Training Never Gets Easier, You Just Get Fitter

ByDave

Here’s a truth about training: It never gets easier.

Whether you’re running a 5-minute mile or an 8-minute mile, a true max effort is always hard. In both cases, your legs are burning, you’re gasping for air, and you’re mustering all of your energy to turn your legs over as fast as possible.

But here’s the thing: that’s exactly how it should be.

Why Training Feels Harder Than Ever

An untrained and a trained max effort mile are both hard. But as you improve, you actually become more efficient at pushing yourself. Early on, you didn’t know how to:

  • Brace properly during heavy lifts.
  • Control your breathing during intense runs.
  • Adjust your cadence to recover your heart rate.

Now, you do all those things automatically, which means you’re constantly training closer to your true limits.

On top of that, your goals and expectations grow as you progress. The run times that excited you previously now are just expected. And when you start to plateau or stall it can feel like training is harder than ever.

Track Progress to See the Bigger Picture

The best way to break through this is to track your progress. This gives you an objective way to see how far you’ve come.

I recommend you:

  • Log Your Workouts: Track weights, reps, sets, distances, and times.
  • Monitor Heart Rate (HR): Use a Polar or Garmin monitor to track effort and recovery on runs, rucks, and intervals.
  • Review Your Data: Compare today’s numbers to where you were 4, 8, or 12 weeks ago.

I personally use a tool called Training Peaks (not sponsored-I don’t do sponsors) to manage my athletes’ training. It gives me a calendar view of their workouts and lets me track metrics like heart rate and performance trends over time.

If you’re not using Training Peaks (I pay a monthly fee), free tools like Polar Flow or Garmin Connect can do similar things if you’ve purchased one of their HR monitors.

For more on the tools and tech I recommend for tracking progress and optimizing recovery, check out this article: Top 5 Products to Get Selected.

The Takeaway

Training isn’t supposed to be easy-it never will be. If anything, it gets harder in many ways as you improve because you’re pushing bigger numbers, running faster times, and setting bigger goals.

But as long as you’re improving, recovering well, and feeding your mind with the right reinforcement, the process starts to fuel itself. The more you train, the hungrier you get-for selection and for general improvement.

So stay consistent and put in the work. If you’re doing the right things, the results will come.

I'm a coach with a passion for helping athletes dominate the toughest selection courses in the world. Over the years, I've trained well over 100 athletes for Special Operations selection courses, including SFAS, RASP, Air Force A&S, BORTAC, SWAT, and MARSOC A&S. My mission is to bridge the gap between traditional performance training and the unique demands of tactical and military athletes.

I got my start coaching hybrid athletes, blending strength, endurance, and hypertrophy training to achieve peak performance. As I worked with more tactical and military athletes, I realized there was a need for a specialized approach tailored to the grueling physical and mental challenges of SOF selections. This realization drove me to focus on prepping SOF candidates for success, combining cutting-edge research, proven training methodologies, and real-world experience.

Whether you're preparing for selection, seeking to level up your fitness, or simply curious about what it takes to thrive in these elite environments, I hope you'll find the information I share helpful.