As Masters athletes, the challenge of pursuing new CrossFit goals isn’t just physical—it starts in the mind. Years of training, competition, and experience have built resilience, but old patterns and self-limiting beliefs can hold you back. Resetting your mindset is the key to unlocking higher levels of performance and achieving new milestones in CrossFit.

Most athletes think the gap between them and a champion is capacity. That’s partially true, but It’s also execution under pressure, the ability to deliver your plan when the room gets loud, the clock gets short, and the bar feels heavier than it did in training. Competition is just an amplifier; it turns your habits into headlines. Champions build habits that hold.

Here’s what they do differently, and how you can start doing it today.

Coaches, let’s get clear: your job isn’t to worship a template—it’s to get results for the human in front of you. That means you don’t need to follow a traditional outline to the letter. You do need to understand the principles that make any method work. Principles are the operating system; methods are the apps. If you don’t know the OS, you’re just guessing which app will open the file.

Read more about the non-negotiables I expect every coach on my staff to know.

“Dear aspiring CrossFit Athlete, I remember my first time walking into a box—raw plywood walls, chalk in the air, and barbells rattling against the floor. I felt equal parts inspired and overwhelmed. Two decades later I’ve coached podium finishers, military operators, and weekend warriors, and one truth keeps surfacing: longevity beats flashes of brilliance every single time. The sport rewards consistency, humility, and deliberate progression. It punishes ego, impatience, and sloppy recovery. Consider this letter your roadmap for the seasons ahead.” Click to read more from Conquer Head Coach Jason Leydon.

When the lights hit, the music spikes, and your heart rate is already sitting 15 beats above baseline before the clock even starts—grit is what keeps you together. Not talent. Not hype. Grit. The willingness to stay present, keep pushing with intent, and solve problems when your lungs, legs, and ego are screaming to bail.

This isn’t motivational fluff. Grit is a skill set: a cluster of behaviors and mindsets you train, rehearse, and execute under pressure. Here’s how to build it and call on it when it matters most.

Older athletes face lowered anabolic hormones, slower collagen repair, and higher baseline stress. They therefore need an even sharper focus on sleep hygiene, protein timing, mobility maintenance, and parasympathetic activation through practices such as breathwork or meditation. Proper recovery converts training from joint-grinding punishment into forward momentum and longevity.

When it comes to athletic performance, training gets most of the spotlight—but make no mistake, your nutrition is the foundation that supports every rep, every sprint, every recovery. You can have the best training plan in the world, but if your fueling strategy is off, you're leaving performance on the table. Over the years of coaching elite CrossFit Games athletes, pros, and everyday competitors, one thing has remained constant: those who eat with purpose, perform with power.

Read more about the key points I emphasize when coaching athletes on how to optimize their food for performance.

In my 20+ years of coaching, I’ve worked with some of the most elite individuals across sport and life—CrossFit Games athletes, military special operations, professional athletes, and high-level business performers. I’ve also worked with everyday people who operate at an extremely high standard, and you start to notice something after a while:

High performers move differently—not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and behaviorally.

It’s not about talent. Not genetics. Not even just work ethic. It’s about character. The traits that are ingrained deep in their DNA—traits that show up when it’s hard, when no one is watching, and when the stakes are high.

Here are the 10 character traits I see time and time again in high performers.

There’s a big difference between working out and training. I say this often, and I’ll say it again: a workout without purpose is just sweat. But a training session—when executed with clear intention and thoughtful design—is a step forward toward your goals.

At Conquer Athlete, we believe the magic of progress doesn’t lie in fancy programming or random intensity. It lives at the intersection of athlete understanding and coach precision.