The path to mastery

Brad Stulberg is a bestselling author, professor, and speaker, focusing on topics related to excellence, resilience, performance, and well-being. Brad does not rely on hacks or gimmicks but focuses on simple, evidence-based strategies.

The Hybrid Letter talked with Brad about how to deal with race-day anxiety, what to do when your performance plateaus, and getting curious about pain.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Hybrid Letter (THL): What is the focus of your writing and other professional work?

Brad Stulberg (BS): I’m most interested in the principles that underlie mastery, excellence, and human flourishing at the highest level. One way to achieve mastery and find meaning in life is by pursuing physical feats and accomplishments. This can either become senseless striving or, when approached as a craft, a path of mastery that brings fulfillment and satisfaction. My academic background and my appointment at the University of Michigan are in public health. I also wear a different hat where I think about what it means to live well and to be healthy for a long time. My work really lies at the intersection of performance and health.

THL: When training for something like a race, what kind of attitudes and habits help an athlete complete a training block successfully?

BS: First, think of it as a block of training. The goal is to have a good block, not necessarily great individual workouts. That means there will be average days, some not-so-good days, and some really good days.

Second, I think we overrate motivation. I probably trained 275 days last year at a high level, but if I had to count the days I was truly excited to train, it was maybe 10. That means 265 days I wasn’t particularly motivated—I just showed up. I think we often over-index on the idea that we need motivation, like some daily hype speech, when in reality, motivation often comes after you start. Even world-class athletes I’ve worked with understand this: you don’t have to feel motivated to train, you just need to start, and the motivation will follow.

Another key is prioritizing consistency over intensity. The goal isn’t to be great every day but to be consistently good enough. A good block of training often means showing enough restraint to be ready to train the next day and the day after that. People who aim to be great every day often burn out because it’s unsustainable. But if you focus on being good enough repeatedly, the cumulative effect of the block will lead to something great.

THL: What about plateaus? Some people train consistently and feel like they’ve had good blocks, but their performance isn’t improving. How do you approach that mentally?

BS: There are two possibilities. First, it might be a skill issue. You might be great at training but not at racing. Racing is a skill—it requires learning to handle discomfort for an extended time, managing pre-race nerves, and getting fueling right. If your training continues to improve but your race performance stagnates, it’s likely a racing issue.

If both training and racing feel stagnant, patience is key. In endurance sports, the next improvement is often much harder to achieve than the previous ones. It might take defining a long-term horizon—thinking in terms of years rather than months—and riding out plateaus as part of the process.

If you’ve done a couple of training blocks without seeing adaptation, it might be a programming issue. Are you doing the right mix of workouts? Maybe you need more or less volume, more or less intensity, or adjustments to nutrition, sleep, or recovery practices. For beginners, progress comes quickly, but as you improve, the gains become marginal and less visible. This is where you need to embrace curiosity and experimentation in your training to find what works.

THL: What are some strategies to handle pre-race anxiety?

BS: First, trust your training. If you’ve been consistent and put in the work, you can remind yourself of that when doubt creeps in. A mantra I love is “trust your training.” Of course, this only works if you’ve actually done the training—otherwise, you’ll know you’re lying to yourself.

Interestingly, research shows that trying to calm yourself before a big race often backfires. Instead, it’s better to acknowledge the anxiety and see it as a sign that you care. I like to tell myself, “Just wait for the gun to go off.” Once the race starts, you’ll settle into the flow of doing what you’ve trained to do.

There’s also a mindset shift: instead of fighting nerves, take them along for the ride. When I first started giving big talks after my books gained traction, I had performance anxiety. I’d feel my palms sweat and my heart race, but I’d remind myself that it’s just my body getting ready to perform. Accepting the anxiety, rather than resisting it, makes a big difference.

THL: Fatigue can set in, especially in the middle of a race. What approaches help you keep giving your full effort?

BS: There are two main strategies, and which one works depends on the person. One is to focus externally—on anything outside of the pain. That might mean the music in the room, how your hands feel on a sled you’re pushing, or other external cues.

The other strategy is the opposite: go inward and embrace the fatigue. Some athletes call it “entering the pain cave.” Get curious about what it actually feels like—Is it burning? Is it tingling? What happens if you push just a little harder? This approach is masochistic, but some find it effective.

A third option is to shift focus to a skill-based cue. For example, instead of fixating on the discomfort, focus on engaging the right muscles or refining your form. This gives your brain something productive to focus on instead of the fatigue.

THL: Are mantras effective in handling fatigue?

BS: Yes, but only if they’re rooted in truth. A mantra like “trust your training” works if you’ve put in the work, but it’s useless if you haven’t. In the thick of fatigue, consistency in self-talk is what matters more than the exact words.

Some people like simple, grounding mantras like, “This is what’s happening right now. I’m doing my best.” Others, like ultra-runner Courtney Dauwalter, use phrases like “intensity and joy can coexist,” which helps reframe the experience. The key is finding a phrase that resonates with you and using it consistently to give your brain a focal point.

THL: For athletes disappointed with their race results, how do you recommend processing that?

BS: I use what I call the 48-hour rule. After a big result—whether good or bad—take 48 hours to celebrate or grieve. Then, get back to the process. The fulfillment, growth, and discovery come from the training, not the result.

You need to fall in love with the training to sustain a sport like this. Racing is exciting, but training is where most of the meaningful work happens. Let yourself feel the emotions of a bad result, but don’t dwell too long. Shift your focus back to the process and keep moving forward.

THL: If you scroll on Instagram, there are a lot of tools and supplements people recommend to improve performance. How do you sort through all that noise to focus on what works?

BS: There’s no simple answer, but I like to focus on the fundamentals first and keep the main things the main things. For a sport like this, the main things are good, consistent training with a balance of volume, intensity, and skill; proper fueling and high-quality nutrition; and good sleep. Beyond that, social recovery—spending time with others—has proven benefits. Humans evolved to thrive in groups, and being around others helps turn off the stress response better than almost anything else.

Once those basics are in place, experimenting can be worthwhile, but only if you approach it with curiosity rather than obligation. I use a three-legged stool framework to evaluate recovery tools or interventions. The first leg is empirical evidence—are there solid studies, ideally on humans, supporting it? The second is historical precedent—has it stood the test of time? And the third is practical experience—do top athletes or practitioners find it helpful? If something has two or three legs, it’s worth trying. If it only has one, it’s probably not worth the effort.

For example, I take creatine because it checks all three boxes: strong research, historical use, and anecdotal success. But I don’t do compression boots, cold plunges, or elaborate breathing routines because the effort and stress to incorporate them outweigh any potential benefit for me. That said, if something makes you feel good and you enjoy it, there’s no harm in doing it. Just don’t get caught up chasing trends at the expense of the basics.

THL: What mindset traps can negatively impact training or performance?

BS: One big trap is tying your identity too closely to your results. When self-worth depends on performance, it creates overwhelming pressure and fragility. Another common trap is the addiction to visible progress. In the beginning, progress is exciting and motivating—your times improve, your strength increases, and it feels great. But as you get better, progress slows, and plateaus become inevitable. That’s when you need to shift from a beginner’s mindset, focused on immediate improvement, to a mastery mindset that’s about curiosity and long-term development.

A third trap is trying to do it all alone. Some athletes avoid training with others to stick rigidly to their program. But the value of community and social connection often outweighs the perfection of an isolated workout. It’s important to remember that performance, at its best, is a blend of physical preparation and emotional connection. The hyper-optimization culture—where every aspect of training becomes a solo pursuit—often misses that balance.

For more from Brad, check out his books, especially The Practice of Groundness. You can also check out Brad’s website, The Growth Equation.

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Data corner: Once is never enough

RoxOpt is a new analytics platform that analyzes an individual's Hyrox race results. The RoxOpt reports detail how athletes performed relative to their potential, based on their race history and others with similar times.

In processing all that data, RoxOpt also has some interesting insights on how people progress once they get started in Hyrox. Remarkably, 70% of people improve in their second race. A majority of people improve through their fifth race.

The moral of the story is that Hyrox is a challenging and strategically complex race. If your first race does not meet your expectations, keep trying.

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Workout of the Week: "Iron Legs"

This one is from Elite 15 Hyrox athlete Dylan Scott, aka The Hybrid Racoon:

10 rounds, one round every 2.5 minutes: 20 dumbbell lunges, 400 meter run
10 rounds, one round every 2.5 minutes: 400 meter run, 20 dumbbell lunges
4 rounds, one round every 2 minutes: 400 meter run (increase the run pace)

A few days after posting this workout, Dylan won the Hyrox Pro race in Dallas. The best workouts aren't always complicated.