meters or 1600 metres all out, and measure the space regression percentage between the two.

If you are near 20 per cent, then let go of your speed. Focus on developing your muscular endurance. Developing muscular endurance should be your primary goal.

Letting go of recovery weeks

Your recovery weeks are your adaptation weeks. Without them, your body will not adapt to the training load and stress put on it during training weeks. Recovery weeks are an important part of your training and you should not ignore them.

However, remember that adaptation weeks are not the same as rest days. Adaptation weeks usually take place every third or fourth week within a training schedule and see a significant reduction in training volume and intensity.

Ignore them at your own risk, as doing so would direct you to swiftly plateau, before seeing your overall fitness decline.

Not addressing flexibility shortfalls

Flexibility deficits can hamper the ability to perform the biomechanically correct movement. If ignored, the motor patterns built will be compensatory and could easily lead to injuries.

To lower the odds, perform a self-myofascial release, mobility work, and active-isolated or corrective stretching prior to/during training sessions. After training and between training sessions, do static or neuromuscular stretching and extra mobility work.

Final words

Whether you are training for a marathon or your next cricket match, committing mistakes will surely hinder your training advancement. To train properly, you should have a clear idea about the common training mistakes so that you can avoid them.

The recommendations mentioned in this article are not about either training longer or less. Instead, it is about training smarter.

Just better optimize your time spent training and love what you are doing. This will make your workout sessions will even more fun!