🧠 DELIBERATE PRACTICE VS. GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS: WHY YOU'RE STILL NOT A BADASS (YET)
By Steve Woolridge, your favorite friendly destroyer of excuses
Let’s talk about the silent killer of progress. It’s not your diet. It’s not your age. It’s not that “old shoulder injury from high school football.” It’s something sneakier. Slipperier. Lurking right there in your workout like a fart in a yoga class.
It’s going through the motions.
You know what I’m talking about.
You showed up. That’s cool. You did the reps. Sort of. You sweated a little. Instagrammed it. Hit the shower. Done, right?
WRONG.
That wasn’t training. That was cosplaying as someone who trains.
🚨 Just Showing Up Isn’t Enough
I’ll give you credit: most people don’t even get their ass in the door. But you’re not most people, are you?
The difference between deliberate practice and “just moving around” is the difference between a lion and a golden retriever doing agility drills at PetSmart.
One is hunting. The other is hoping for treats.
Deliberate practice is focused, intentional, uncomfortable, and laser-targeted at your weaknesses. It’s mentally exhausting. It’s not “fun.” It’s how you become undeniable.
🥋 Let’s Get Specific
Just kicking the bag? That’s going through the motions.
Driving your hips through, keeping your guard up, snapping your leg back, and correcting your foot angle every single time? That’s deliberate practice.
Doing pad rounds and chatting about what’s for dinner? Mmm, cardio gossip hour.
Visualizing a real attacker, adjusting your timing, fixing your stance under fatigue? Now you’re training like your life depends on it. Because guess what? Someday it might.
💡 Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect. Perfect Practice Does.
Every time you train sloppy, you're reinforcing failure. You're hardwiring your worst habits.
You don’t rise to the occasion — you fall to the level of your training. And if your training is a half-assed TikTok highlight reel, well…good luck with that.
👊 So What Do You Do?
Pick one thing to improve every session. Not 20. Just one.
Ask your coach for feedback. Yes, your ego will cry. Let it.
Slow it down. Fix your form before you speed up.
Push into discomfort. If it feels awkward, GOOD. That’s where growth lives.
🚀 Want Results? Stop Wasting Reps.
If you’re not training deliberately, you’re rehearsing mediocrity. And mediocrity is contagious. Not in this gym.
This is where we sharpen the blade. Every rep. Every round. Every drop of sweat with a purpose.
You want to look and move like a savage? Then train like your potential is hiding in your bad habits — because it is.
Now quit coasting. Let’s get to work.
– Steve