5 Big Mistakes I Made In My Fitness Journey

I love making mistakes.

It’s a chance for me to learn and grow as a person.?

Mistakes are an integral part of life.

So I thought I would share the 5 big mistakes I've made in my 19 year long fitness journey.

Incorrect Goal Setting Procedure.

Looking back I didn't really set goals, I just went through the motions.

When I first started exercising, it was because I wanted to feel better about myself. It wasn’t until the last 5 years that I started sitting down and getting a vision board set up.

This allowed me to visualize the step by step process that I needed to achieve my mission.?

Thinking I could eat what I wanted. ?

This is a big one for military folks, due to the lack of nutritional value of the food offered and the lack of education.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t eating takeaways every day. But trying to bridge the gap with chicken salad sandwiches and protein bars from the SPA shop isn’t the best idea.

Micronutrients are as important as macronutrients and we don’t actually burn as much as we think we do during exercise.

Overtraining. ?

When I was training for the SBS briefing course, I decided to do a 50k Ultramarathon.

I split my week into 6 days: Monday I would swim for? 1 Hour, run 10 miles, and do strength work.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, I would do non impact cardio for 90 mins and then do Thai Boxing for an hour.

Wednesdays would be an hour swim, 10 mile tab and strength training. Friday was swimming and strength training.

Saturday was my long distance run, each week progressing from 12 miles to 32 miles.

Needless to say I was fucked, my sex drive was dead and I had zero energy. Our military mindset is a gift and a curse at the same time.

We can’t keep up the same intensity in the “civi” it’s impossible to sustain.

Not focusing on Lifestyle habits.

When we are at the younger stage of our military career, we think we are invincible. Unfortunately, as time goes on, we realize that this isn’t the case.

High stress lifestyle, not sleeping and going out on the lash, whilst physing ourselves into the ground is a one way ticket to your burning out and being injured.

So if your nutrition and exercise is on point, but you are stressed out and you aren’t sleeping, standby for not achieving your goals.

Not calling in backup. ?

Up until I started my profession as a health and fitness coach, I'd never thought about hiring a coach. When I first started training,

I thought I had all the knowledge I needed from magazines.

Flex and Muscle & Fitness were my go to bibles. I thought if I followed the workouts and took all the supplements I'd be ok.

How wrong I was.

To date I have now spent around 10 grand on mentors and coaches, for both business and my own fitness goals.

I have never been more focused. It might seem strange to you that I as a coach myself would hire a coach.

But in doing so I am learning more about my trade and it takes the pressure off myself

Hopefully you have found this insight useful and it helps move you forward in your own fitness journey.?

If you have please, like subscribe and share.?

If you would like to start 2023 in a positive way, by working on your fitness goals.?

If you want to find a flexible and adaptable way to supercharge your energy, boost your confidence and get in the best shape of your life.

Send me a message and let’s see if we would be a good fit to work together. Please note that sending me a message doesn’t lock you into anything.

Have a great NYE!

Carl