Biggest CrossFit Training Mistakes, According to Josh Bridges
There aren’t many athletes in our sport who are more iconic than Josh Bridges. He has built a massive fan base not only as an electric, gritty competitor, but also in retirement.
- He shares his workouts, programming, and insights on his YouTube channel, which boasts 178,000 subscribers. (If you’re not one of them, you’re missing out.)
The Navy SEAL, CrossFit Games veteran, and all-around legend recently talked about his career as a professional athlete in a recent episode. He says he made plenty of mistakes during his training and competition days.
He lists his top five and offers personal insight on each. Here are a few that stood out for us:
Volume
More isn’t always better. It might work for some, but not everyone. Bridges explains that increasing training volume can be a risky move and lead to fatigue. During his competitive years, he feared falling behind his competitors and their training, so he increased his volume to keep up.
- “I remember leaving the Games, taking one day off, and then immediately (I’d) start hammering it again, at high volume,” Bridges said.
In 2015, Bridges barely missed qualifying for the CrossFit Games via the California Regional.
- Taking sixth place behind Dan Bailey, Neal Maddox, Jon Pera, Julian Alcaraz, and Chad Melton stung.
Missing out on the 2016 Games was not on the table, and at the time, his answer was to add volume and train more.
In a way, it worked. He came back and won the 2016 California Regional, taking home two event wins and never placing outside of the top ten throughout seven workouts. But that was in mid-May.
By the time the Games rolled around during the third week of July, Bridges was fatigued. He had peaked two months prior. He finished 13th, nine spots lower than his previous showing in 2014.
Comparison
In a sport with so much variability and different modalities, accurately comparing one athlete to another is almost impossible. And if it’s you, comparing yourself to other athletes can quickly become toxic. With the accessibility of social media, comparing one’s training, nutrition, PRs, regimen, and seemingly perfect life to others’ becomes inevitable.
Easier said than done, but recognizing how it can affect you is the first step. Bridges shared that this comparison would ruin his mood and prevent him from celebrating his training wins.
At one point, Bridges unfollowed his competitors so he wouldn’t see their training and wouldn’t be tempted to compare their personal victories with his own. He offers some key advice to remember:
- “You’re on a progression, you’re on a track. And you’ll get to where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there.
Tune into the full episode for the other three and hear all the wisdom from the legend himself.
