3 Common Mistakes Athletes Make
If you’ve been stuck in a cycle where progress feels sluggish—or worse, where the harder you try, the less you achieve—you’re not alone. Many athletes unknowingly make the same mistakes when chasing their goals, and these pitfalls can hold you back from reaching your full potential. The good news? These are challenges you can overcome, and we’re here to help.
At the Skadi Athlete Summit, happening January 11th-12th (free and virtual!), experts from across the endurance sports world will tackle these exact issues. Read on to discover the three most common mistakes athletes make—and how attending the Summit will equip you to avoid them going forward.
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1. Believing Harder, Faster, and More is Always Better
Many athletes fall into the trap of thinking the only way to improve is to increase the volume and intensity of training. More miles, heavier weights, two-a-day sessions—how could that NOT lead to success? But this misconception often results in injury, burnout, and frustrating plateaus.
Why This Happens:
Athletes often confuse discomfort with progress. While pushing limits is part of growth, relentless overtraining without recovery is a recipe for disaster.
How the Summit Can Help:
At the Summit, Angelina Ramos—an NCAA coach and strength expert—will teach athletes when to dial it back. Her session on rest, recovery, and restoration debunks the myth that going all-out every day is the answer. Pro tip from Angelina's session: Rest days aren’t lost days—they’re the days that make your hard work count.
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2. Underfueling or Following Restrictive Diet Fads
How many times have you heard that losing weight will make you faster? Or that cutting carbs is the key to peak performance? These outdated, harmful narratives lead many athletes to flirt with underfueling—and the impact can be devastating. From recurring injuries to disordered eating patterns, these missteps can derail even the most promising athletes.
Why This Happens:
Diet culture has infiltrated the sports world, convincing athletes that aesthetics matter more than strength or stamina. Combine that with misleading fads, and it’s easy to see why so many hit the wall (literally).
How the Summit Can Help:
Nutrition experts like Alex Larson and Kaitlyn Pscodna will take the stage to clear up the myths and outline what proper fueling looks like. Pro tip from Kaitlyn's session: Your body demands fuel. Eat to run, ride, and train—not to restrict.
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3. Ignoring Mental Recovery and Mindset Training
Many athletes assume that performance is purely physical. They clock the miles, lift the weights, and check their training boxes—but when self-doubt or anxiety strikes on race day, things unravel. Mental barriers are just as real as physical ones, but they’re often overlooked.
Why This Happens:
We’re conditioned to “tough it out” rather than address our mental health. But racing and training demand more than physical grit—your mind needs to be in the game too.
How the Summit Can Help:
At the Summit, professionals like Peter Falcon and Dr. Nicole LaVoi will provide practical strategies to help athletes combat negative thought patterns and build race-day confidence. Pro tip from Peter Falcon's session: Intrusive thoughts aren't something you can shoo away. Instead, you can learn to accept them, and there are legit strategies on how to do this.
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Why Attend the Skadi Athlete Summit?
If any of these mistakes sound familiar, you’re not alone—and more importantly, you don’t have to keep making them. The Skadi Athlete Summit is a two-day, free virtual event designed to give athletes the tools they need to train smarter, fuel better, and approach competition with a sound mind and body.
Here’s why this Summit is an unmissable opportunity:
Expert-Led Sessions on everything from nutrition and injury prevention to mental resilience and inclusivity in sports.
Inclusive for All Athletes, no matter your level, body type, or background. Everyone belongs here.
Totally Free to Attend Live, giving you access to world-class advice without a financial barrier.
Need more reasons? Upgrade to an all-access pass for lifetime recordings, bonus workshops, and exclusive speaker resources. Plus, 5% of sales go directly to Athlete Ally to support LGBTQ+ athletes. The rest helps us compensate our speakers and if we're lucky, also covers event costs!
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Save the Date and Take the Next Step
📅 When: January 11th-12th
📍 Where: Virtual (log in from anywhere!)
💌 Action Step: Want to improve the way you train, fuel, and think about your sport? Subscribe to the Summit newsletter for speaker updates and session announcements (via the link below)!
Every athlete makes mistakes on their path to growth—but the key is learning how to overcome them. With intel from the Skadi Athlete Summit, you can leave outdated methods behind and replace them with meaningful steps toward sustainable performance and lifelong joy in sport.
We’ll see you at the Summit 🚀
