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The Triathlete Blueprint Newsletter #124-Don’t Waste Your Time: Common Mistakes That Kill Your Progress
- Yan Busset
- Sep 13, 2025
- 5 min read
Read time: 5min.
By Coach Yan Busset
What Really Matters in a Training Session
As age Groupers, you are not professional athletes. Your time is limited and precious. Between work, family, and everything else in life, you want to make sure every session you do really counts. Nobody wants to feel they are wasting their time. So what actually matters in a training session, and what doesn’t? Let’s break it down.
And by the way, if you realise you have done some of these mistakes, don’t worry. I’ve probably done them all myself during my triathlon career. In fact, maybe that’s the secret recipe for becoming a coach: you make all the mistakes first, you learn the hard way, and then you help others avoid repeating them. Lucky you.
Warm-up is non-negotiable
The more intense the session, the more important the warm-up. And the older you get, the more crucial it becomes. The warm-up is what allows vasodilatation, gets you to sweat, opens the pipes, warms up the muscles, and makes them more supple. A proper warm-up will allow you to perform the session at your best and to lower the risk of injuries.
Cool-down is optional
Contrary to the warm-up, the cool-down is more accessory. The benefit is controversial. It can make sense if you have another training later in the day, or if you need to head straight into a meeting and don’t want to arrive all sweaty. But if time is tight, skipping the cool-down won’t ruin your progress.
Respect the recovery times
One of the most common mistakes is cutting corners on recovery. Athletes often shorten the recovery periods, thinking they are saving time or working harder. In reality, this ruins the purpose of the session. Recovery is not a filler, it guides the physiology. It’s as important as the intensity of the interval itself.
For example, a VO2max session often uses equal work-to-rest ratios to allow true best-effort in zone 5. That’s how you get the right stimulus. Of course, for advanced athletes, we can sometimes shorten the recovery to increase time in the zone, but that’s a different session design.
Trust the process: if there is a certain recovery time, it is by design, there’s always a reason. We don’t design sessions with wet fingers, and we don’t make shit up. If you have a training plan, and you hire a coach, then trust them. Otherwise there’s no reason to have a coach.
Respect the zones and intensities
Another classic mistake: ignoring the zones. Athletes often think “I feel good, coach asked for zone 2, but I’ll push into zone 3 or 4, it will be more effective.” Wrong. If you push when you should stay aerobic, you won’t be fresh for the sessions where you really need to go hard. Over time, this leads to stagnation.
The opposite is also true: if you don’t go hard enough in a key interval, you miss the physiological adaptation. So in both cases, not respecting the zones leads to stagnation.
Don’t kill yourself on the last rep
We always want to finish strong, and pushing the last repetition is tempting. Once in a while, it can be fun. But most of the time, it does more harm than good. The adaptation is already made, 90% of the job is done. Pushing too much on the last rep brings very little benefit but can have a huge impact on your recovery, compromising your readiness for the next session.
And if there is one mistake I know well, it’s this one. Getting carried away with training buddies, going for the town sign sprint, trying to show who has the strongest legs. In French we call it “faire la pancarte”, it keeps the fun spirit alive, and it’s part of the joy of training together. Just don’t turn every session into a Tour de France stage.
Quality and focus
The quality of execution matters. Sometimes it’s better to unplug the podcast or the music, put away the tablet, and focus on what you’re doing. Awareness improves technique, and you can often push more efficiently. If you feel the technique is breaking down, especially in swimming, press reset: take a short pause, do one or two drills, and then get back into it. That simple adjustment can turn the session around.
The 20-minute rule
Remember the rule of 20 minutes: if after 20 minutes you still don’t feel good, stop. Forcing the session brings no value. It’s just a recipe for injury or showing up not fresh the next day. Sometimes the smart move is to quit early.
Consistency over one single session
Missing one session, or doing one session that wasn’t perfect, is not a tragedy. Forget about FOMO. What matters is consistency over the long term. Always zoom out, never look at training under the microscope. By keeping the big picture in mind, you can be more tolerant towards yourself, and this takes away a lot of mental load.
At the end of the day, everything does not need to be perfect or exactly by the book. If you get 80 percent of your training right, you are already moving in the right direction. Just try to be aware of these points, because if you want the best out of your time, these are the practices that make the biggest difference.
Perfection is out of this world, and it is fine to be playful sometimes. But what really matters is being clear with your goals and honest with yourself in execution. When you stand on the start line of your race, you want to feel that you did everything you could to be the best version of yourself. That is what counts.
Key Takeaways
• Warm-up: Never skip the warm-up, it’s what makes you ready and keeps injuries away.
• Cool-down: Nice to have, but not essential if time is short.
• Recovery times: Don’t cut them, they are part of the session’s design and purpose.
• Zones and intensities: Respect the zones, otherwise you just end up stagnating.
• Last rep: Don’t smash the last rep, it kills recovery for almost no gain.
• Quality and focus: Be present, focus on execution, and reset if technique goes wrong.
• 20-minute rule: If you still feel bad after 20 minutes, stop and save it for another day.
• Consistency: One bad session doesn’t matter, long-term consistency is what counts.
Check out my Youtube Channel:
How to Swim Straight in Open Water Every Time !
Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
1. If you are in the Helsinki area and looking for the best training group check here
2. If you are looking for an online coaching service check here.
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